New Rochelle High School Faces Challenges with Hybrid Instruction

Lily Spertus Newman

As students physically entered New Rochelle High School for the first time in months, many were optimistic about the idea of getting back into the classroom. 

“Overall I thought it [in-person instruction] was pretty good. The hallways were not crowded, which helped ease my concerns,” said 11th-grader Mia Fear, after her first day in the building. 

On November 9th, the daily schedule switched from eight 40-minute periods with a 30-minute “brain break” to eight 42-minute periods with asynchronous instruction on a new seventh day in the rotational schedule. Both schedules have five-minute breaks between each period. 

After deliberating over schedules for hybrid learning, the NRHS administration decided to shorten the periods and remove the 30-minute break. Interim Principal Steven Goldberg explains that “we couldn't do the brain break because we can't have everybody with a half-hour in the middle of the day… Where would everybody go?” With regards to the new schedule, Mr. Goldberg says that the NRHS administration had the opportunity to “think out of the box and get really, really creative. We had a very interesting schedule where you would divide it into a morning and an afternoon.” He decided against this idea as it would create issues with busing and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) students. 

“Based on the feedback we were getting from across the school, people liked the shorter periods,” said Mr. Goldberg. Though 42-minute periods may result in an instructional time deficit, Mr. Goldberg thinks that the creation of the schedule “brings us down to a very important philosophical discussion as to what truly constitutes instruction.” Mr. Goldberg believes that in the case of learning from home, quality—and concise—instruction should prevail. He explains that “sitting in front of a computer all day long from period one to period eight with a break for lunch, there's something difficult about watching that screen all day long. We have kids who could spend five hours playing video games, but that's different than doing schoolwork in front of a computer.” 

Mr. Goldberg stressed the importance of the “brain break” during virtual learning: “We found that for a lot of people that was really, really important.” He hopes that the shortened day coupled with the seventh asynchronous day will provide students with a necessary respite. Though losing the 30-minute break was sad for students, many were willing to trade it for an in-person learning experience. 

Arianna Geraci, a junior, mentioned that she “really liked being back and being taught in person.” She continued, “I definitely grasp more information at school and it gives me a sense of normalcy.” Junior Vittoria Lazzarini reported something similar: “I liked being able to see my teachers and communicate in person. I found it easier to pay attention.” 

“The class sizes were very small, which was totally different than what it used to be,” said Fear, “but it worked pretty well for all of my classes.” As of November 16th, about 40% of students at NRHS have opted into virtual-only learning, according to Mr. Goldberg. This was up from roughly 17% before hybrid learning began.

Goldberg also suspects that one reason classes have become so small is the confusion over opting out of hybrid learning: parents must opt their child into virtual learning or they are automatically placed into hybrid learning. This means that an even larger number of students are learning from home despite being scheduled for in-person learning. “I think in hindsight, and since we were basically all starting at virtual, virtual should have been the default,” said Mr. Goldberg.

One area of concern for students and administration lies in cafeterias, where desks are six feet apart and masks are not worn. However, Fear mentions that “The lunch rooms were very empty. I had lunch in the House IV cafeteria and there were no more than 15 kids in there.” She also feels reassured by the allowance of eating outside, though the number of students in cafeterias may increase as winter approaches.

However, cafeterias would become an issue on November 18th, when approximately 500 NRHS students and their families were notified that they would not be allowed back into school after a student tested positive for COVID-19. “That particular student had been in classes… But then that student also went into two cafeterias,” said Mr. Goldberg. Since each cafeteria requires students to swipe their ID cards, administration was able to identify who was in the cafeterias. Goldberg noted, “We don't know why the student was in two different cafeterias.” Factoring in both cafeterias and that particular student’s classes, over 130 students and staff were exposed to COVID-19 and required to quarantine. However, the majority of affected students were asked to stay home for a different reason: “All of those students had to go virtual because we didn't have enough sub coverage to cover [affected] classes,” said Mr. Goldberg. 

Within hours of this incident, Interim Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero emailed students and parents, announcing that NRHS and two New Rochelle elementary schools would switch to virtual instruction, at least for the next day. Just one day later, as part of New Rochelle was designated a “yellow zone”—a precautionary warning before COVID-19 positivity rates reach elevated levels—it was announced that the entire City School District of New Rochelle (CDSNR) would switch to remote learning until at least December 3rd. Mr. Goldberg agrees with the plan: “Dr. Marrero made a very wise decision, even though technically only four schools are in the yellow zone. He just said, ‘We can't do this. We have to move all 10 schools into virtual.’”

Mr. Goldberg made it clear that the CDSNR administration’s priority is student safety: “Our greatest consideration is making sure that the safety and health of students is first and foremost. The reason why we've shifted to virtual was not because of 138 students.”

New Rochelle’s yellow zone designation complicates the return to hybrid learning, as the New York State Department of Health requires that schools open to in-person instruction must “test 20% of in-person students, teachers and staff, at least once a week for as long as the school remains in a designated yellow zone.” In an email sent to the New Rochelle community on November 19th, Dr. Marrero ensured testing of special-education students who will continue with in-person learning but noted that “While we remain in the yellow zone, additional testing is unlikely without the logistical and financial support of the state and local partners,” with regards to the general population of students and staff. 

Though December 3rd was set as the original date of return, New Rochelle High School is utilizing virtual instruction until further notice. Mr. Goldberg anticipated that NRHS might not return to hybrid learning until January. “I think the district is certainly leaning towards the extension of virtual, probably up through Christmas vacation. It’s only three weeks,” he said on November 27th. 

At the December 1st school-board meeting, Mr. Goldberg’s concerns were confirmed: NRHS would not return to hybrid instruction until at least the New Year, though the exact date of return remains undetermined. Mr. Goldberg decided to revert to the “brain break” schedule on December 2nd and will keep the new asynchronous day. 

Dr. Marrero has since announced that Pre-K through 3rd-grade students would return to in-person learning on December 10th, and grades 4-8 will return on January 4th. 

However, delaying hybrid instruction through the holiday break might just act as a “Band-Aid.” New Rochelle High School is a place of diverse class schedules—and so much interaction between students and staff means that one case of COVID-19 has the potential to disrupt in-person instruction for hundreds of students. 

Even so, students and staff remain hopeful. “I hope we go back to school in the spring—hopefully before then, in January,” said Lazzarini. “I am sad that we have switched back to virtual. I hope that people stay safe and follow CDC guidelines so that we can get back to hybrid soon.”