School Schedules

After careful analysis of our facilities, we found that it is not possible to bring every student in to school every day with the recommended 6-foot social distancing in place.  We worked closely with stakeholder groups (parents, students, teachers and administrators) and reviewed community survey responses to develop a plan that brings all students back to school regularly, while prioritizing our youngest and most vulnerable students.

Our schedules for the 20-21 school year are being developed with continuity of learning in mind.  If we must change models due to COVID-19 concerns, interactions with teachers would take place at the same scheduled times whether we are in an in-person, hybrid or distance learning model.  In this way, students will experience the same schedule no matter the circumstance. Synchronous interactions (connecting teachers and students in school with those at home in real time) will be scheduled for part of the class or lesson, with other time devoted to independent work for students while teachers conduct small group instruction or individual conferences.  Where necessary and possible, lessons will be recorded to allow access for students who cannot adhere to a synchronous schedule.

Important note: What’s below is based on what we believe we can achieve at the time of this writing. We are still working to determine whether space, staffing and budget will allow for additional considerations.

As the year progresses, if conditions allow, we will look to bring in more students with greater frequency.

In September, all Kindergarten and 1st grade students will attend school in person four days per week (at the time of this writing, we are working to determine if we may also be able to bring 2nd grade students in this model).  Some special education students and some of our English language learners will also attend in person on the four days per week model. 

All other students will attend school in person twice per week on the same days each week. 

When the year begins, on the fifth day of five day weeks, all K-12 students will participate in remote learning. As the year progresses, we hope to be able to bring students to school on this day.

As soon as possible, we will notify families on which days your children should expect to attend. 

The elementary and secondary schedules will be aligned. The district will prioritize siblings (in different grades and schools) attending on the same days of the week to support families with their child-care needs. 

Whether students are in school or in a distance environment, the same schedule will be in place for the 20-21 school year.  This will assure that continuity of learning is possible, with daily opportunities for substantive interaction between students and teachers and time for independent work.  This schedule prepares us well for any potential shifting between models that may occur during the academic year.

Our conceptual model for class time at all levels involves bursts of synchronous instruction occurring at scheduled times through the day, followed by periods of independent student work.  It is during this independent time that teachers will conduct individual and small group meetings to provide clarification, guidance and feedback on the application of skills, strategies or content previously taught. Depending on the nature of the independent work, students may log off their devices for any period of time when they are not meeting with the teacher.

Our three elementary schools will operate on the same schedule. Each grade-level within the school may have a slightly different schedule but will provide instruction in reading, writing, word study and mathematics daily, with science or social studies occurring two to three times per week.  Special area instruction will also occur on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

John Jay Middle School and John Jay High School are attempting to develop schedules that reduce the number of class meetings per day, though at the time of this writing, we are not sure whether this is possible for a host of reasons. If we are unable to make the adjustments, students will follow the traditional nine period day. If we are able to adjust to longer periods meeting less frequently, students would still maintain all their same classes and would still follow the same schedule at home as when in school. As soon as we’re able to finalize the secondary schedule models, we will share them. Regardless of the model, most students can expect to attend JJMS and JJHS in person at least two days per week, with a small population attending in person four days per week.