Instructional Continuity 2020-21

Starting in August 2020, we will be using a new schedule that will allow us to maintain instructional continuity in a post-COVID world.

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. 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

We anticipate beginning the 2020–21 school year at L2L. This schedule features 4 days of appropriately distanced, on-campus learning and a “Virtual Friday.” In this scenario, in which students and teachers must remain 4 to 6 feet away from one another, we believe that 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 advisory or class 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 the number of people on campus and/or 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 advisory or class groups 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.

Webinars

MA held webinars to answer questions specific to class grades as it pertains to our Instructional Continuity plans for the 2020-21 Academic Year. If you missed one, you can watch the recordings below.

Presentation to rising senior Class of 2021 with Aaron, Mary, and Juliet

Presentation to rising senior Class of 2021 with Aaron, Mary, and Juliet

Presentation to Families of the Class of 2024

Presentation to Families of the Class of 2024

Presentation to Families of the Class of 2023

Presentation to Families of the Class of 2023

Presentation to Families of the Classes of 2021 and 2022

Presentation to Families of the Classes of 2021 and 2022

2020–21 Calendar & Schedule 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 (likely) 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 not just stay with the 2019–20 L4L Schedule?

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 be sure. Benefits of an every-other-day schedule include regular contact within a subject for a long period of time (such as a full semester or a year), allowing for long-term projects, more reading, and continuous study. 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:

Reduce the number of contacts each student and teacher has at a time: In our regular schedule, students are potentially exposed to—in classes alone—upwards of 120 students over the course of 2 days. For those taking 7 classes, that number is even higher. By focusing on daily interactions within only 3 classes, students will be exposed to fewer than half that. Teacher exposure to students, typically upwards of 80 students, is also cut in half. We know limiting the number of contacts we are exposed to is a key component for next year.
Maximize the credit students can earn in a discrete period of time: In this model, students earn a semester credit in 8-9 weeks. In this model, if a student gets sick and cannot attend school or do work for a month (two weeks of actual illness and two weeks of mandatory quarantine following the abatement of symptoms), that student can either receive discrete (aka semester), credit for the work completed prior to their departure and/or jump back into school without facing a mountain of make-up work. For example, if a student gets sick the first week of November, they will be 2 weeks into a new term. That student will have already received credit (and grades) for one semester of their first 3 classes. When the student returns in January, the schedule can be adjusted to ensure that required courses are completed by the end of the year allowing that student to remain with their age cohort going forward and keeping them on-track to graduate in four years without additional required summer work.
Create a more modular/portable schedule: We anticipate that there will be times when we need to return to 100% virtual learning in the 2020–21 school year. Reducing the number of classes a student takes (and a teacher teaches) per term makes possible a seamless shift between the F2F world (L1L and L2L) and the virtual world (L3L and L4L) given what we know now about Zoom fatigue.
Reduce the amount of time a student goes without having a touchpoint in a subject: Once we had determined the necessity of a and b, it only made sense to go with alternating quarters. Alternating semesters in a model such as this would not only reduce the positive impact of a and b, it would allow students to go for up to 8 months without studying a particular subject.

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. The handful of students who made requests that can’t be met in the new schedule will need to make choices around which course they want to drop. KaTrina has been reaching out to them individually to discuss their options.

Calendar

What will the school year calendar look like? When can we expect a copy?

What will the school year calendar look like? When can we expect a copy?

Athletics & Co-Curricula Activities

Will we have athletics in the fall of 2020?

Will we have athletics in the fall of 2020?

Pedagogical

Will the same distancing apply to teachers with students as it does student to student? If so, how will students work together and teachers help/consult with students?
What about supplies, textbooks, handouts, etc. Will there be restrictions or policies about the safety/use of shared materials?

Will the same distancing apply to teachers with students as it does student to student? If so, how will students work together and teachers help/consult with students?

All of the distancing requirements will apply to both teachers and students. While the research is still being generated, as of April 10, 2020, the CDC reports that “in the United States, 22% of the COVID-19 positive population is made up of infants, children, and adolescents under 18 years old.” Adapting our progressive often collaborative classroom practices and routines will be one of our greatest challenges as teachers in the 2020–21 school year. We will all be engaging in professional development regarding this challenge this summer.

What about supplies, textbooks, handouts, etc. Will there be restrictions or policies about the safety/use of shared materials?

Policies & Practices

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

Will the School provide/require PPE?

Our Interim Director of Operations Alejandro Higareda and his team have been investigating required PPE and cleaning/disinfecting materials and supply chains. We are not ready to make any final decisions about PPE requirements, as the situation with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic is changing rapidly. We will keep all community members informed as the situation evolves.

Have we checked on the “plastic/acrylic” shields that currently surround the individual while in schools? Schools in Germany and South Korea have designed and modified their classrooms to incorporate these transparent “cubicles.”

Downloads

2020-2021 School Calendar

KaTrina Wentzel

Academic Dean and English Teacher

Stella Beale

Dean of Faculty, English Teacher

Mya Sullivan

Dean of Equity & Inclusion, Math Teacher

Lynne Hansen

Dean of Students