Instructional Continuity 2020-21

Starting in August 2020, we will be using a new schedule that will allow us to maintain instructional continuity through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new schedule incorporates learning and feedback gained during the 2019–20 school year. We also have relied on research and experience from educators, health professionals, and environmental engineers to create a schedule and framework that will allow us to pivot quickly to respond to evolving circumstances, including the wellbeing of our constituents and new mandates from governing authorities (city, county, Bay Area, state, or nation).

COVID-19 has led us to think of the instructional difficulties and challenges that can exist on different levels, from increased student absences to long-term school closure. While we know that any real-time situation will require us to be nimble, adaptable, and flexible, we have established a framework that allows us to prepare for four distinct scenarios:

Our new daily schedule is flexible enough to serve us in each of the four levels, as you will see detailed below. The 2020–21 school year schedule includes 6 full-sized blocks wherein students in grades 9–12 take classes, 3 per quarter. This type of schedule, known as a 3x4 block schedule or a “Quarter-on, Quarter-off” schedule is not uncommon in American schools as it allows students more concentrated experiences of subjects, with fewer classes daily, weekly, and per quarter. In our 3x4 model, students will take three classes (A, B, & C) in Quarter 1 and Quarter 3, and three additional classes (D, E, & F) in Quarters 2 and 4. Each quarter, there is also an “S-block” or “small block” class that meets from 2:25–3:05. While most students will not take classes during S-block, 9th graders will take Human Development during S-block in either Quarter 1 or Quarter 2, 10th graders will take Human Development in either Quarter 3 or Quarter 4, and seniors will (likely) have college seminar once a week during S-block in the fall.

LEVEL 1 LEARNING

LEVEL 1 LEARNING

Level 1 represents a return to pre-pandemic policies and practices. In this scenario, students attend campus 5 days per week, and physical distancing is not required. Students are permitted to move freely around the campus. Assembly, class meetings, and club/IDEQ meetings will all be held in person. Students eat lunch in the café and are permitted to go off-campus. In this scenario, we rely on our pre-pandemic support structures for students who miss class and/or are absent.

LEVEL 2 LEARNING

LEVEL 2 LEARNING

This schedule features 4 days of appropriately distanced, on-campus learning and a “Virtual Friday.” Virtual Fridays will provide students with opportunities to collaborate and work together more closely than they will be able to do in the face-to-face environment. In L2L, students are not permitted to move freely around the campus. Assembly, class meetings, and club/IDEQ meetings will all be virtual. Students will eat lunch in designated groups and will not be permitted to go off-campus.

LEVEL 3 LEARNING

LEVEL 3 LEARNING

The Level 3 scenario is one wherein, due to health concerns, we need to reduce time on campus for all persons. Level 3 allows for either half the student population to be on campus at a time OR for the entire population to come to campus every-other-day. Level 3 will be implemented in the event that we need more time between face-to-face learning for cleaning campus and our facilities and/or if requirements outlined by the Marin County Department of Education (or other authorities) announce guidelines for smaller cohorts of students than Level 2 allows. As is the case in the L2L scenario, Level 3 requires that students and teachers remain 6 feet away from one another. In L3L, students are not permitted to move freely around the campus. Assembly, class meetings, and club/IDEQ meetings will all be virtual. Students will eat lunch in designated outdoor areas and will not be permitted to go off-campus.

LEVEL 4 LEARNING

LEVEL 4 LEARNING

In a Level 4 scenario, the school grounds are closed and all students will be learning remotely. Teachers will continue to communicate with their students via email, class pages on our Learning Management System (LMS) and Zoom. In L4L, the basic framework of the schedule stays constant. Individual teachers, however, will determine what portion of the class period will be synchronous and what will be asynchronous.

2020–21 Academic year FAQs

The Basics: The 2020–21 school year schedule includes 6 full-sized blocks wherein students in grades 9–12 take classes, 3 per quarter. This type of schedule, known as a 3x4 block schedule or a “Quarter-on, Quarter-off” schedule is not uncommon in American schools as it allows students more concentrated experiences of subjects, with fewer classes daily, weekly, and per quarter. In our 3x4 model, students will take three classes (A, B, & C) in Quarter 1 and Quarter 3, and three additional classes (D, E, & F) in Quarters 2 and 4. Each quarter, there is also an “S-block” or “small block” class that meets from 2:25–3:05. While most students will not take classes during S-block, 9th graders will take Human Development during S-block in either Quarter 1 or Quarter 2, 10th graders will take Human Development in either Quarter 3 or Quarter 4, and seniors will have college seminar once a week during S-block.

FAQs: What follows are answers to some of the questions we have received from you regarding the 2020–21 school year. We will continue to update this document as more questions are asked and as answers become clear. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out if you would like to discuss further and/or have questions that are not addressed here.

Schedule/Curriculum

Why did MA decide to start school at L4L and remain there for the first quarter? What if California removes Marin County off the watch list and the coronavirus data improves?

Why quarters as opposed to semesters? Isn’t it better to see students every other day instead of every day?

There are pros and cons to all schedules. Benefits of a more concentrated schedule include greater focus on fewer subjects, allowing for reduced cognitive load (for both students and faculty), daily teacher/student contact, deeper study, and greater retention. Students in a Q-on, Q-off schedule routinely report feeling less stress and more balanced. That said, we ultimately chose a Quarter-on/Quarter-off model in order to achieve the following: reduce the number of contacts each student and teacher has at a time, maximize the credit students can earn in a discrete period of time, and create a more modular/portable schedule.

Does this new schedule allow for independent study?

How are programs such as MARC and TLP affected?

What if my child wanted to take 7 courses?

All ninth and tenth graders will take a version of the required Human Development course during S-block. Specifically, ninth graders will have Hum Dev either Quarter 1 or Quarter 2 and tenth graders will have it either Quarter 3 or 4. In all cases, classes will meet two days a week (either M/W or T/Th) during S-block. For 10th–12th graders who opted for 7 courses during their scheduling process, many will still be able to do so. Hum Dev TAing, MARC EED, and Computer Science will be S-block courses. BlendEd courses also will still be available.

Calendar

What will the school year calendar look like?

What will the school year calendar look like?

Athletics & Co-Curricular Activities

What will Athletics look like in 2020-2021?

On October 2, the North Coast Section Board of Managers voted to adjust the sports calendar for the seasons ahead. The first adjustment was shifting the start date of the fall season from Monday, December 14 to Monday, December 7. The second adjustment was moving the boy's & girl's soccer start date up one week to Monday, February 15. A detailed NCS sport-by-sport calendar can be found here. An important piece to note, unlike standard years, spring sports may run into mid-to-late June. As December 7 nears, we will be sending out more detailed information about the fall and spring seasons.

Our Return to Activity program is in its second week with 114 participating students. Stay tuned for interscholastic teams Wildcat Training Camps, where all our teams, whether in-person or virtually, will come together in advance of the seasons ahead.

Our virtual Training and Strength & Conditioning program on Canvas is going strong. Students can access the program through Canvas.

Will there still be performing arts?

What about labs?

How will this impact learning services?

Will students have access to DesignLab?

Will students have access to the Library materials?

Will we be able to still work with the school counselor?

Policies & Practices

Will there be changes to our Student-Parent Handbook and policies related to COVID-19?

Yes! The 2020-21 Handbook is available here.

To protect our community all health and safety protocols put in the place by the school during the 2020–2021 school year need to be followed. A student who behaves in an intentional and flagrant manner that endangers the health of others, in particular related to the spread of COVID-19, will be subject to serious disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion.

Will the School provide/require PPE?

Our family’s financial situation has changed due to pandemic-related factors. What about tuition, fees and other financial considerations?

Although we are having to shift a significant portion of our program to an at-home, online format, the cost of delivering an MA education remains the same. Ensuring that we remain in a strong position regarding compensation of our faculty and staff, cleaning and maintaining our campus, and supporting the necessary technology and administrative functions of the school, requires that we continue to charge the tuition that was published for the 2020-21 school year.

We also recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic has created significant economic disruption for our community, and we expect more students may need tuition assistance in the coming academic year. Marin Academy has set aside additional funds for tuition assistance in order to meet the demonstrated needs of our students and families. Please direct all inquiries to Tuition Assistance Coordinator, Leslie Rojas.

Will attendance be required and tracked? Can we request credit/no-credit?

Attendance in classes, assemblies, class meetings, and advisory is still required and will be recorded. Like all times, if there are extenuating circumstances that keep a student from attending, they should reach out to their teacher, advisor and/or class dean. Credit/no credit isn’t recommended as a general approach, but can be requested and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.