Trinitas is eager to begin the year with in-person instruction. A hallmark of classical education is direct and personal interaction between teacher and student, while our community life develops through intentional relationship-building. We intend to do all we can to stay open. We need your help to do this! Each family’s commitment to self-screening, practicing good hygiene, and adhering to the guidelines set forth in our COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan will make a difference.
Remote Instruction
In the event that we move to full remote instruction, we will try to maintain our on-campus weekly rhythms as closely as possible with a few anticipated changes.
1. Students in grades K-4 will have required live instruction time with their teachers primarily via Zoom or Teams in core subjects in the mornings. There will be some flexibility with afternoon subjects (e.g., students may be asked to choose two or more non-core subjects to participate in).
2. Students in grades 5-8 will largely follow the same schedule for live and/or recorded instruction time, but there will be more time for independent work within this schedule so that they are not on screens for the entire school day. By using a block schedule, we will reduce the number of Teams and assignments per day during remote instruction.
3. Given the differences between in-person and remote instruction, we are likely to compress the schedules so that teacher-whole class instruction ends earlier in the day. This will allow for teacher-small group or teacher-individual instruction time at the end of the school day.
4. We believe that a synchronous schedule is our best option for remote instruction and moving between on-campus and remote, but we also recognize that this may present a challenge for some families (e.g., device shortages, time for parental support). We are planning to communicate with each family in order to address challenges.
On Campus Instruction with Required Absences
Required absences are any necessitated by the COVID plan or by other normal reasons (e.g., injury, emergency, other sickness, etc.).
We hope to maintain our in-person schedule while also supporting students who are required to be absent. Those students will receive teacher-supplied assignments and materials as well as remote meetings as needed. However, if the number of required absences grows significantly, we may need to move to full remote instruction for the cohort or possibly move to an earlier dismissal time for the entire school (e.g., 2:00 with after care available) to allow the school to remain open while also enabling teachers to support absent students with more remote meetings.
Optional Remote Instruction
After thoroughly examining the possibility, we have concluded that we cannot provide a fully remote option for families who would choose it over in-person instruction. We have decided that it is in the best interest of our students, teachers, and families to concentrate on fully supporting students who are on-campus as well as those students who are required to be absent but intend to return to campus when they are able.
We remain grateful for your prayers as we plan for various scenarios, and we appreciate your patience as we make adjustments along the way.