By Riya Khatod, Copy Editor

March 15 marked the first day of in-person learning at elementary campuses across the district due to a recent agreement between SMMUSD and the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association (SMMCTA) regarding the implementation of a hybrid model in elementary schools.

On Feb. 17, SMMUSD and SMMCTA agreed to implement Distance Learning Plus (DL+). However, as COVID-19 cases have recently declined at a rapid pace and school staff members have begun to receive their doses of the vaccine, SMMUSD and SMMCTA agreed March 9 to accelerate the return to in-person school and organize a more robust hybrid model. 

In-person attendance is not mandatory. For those continuing in Distance Learning (DL), there will be an effort to maintain the same teachers, however there is no guarantee and it will depend on the numbers of students attending in-person learning versus continuing distance-learning. 

According to the Memorandum of Understanding between SMMUSD and SMMCTA, if more students remain in DL, they will be grouped together and remain with their current teacher, who will provide DL during scheduled hybrid time. When a small number of students remain in DL, the teacher will most likely offer concurrent instruction to both groups and additional instructional assistant time. If neither of these options are applicable, distance learners will be assigned a new teacher from their school or a teacher from any school in the district will be assigned to a group of students.

The agreement was in the works when the March 4 school board meeting focused primarily on reopening elementary schools and gave 60 parents each a two-minute forum to voice their concerns or support for a hybrid model. Comments ranged from parents, who are part of the Open Up Santa Monica-Malibu Schools Group, urging for students to get back on campus, to others commenting on support needed for distance-learners once campuses open back up. 

Samo will also see the return to in-person learning March 22. In the DL+ model, students will have the opportunity to attend enrichment opportunities such as clubs, learning extensions, test retakes, athletics and fitness, social and emotional learning, etc. on campus. Principal Antonio Shelton elaborated on the inner workings of DL+ at Samo.

“We’re going to try to provide at least one opportunity for students to come during [the week of March 22]. We’ll have about 400 kids each day, all five days, so we want students to sign up at least once for an opportunity if they feel comfortable. We’ll have about 25 to 30 teachers available for those students to sign up,” Shelton said.
After Spring Break, Samo will implement a hybrid-learning model of in-person learning in which students will have the opportunity to attend school in two cohorts. Cohort A will meet in-person Monday for periods one, three and five and Tuesday for periods two, four and six, while Cohort B will meet Thursday for periods one, three and five and Friday for periods two, four and six. Wednesday will be completely virtual, allowing the school to prepare for the next group of students. If students choose to attend in-person learning, they will have to stay on campus for all three periods.

Photo from Peggy O’Meara – Grant Elementary Principal Christian Fuhrer welcomes 3rd Grader Ellowyn Searles on her first day of in-person learning Monday, March 15. Elementary schools reopened in a hybrid-format this week. Secondary schools will be providing Distance Learning Plus in-person activities the weeks before and after Spring Break, March 29-Apr. 9.