TOWAMENCIN — After the Montgomery County Board of Health decided to close all schools for two weeks, the North Penn School District has made a plan to return back to a hybrid model beginning Monday, December 7th.

Due to a successful few weeks of hybrid prior to the two-week closure, the District felt confident that it was safe for students to return to schools, despite the rising cases.

“We worked closely with the Montgomery County Office of Public Health to return to hybrid in-person learning. We considered the fact that we have been ensuring all staff and students are wearing masks, except those exempt, and we have the safety measures and protocols in place to continue to provide an in-person option for students,” NPSD Superintendent Dr. Curt Dietrich said.

Reflecting back on when NPSD moved to a hybrid schedule in early November, the District was impressed with how the hybrid model plan turned out.

“Clearly, we had some students and some staff members that were in the building who were COVID positive. But during that time, I think we really found that all the protocols that we put in place, the mask-wearing, the social distancing, the plexiglass in the cafeteria, were really successful in keeping people from coming in contact with each other,” NPHS Principal Mr. Pete Nicholson said.

“I believe that it worked well for some, while others faced challenges, both of which are to be expected. None of us want to be in this situation but here we are and I truly believe that North Penn has developed a model that makes transition between in-person and at-home learning as smooth as possible,” Dietrich said.

Many of the concerns with the hybrid plan turned out to be better than expected once put into action.

“We put great effort into getting audiovisual equipment into classrooms so that teachers could more effectively instruct to both students at home and in school. This was a huge undertaking and at times we worried that equipment would not arrive in time and that we would not be ready.  But with a little luck, and mostly the relentless pursuit of making sure we had what we needed, we were able to equip classrooms with the necessary equipment to get up and running,” Dietrich said.

“I think the most concerning part for me was how the cafeteria was gonna look. I knew, based on the numbers of who would be in on a hybrid one and who would be on the hybrid two, that are our classrooms would be pretty good—they could be socially distant. We could have plenty of space between students in the classroom. I was a little concerned about how the cafeteria would work, but I was very proud of our students and of the work that was put in there to make sure that students can be safe in the cafeteria. There’s some added concern there with masks off while students are eating. But students have been phenomenal about making sure their masks are on,” Nicholson said.

On Monday, Hybrid students will return with the same plan that was previously used. There will be no major changes made as of right now, other than the fact that students will be given the choice of where to sit in the cafeteria every day. They will have to scan QR codes to log in where they’re sitting. The District is working closely with the Suburban One League regarding sports. Any updates will be announced through the athletic department and the coaches as it becomes available.

“My hope is that everything goes well, that everybody has great success in coming into the building, that things continue as they were when we were in person in November, and that we kind of just roll through the next 13 school days up until winter break,” Nicholson said. 

If, at any point, the District will have to shut down schools again, they will have to look at the transmissions of COVID-19 within the schools. They will also have to look at the number of available staff members. If there are too many staff absences due to sickness or quarantine, the District will have to shut schools down as they would not be able to operate. The District will be working closely with the Board of Health prior to making any announcement of closure.

With roughly two weeks before the start of winter break, the North Penn community will have to work together to make sure things run smoothly.

“I hope that I will continue to see both staff and students being vigilant in their fight of COVID-19.  Masks will be worn and social distance rules will be followed. Combined with that, I hope to see momentum build and hybrid learning continue to improve with each day,” Dietrich said.

“Without all of us pitching in and all of us doing what we need to do, it’s going to be difficult to get this under control but I think if we all do our part, we’ll get back to the lower numbers,” Nicholson said.