Northwestern Lehigh School District Superintendent Jennifer L. Holman provided the following end-of-school letter to parents and staff June 3 on the district’s website.

“ ... I would like to take this opportunity near the end of our school year to share some thoughts, invite you to provide input regarding the recent e-learning experience, and share ideas for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year.

“We are asking families to complete the School Structure Parent/Guardian Survey on the school district’s website that will be used in our planning.

Thoughts for next year:

“As we officially end this school year, I know there are lots of questions regarding what the future holds.

“Between Facebook, the newspaper, and the nightly news, a person can be overwhelmed reading and listening to all the various ‘plans’ for opening school, pondering all the ‘what ifs,’ or trying to predict what the ‘new normal’ will look like.

“However, please rest assured we have a whole team of people working on countless ‘what if’ scenarios, ranging from a traditional on-site model, to a blended model (combination of on-site and online), to even the possibility of remaining completely online for next school year.

“We have participated in meetings for countless hours with our colleagues in emergency management, health services, and education to plan as a county for our response to COVID-19.

“Our planning for the 2020-21 school year will continue this summer with a countywide task force of school district administrators to discuss teaching and learning, transportation, special education, student services, nutrition and food services, technology, operations, facilities, safety, human resources, and communication.

“We are examining various recommended density lowering solutions and other related guidance to assess their effectiveness and our ability to implement them to the maximum extent feasible.

“Every plan we develop must be feasible and practical and most importantly take into consideration what is most appropriate for our students in our current environment.

“We are planning for the possibility that some level of restrictions will be in place when classes are scheduled to resume in August, and we recognize that local public health data will determine whether those restrictions may tighten or loosen.

“Consequently, NWLSD is considering offering a variety of learning options, from the most restrictive, with home learning continuing until school can return to normal operations, in which all students are back in school.

“Recognizing the value of in-person learning, we envision a blended learning approach that will allow students to receive instruction regardless of the setting that is deemed most appropriate at the time.

“The blended learning approach will provide the district with a flexible method of instructional delivery in meeting the restrictions at any given time, even when we do not yet know what the restrictions may require.

“Furthermore, the Northwestern Lehigh School District is preparing to be able to react quickly to the potential of outbreaks of COVID-19 within our community, which may prompt increased restrictions, including the possibility of prolonged closures in the future.

“Right now we are working on four scenarios:

·Plan A is returning to “normal” school. This is everyone’s greatest hope.

We want to see our kids in the halls of our schools again.

We want to see their faces, and we want to interact and develop close relationships with each of them.

We are all planning and hoping for Plan A in fall 2020-21.

“While we are hopeful but we are also intentional in our planning.

·Plan B is 100 percent virtual. This is for every subject taught by our teachers.

Every subject we currently offer our students at each school would be taught virtually by our teachers with students remaining at home until restrictions allowed us to return to school.

·Plan C is a blended learning approach which is a combination of Plan A and Plan B.

If the state still has social distancing requirements in place during the next school year, we will need to consider a version of a blended plan.

A 6-foot social distancing guideline means that we can only place 12 to 15 students plus a teacher in a classroom.

We do not have enough classrooms or teachers to make this work on a daily basis.

As an example, we could look at having half our students come to school on Mondays and Wednesdays, the other half come to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and everyone would have classes virtually on Fridays.

The Monday/Wednesday cohort would have virtual classes on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

The Tuesday/Thursday cohort would have virtual classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

“Again, this is just one example of what it could look like.

“As an expert in the field of education, having some aspect of an in-person school is important for all of our learners to experience a meaningful and healthy public school experience where creativity is born, risk-taking is encouraged, new discoveries are just a class period away, and relationships thrive.

·Plan D is an option we have always had available for families who seek a digital option for their children while maintaining a connection to Northwestern Lehigh: our Northwestern Lehigh Digital Academy.

Our Northwestern Lehigh Digital Academy is a program that provides 100 percent digital content and certified instructors for your child’s courses.

The student would attend school from their home with online instruction provided five days per week.

This is an option that is always available for students, and families may choose this option for students with health issues or if you have fear or uncertainty with sending your child back to school this fall.

“We know a lot can change before school starts up again next year.

“Alongside our administrative team, we will be working on a plan this summer that will further detail options available to families in fall 2020 taking into consideration the best medical and safety advice.

Closing thoughts:

“We wanted you to know we are thinking about options for our students and families for the start of school for the 2020-21 school year and what they mean for our district, our students and our teachers.

“We know there will not be one perfect solution that works for every family and there will be concerns we will have to deal with and work through, but we feel like this will give us the ability to be nimble in troubled times.

“If we are ever faced with another long-term school closure, we will be prepared!

“We do need your feedback to help with our planning.

“Again, we ask families to complete the following survey that will be used in our planning.

“The survey will help guide our planning efforts in the areas of school, transportation, budgeting and class schedules.

“Again, I want to thank you for everything you do to support our school district.

It is now time for some rest.

I hope everyone will continue to stay healthy, enjoy time with your family and loved ones, and relax before we start again in August.

Have a great summer break.