Photo courtesy of Google under the Creative Commons license
According to Emily Zhang, social media editor-in-chief of Francis Howell News Today, “things have worked out better than expected, not too many people [are] testing positive or spreading [COVID-19] in school, but there is very little evidence to back [that] up.”
Francis Howell High School (Francis Howell District)
Online/Hybrid/In-person?: Students at Francis Howell High school have two options: either attend school in-person five days a week or do so online.
Weekly schedule: (In-person) The doors to FHHS open at 6:50 a.m, and school begins at 7:20. Students rotate through all seven of their class periods every day. School is released at 2:20 p.m. On Wednesdays, their school days are shortened, spanning from 7:20 a.m to 1:30 p.m with a homeroom period after second hour.
Timeline of events:
Francis Howell School District made the decision to have a return to in-person learning July 20. Students could choose to go back to school in-person or go fully online for the first semester. The first day of school for the Francis Howell district was pushed back a week to Aug. 31, giving teachers and administration an extra day to plan. All students are required to wear a mask and there are contract tracing procedures in place. Students sit 6 feet away from each other, and if a student tests positive, the students sitting less than 6 feet away from them are placed in a two-week quarantine at home. Francis Howell students are assigned seats at lunch and may only remove masks to eat. Francis Howell changed their contact tracing procedures on Tuesday, Nov. 24, to fit lessened restrictions from Governor Mike Parson. When students and staff are properly masked, they do not need to quarantine regardless of whether they were within 6 feet of an individual that tests positive for COVID-19.
Student feedback:
According to Emily Zhang, social media editor-in-chief of Francis Howell News Today, “things have worked out better than expected, not too many people [are] testing positive or spreading [COVID-19] in school, but there is very little evidence to back [that] up.”
Second semester plans:
Once second semester begins, online students can choose to go in-person and vice versa. Zhang noted “it seems that [Francis Howell’s] superintendent will keep all schools open unless [they become] short on staff.”