Foxcroft Academy to open classes with hybrid learning
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Foxcroft Academy students will be taking part in a combination of in-person and online learning each week when classes resume in several weeks.
In an Aug. 4 letter to parents and staff posted on the school website Head of School Arnold Shorey wrote, “Based on the Governor’s designation of our region as ‘green’ and the 210 parent responses, Foxcroft Academy has decided to open the 2020 school year as ‘hybrid,’ which means a combination of in-person and online. I want to thank all the parents who responded to the survey. It was beneficial, especially the information concerning ‘providing your own transportation.’ The decision to go with the hybrid model was made to provide the students and staff the safest environment possible in compliance with the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Center for Disease Control, which both provide the standards that Foxcroft Academy will follow.
“Students will attend in-person twice a week in two cohorts, Pony — Monday and Tuesday and Pride — Thursday and Friday. Wednesday will be a ‘deep clean day’ and time for our teachers to maintain online learning for all students, including the day and boarding students who will be engaging solely online. After the start of school, there is flexibility for students to attend more than twice a week, which will be triggered by requests from the teacher and the student’s ability to get transportation (i.e., a student needs more time in the welding, math help, etc.). It also needs to be pointed out that our teachers will be extremely busy maintaining online and in-person instruction. They are very excited to have students back in school for in person instruction.
“You will receive more information with the start of school mailing on Aug. 17, which will include protocols and procedures for all of us to follow. As per my July 13th letter and now the State mandate, everyone in the Academy will be wearing a face-covering (an alternative to the mask due to medical conditions will be allowed). Parents, we will ask you to screen your student at home as recommended by the CDC before they come to school, and if your child does not feel well or exhibits any symptoms of COVID-19, they need to stay home. The first thing the students will do when they enter the building will be to wash their hands, and we will be enforcing six-foot distancing with everyone in the building. Plexiglas barriers will be in place in front of teachers’ desks and on dining tables to provide further protection.”
The letter at www.foxcroftacademy.org includes two pages of frequently asked questions, a parent screening tool and the guiding principles that are needed to be in place for students to return to school.
“I may have said this before, but I remember my grandmother telling me about all the sacrifices that she and her family had to make during the Great Depression and World War II,” Shorey wrote. “This is our time to make sacrifices and work together. I recognize that it is virtually impossible to make a decision concerning the reopening of school that would make everyone happy. So, the decision has to be made to make the safest decision for all involved. We are very excited about having our students back in school where they belong!”