by SARAH THOMACK
St. Joseph Post
Savannah High School will be moving to what’s called a ‘fixed-blended’ model for classes starting next week.
The change applies to students who have been attending in-person classes this semester. The plan is for students to be split into two attendance groups - one group will attend virtual classes one day and the other group in-person and they will switch depending on the day. All students will learn virtually on Wednesdays.
Savannah R3 School District Communications Coordinator Jess Gillett says the changes came about due to the need to quarantine students.
“After seeing students being quarantined, some students being quarantined more than once, and then even students who hadn’t been quarantined, there’s that fear that, ‘Am I next, am I going to be in school tomorrow?’ It really was just creating a very inconsistent educational model for our students, for our staff, and so that was really the push to this."
Gillett says the fixed-blended model will allow the school to spread students out more, limit exposure and hopefully bring their quarantine numbers down.
Gillett adds that teachers and district staff have all been working hard to be creative and help students learn this year.
“Teachers are kind of learning on the fly what to do and what is best to reach these kids. Sometimes we try things and, ‘Man that was not as effective as we thought it was going to be,” Gillett says. “Our teachers have been wonderful, they’re willing to learn, they’re willing to do whatever they need to do to really be putting their best educational foot forward for our students and that’s a big part of our success right now.”
Savannah High School will transition to the 'fixed-blended model' of classes on October 7th.