Chris Rossetti
OIL CITY, Pa. – The Oil City School District is offering three options for the 2020-21 school year.
Option A is face-to-face instruction with what is being called a hybrid start (more on this below)., Option B is the Oil City Virtual Academy, and Option C is Cyber School.
OPTION A: FACE-TO-FACE
In Option, the first four weeks of school would be at 50 percent capacity before returning to 100 percent capacity by Week Five.
Weeks One and Two would both be four-day school weeks – Tuesday through Friday – of each week with the first week running Sept. 1-4 and the second week running Sept. 8-11.
In both weeks Tuesday and Wednesday would see “Group A” have in-person schooling while “Group B” would do remote learning. The groups would then switch for Thursday and Friday with “Group B” being in school and “Group A” doing remote learning.
Week Three and Four would be five-day school weeks – Monday through Friday – with Wednesday of both weeks being remote learning for all students.
In both weeks, “Group A” would be in school Monday and Tuesday while “Group B” would be doing remote learning. Then on Thursday and Friday of each week, the groups would switch with “Group B” being in school and “Group A” doing remote learning.
Being in Week Five, which starts Sept. 28, it would be 100 percent in school-learning for all students who have chosen Option A.
Option A’s weeks are subject to change or the possible continuation of the previous week’s schedule depending on guidelines from the CDC, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
According to school administrators, during the first four weeks of Option A, time will be spent teaching students about social distancing, hand washing, and other skills “needed to be safe at school.” All students will also be given a “device”.
“We will devote a great deal of time to getting our students acclimated to the devices,” the administrator said.
OPTION B: Virtual Academy
In Option B, the student will receive 100 percent remote learning from Oil City teachers.
OPTION C: Cyber School
Option C is Oil City’s online curriculum. It is self-paced and self-guided. It is not led by Oil City teachers. The district’s guidance counselors will be the district liaison for this program.
According to the administrator, a form is being sent out and parents will need to enter which of the three options they chose for their child(ren).
“After we collect these forms, we can determine our groupings for face-to-face,” the administrator said. “It is so important that you enter your child’s information into the form.”
If a parent would rather call their child’s school instead of filling out the form, they can do that as well, the administrator said.
The form is available online.
