District plans to begin reopening schools with Phase 3A and Phase 3B March 9, 2021 — by Christina Chang and Tiffany Wang As the county’s cases drop, the school plans to switch into a hybrid model and have in-person classes in cohorts. With almost 1,000 students currently participating in on-campus cohort activities across Los Gatos High School and Saratoga High School, the district plans to move into Phase 3A of the reopening plan, according to an email sent out to families on Feb. 23 on behalf of Superintendent Mike Grove and district board president David Guidry. The district’s current Phase 2 has all students doing distance learning with targeted groups in cohorts for on-campus activities, while Phase 3 will be a hybrid model. Phase 3 of reopening has been split into two parts: Phase 3A and Phase 3B, both of which give students the choice to opt in. In Phase 3A, which principal Greg Louie said the district hopes will be put in place on March 24, students will be split into two cohorts that will return for one hour classes on either Wednesday morning or afternoon. Phase 3B, which is currently planned to start April 12, will move into a hybrid learning model where two cohorts of students will be on campus, each returning for two days a week while other students stream classes from home. The district sent out a commitment survey on Feb. 12. It found that 62 percent of families said their students will be returning for Phase 3A. Louie said he anticipates there will be a variety of challenges with the return, including social distancing, mask wearing and simulcasting classes. But, he said, “The benefits are that we are another step closer to returning to normalcy and that we may develop instructional practices that will be even better than what we were doing pre-pandemic.” The district decided to have two parts to Phase 3 in hopes of reopening more gradually and safely with the least disruption to student learning. It will also allow the district to validate safety protocols and allow teachers the chance to learn how to simultaneously teach in-person and remote, superintendent Mike Grove said. The district hopes to stay in the Phase 3A model for two weeks, then transition to Phase 3B after Spring Break (April 3 to April 11) so that the significant transition would be close to the beginning of a new grading period, Grove said. As the county’s COVID-19 situation improves, the district will move into fully reopening schools for academic courses – starting with a cohorted system in Phase 3B and a cohort-free plan for Phase 4, whenever it occurs. The Phase 3 reopening may take place in either of two scenarios: The county enters the Orange Tier of the California COVID-19 tiers, or the county is in the Red Tier and all teachers have been vaccinated. The county entered the Red Tier on March 3 and educators became eligible for vaccination on Feb. 28. The district is hopeful the vaccination process for all educators who choose to do so will be completed by either late March or early April, setting the schools up to reopen. However, the district cannot predict when either of the two conditions will occur, as they are dependent on public health metrics out of the district’s control. Although the county entered the Red Tier, there is still a chance it will return back to the Purple Tier, slowing plans to move forward. The district is optimistic and planning for a normal reopening next fall, and will only revert to a hybrid model if required, Grove said. Despite the challenges to overcome, Louie said he looks forward to the reopening. “I am excited for students and staff to return to campus. Having been principal for Saratoga High School for about 20 months, I have spent nearly 12 of those months without students and staff on campus,” Louie said. “I am also excited for the possibilities of more and more traditional SHS events returning to campus.” 4 views this weekAbout the contributorsChristina ChangChristina Chang, Class of 2023, is an Editor-In-Chief of the '22-'23 Falcon staff. Previously, she served as a Sports Editor and local events beat writer for the '21-'22 staff and a Reporter and Layout Artist for the '20-'21 staff. During her time with The Falcon, she covered community news like the breakdown of city budget allocations and the first Blossom Festival post-COVID; wrote a series addressing mental health; profiled teacher friendships amid the pandemic; reported on the return of in-person learning and sports after shelter-in-place; and authored a narrative reflecting on her own basketball journey of eight years. Christina was named one of four finalists for Youth Journalism International's 2023 Student Journalist of the Year and one of seven finalists for the National Scholastic Press Association's 2022 Writer of the Year. She has received 23 journalism awards at the international, national and regional levels; her works have been recognized by Youth Journalism International, National Scholastic Press Association, Journalism Education Association of Northern California, Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and Santa Clara University. To further her journalism experience, she attended workshops during summer 2022 hosted by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, California Scholastic Press Association and Stanford Daily. She will fondly remember The Falcon as a highlight of her high school years, and will forever cherish the memories created during monthly deadline nights, enjoying catered food and chatting with fellow staff members while rushing to finish each print edition. Outside of the J-room, she enjoys getting involved in the community through volunteering with local nonprofits and school clubs as well as exploring her interests and creativity through art.