Article Image Alt Text

The Daily Review/Geoff Stoute
St. Mary Parish School Board Supervisor of Special Services Debra McClarity speaks about plans for Special Education students during Wednesday’s second “Welcome Back to School Forum” at the Central Office Complex in Centerville.

St. Mary administrators outline what school schedule will look like

CENTERVILLE — St. Mary Parish high school students will return to classes this fall in a four-period day, while middle school students will be using a six-period day.
Those were some of the details outlined in the second “Welcome Back to School Forum” the school system hosted Wednesday to outline what instruction will look like when students return to school Aug. 7.
Buffy Fegenbush, the district’s supervisor of high schools and career and tech development instruction, said that for this year, high school students will be using a flex-hybrid schedule that will feature four classes in the fall and then four new classes in the spring.
Student populations will be divided in half with one group of students attending classes on Mondays and Thursdays and the second group going to school on Tuesdays and Fridays. On the other days, students will work virtually from home using district-issued laptops.
“The beauty of this is they will have four classes before Chris-tmas,” Fegenbush said. “They will complete those courses, and then they will have four classes after Christmas.”
The schedule will allow for students to graduate and earn the credits they need, Fegenbush said.
Seniors still will be able to leave school early, as they had in year’s past, but they must attend three periods of instruction for each in-person session per semester.
The classes from the traditional seven-period schedule that students had planned for the upcoming school year still will be followed, and the eighth class will be added during the first semester in fourth period, Fegenbush said.
“That class will be determined in conjunction with the parents and students and the school administration, so that students will be able to get continued support, so they will be able to maybe earn more dual enrollment credits or more industry-based certifications,” Fegen-bush said, adding it also could be used for remediation for students who need extra help.
The schedule will allow for the roughly 50% of the students in the district who graduate in the technical college track to complete their requirements, too.
In middle school, students also will be divided with half of the students attending classes on Monday and Thursday and the other half on Tuesday and Friday. When they are away from the classroom, students will complete course work via district-issued laptops.
By switching to a six-period day from eight periods per day, students will have more time for instruction and will necessitate less cleaning of surfaces between classes, said Niki Fryou, district supervisor of instruction for elementary and middle schools.
In the elementary school setting, students will attend school daily but will be in static groups, she said.
“So yes, we are compartmentalized, but the same group of students is going to move together,” Fryou said.
Among the recommendations that Fryou gave for how parents can help in the transition back to school are to keep a positive attitude about the changes that will be taking place.
“Children pick up from you,” she said. “If you’re negative and you’re talking about how bad the masks are, guess what? Your kids do, too, but if you make it a positive aspect, your kids are not going to mind near as much wearing those face masks.”
Fryou also said stressing frequent handwashing now is key for when the students return to school where handwashing will be done often and hand sanitizer will be found in classrooms.
“That is the big thing, keeping our hands clean. … That’s going to be a key in our elementary schools because our hands touch everything,” she said.
As for students who are enrolled in special education, students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade will attend school daily and follow a traditional schedule, said Debra McClarity, supervisor of special services. She said those in grades sixth through 12th grades will follow the guidelines for high school. However, students may attend school daily if they wish.
The differences between virtual learning and homeschooling also were discussed during Wednesday’s forum.
Fegenbush said those students who participate in virtual learning still are part of the school system at their home campus even though they are not attending in-person instruction.
“They will be able to participate in extra-curricular activities if they choose to do so,” Fegenbush said. “Attendance will still be required and monitored and recorded just as if they were attending school daily. They will be expected to attend school virtually.”
In the virtual program, students will be given assignments and will be checked in on each Monday to make sure they still are on course to complete the class.
“Again, students will be assisted by district teachers, and I think that’s very important,” Fegenbush said. “The teachers who will be assisting students in the virtual learning program will know the students. They will know the parents, so they will have direct contact with you. In the virtual learning program, you will not be speaking to someone that you’ve never seen before or who’s on the other end of the computer who may not respond to your needs.”
In homeschool, however, students will no longer be St. Mary Parish school students and also will not be able to participate in district extracurricular activities.
“Families will be responsible for purchasing and providing curriculum for your children, for purchasing and providing laptops and technology that will be needed for that curriculum,” Fegenbush said. “Parents must register with the Louisiana Department of Education.”
The district will hold its third forum Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. to discuss in more detail technology that will be available for virtual as well as in-class learning.

ST. MARY NOW

Franklin Banner-Tribune
P.O. Box 566, Franklin, LA 70538
Phone: 337-828-3706
Fax: 337-828-2874

Morgan City Review
1014 Front Street, Morgan City, LA 70380
Phone: 985-384-8370
Fax: 985-384-4255