Three weeks in and the hybrid schedule is challenging, but students and staff are making it work

Posted May 2021

By Rachel Cairns

Staff Editor

The phrase ¨Back to School” was never more exciting and terrifying at the same time as when Oregon public schools reopened by the governor on April 19 in a hybrid schedule.

David Douglas High School set up cohorts "A" and "B." Cohort A goes to the school on Mondays and Wednesdays while Cohort B goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The cohorts are based on the last digit of students' house addresses. The class schedule has remained the same as CDL, with four, 50-minute classes and a 10-minute passing time.

As expected, there have been students who have tested positive for COVID-19 since school reopened, setting into place the necessary protocols. All high school families were notified via email of the positive test, as were the particular teachers and students who may have come into contact with the infected student. If those teachers and students have been adequately vaccinated (according to the guidelines established by the Oregon Health Authority), they have the option of remaining on campus, or quartentining and attending CDL classes for two weeks.

Hallway traffic flow has also been strictly enforced, with the help of red arrows on the floors. Staff and administrators have been more than happy to help students follow the one-way hallways to find their way to class. Sometimes classroom doors are going to be locked, at which times students are advised to just keep walking and take a loop (like driving around the block in search of a parking spot) so as to not clog up the hallways. Students are allowed to return to CDL if they are in hybrid, but if students are in CDL they are not allowed to go into hybrid. They will also be placed back into CDL if they miss three consecutive days of in-person learning without contacting the school first.

All classrooms have been stocked with personal protection equipment, also known as PPE. These include extra masks, gloves, tissues, hand sanitizer, and Lysol wipes. Teachers and staff have also been supplied with COVID strength disinfectant to sanitize each desk during passing time.

Students must bring their school assigned Chromebooks. A limited supply of extra Chromebooks are available in the main offices for students who forget. Students are not supposed to log into the Google Meet at the school because the school wifi cannot handle that much activity. However, district IT is working with wifi companies to see if they broaden the bandwidth to allow students to log into the meets on campus.

The school is still providing food to students, including lunch, dinner, and the next day’s breakfast. These include multiple options for the students including, but not limited to, chicken nuggets, oven fries, tater tots, nacho makings, fruit, and milk.