Students of all grade levels returned to their school buildings Monday with the start of hybrid learning in Huntley School District 158 and Cary School District 26, but the snowy forecast cast doubt on the districts’ plans for the rest of the week.
For District 158 schools, everything went according to plan on Monday beyond a few buses being late because of changes in bus routes caused by an increased number of parents driving their students to school, Superintendent Scott Rowe said.
“By and large everything was extremely smooth,” Rowe said. “A lot of excited children and excited teachers to be back in the building, a lot of happy faces.”
The one thing the district was not prepared for was the weather, he said.
“The impending snowstorm has got everybody twisted up,” Rowe said Monday morning. “What better could happen after the first day of welcoming students back but a nice sizable snowstorm? I’m very hopeful that the timing of the snowstorm will allow for the roads to be clear and we can continue on with our plans for a safe passage to school tomorrow, but the winds could cause some concern.”
District 26 preemptively declared Tuesday as a remote learning day for all of its students because of the winter storm warning issued for Monday night through Tuesday afternoon. The hybrid learning schedule for the rest of the week will remain unchanged, according to a notice on the district’s website.
This comes just one day after District 26 welcomed half of its student population back to school buildings Monday in its hybrid learning plan, which offers in-person learning to students in two rotating groups with all students learning remotely on Wednesdays.
District 158 is using a very similar hybrid learning model with in-person learning offered two days each week to students in two rotating groups, Rowe said.
Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47 and Wonder Lake-based Harrison School District 36 both moved into the next phase of their more gradual hybrid learning plans Monday. District 47′s hybrid program expanded to third through fifth grade and District 36 was on track to bring back sixth through eighth graders, the Northwest Herald has reported.
In District 158 elementary schools, about 75% of families chose to send their students back to school for in-person learning this week, Rowe said.
After months of staring at their teachers’ faces through a computer screen, the district’s elementary school students were thrilled to be face-to-face, or mask-to-mask, with their teachers again, he said.
“When they saw them in person, just the burst of excitement as they ran to the classroom in some of our younger grades was very fun to see,” Rowe said.
Corinna Sac is one of the 25% of parents who decided not to participate in the District 158 hybrid learning plan, a decision that now is final through the end of the year. Although her two children, who are in first and second grade at Chesak Elementary School, also would be glad to see their teachers and learn in person again, Sac said she does not feel comfortable taking the risk.
“It’s not really worth it for us, unfortunately,” Sac said. “We aren’t comfortable with the statistics. ... The only reason why [local COVID-19 metrics] are improving is because everyone is home right now.”
“For us, it’s the safest thing because we have family members to think about,” she said.
The percentage of families that chose to switch over to the hybrid model gets smaller among older District 158 students with about 65% of middle schoolers choosing to go back for in-person learning and only 54% of Huntley High School students, Rowe said.
The majority of families in District 26 chose to participate in hybrid learning, but the district does not have exact numbers from all of its schools yet, Superintendent Brian Coleman said in an emailed statement Monday.
“It has been a great start to our hybrid model today,” Coleman said in the statement. “The day has gone as planned with students and staff enjoying their first day back for in-person instruction. This is a real credit to our principals and teachers who have worked hard to make this return day as seamless as possible while keeping everyone safe.”
The excitement to be back in school was “evident by the smiles I saw as students entered our schools this morning,” Coleman said.