By Nolan Greenways
Going into the fourth marking period of the 2020-2021 school year, the school district has successfully transitioned away from the hybrid learning option, which allowed students to come into school two days each week, to in-school learning four days a week. The option became available as safety restrictions were relaxed after January of this year.
Students still were given the option to remain all virtual. Plans for such a move were officially announced in late February, with a selection form for families to complete by time March 2. Grades K-2, 6, and 9 began operating with the four day in-person week on Tuesday, March 16, while all grades K-12 began operating with the option on the following Tuesday, March 22.
While students who chose the in-person option still can attend virtually, if a student does so for five days without excuse, they will be automatically transferred to the totally virtual schedule.
To get a sense of student opinion regarding these changes, and to estimate how many students had chosen each option, The Surveyor created and administered a survey of some high school students during the transitionary weeks. Respondents were asked about what options they chose and why, the importance of several factors such as socialization and academic performance in those decisions, and whether they agreed with the decision to eliminate the hybrid option.
Of the surveyed students, about 60% said they had chosen the fully in-person model, while about 40% said they had chosen the virtual model.
Many of the respondents who chose the in-person model mentioned a desire to be around friends and classmates while in class, and/or a feeling that they would perform better academically in an in-person environment. One anonymous respondent stated, “I’m going from hybrid to full in-person because I need to be at school to truly learn and stay engaged. Also, social interaction is so important, and school is one of my major outlets for that.”
“Overall, I learn better in-person, and I like that I’m held accountable to the work in school,” said another student.
Alternately, those who were asked why they had chosen to go fully virtual more frequently cited the health risks of attending in-person and the convenience going to school from home. Several responses mentioned the ability to wake up later due to not needing to commute to school, not needing to wear a mask throughout the day, and a reduction in stress in a home environment.
“I would love to be back in school, but I am not yet comfortable with being indoors for long periods of time while surrounded by a large group of people. I am especially uncomfortable with changing guidelines restricting social distancing to 3-6 feet. I feel better going about my personal life knowing that I am not running the risk of carrying or becoming infected through school,” said one student surveyed.
Students were also asked to rate on a scale of 1-5 the importance of factors of socialization, safety, and academic performance in their decisions. While the average number for all factors was somewhere between 3 and 4, academic performance seemed to be the most important, with an average of 3.8. Socialization received an average weight of 3.5, while safety received an average weight of 3.3.
When asked whether they agreed with the school district’s decision to remove the hybrid option, about 60% of respondents said no, while 40% said yes.
While it is possible that the vaccine rollout in Chester County might lead to other changes to scheduling in the future, at present, it seems like the current situation will continue until the end of the school year in June.