On March 1, ETHS announced that it will transition to a hybrid learning model on April 15—almost 13 months to the day after the school shut down.

The announcement, made in an email sent to students and families, states that “hybrid learning is a bridge between all-remote instruction and full in-person instruction” and that the “default instructional model for hybrid learning at ETHS is remote in-person instruction. This means remote teaching with some students in the classroom.” This is similar to models employed by other schools both on the North Shore and around the country and is largely consistent with the plans announced in the summer and throughout the first semester.

Given the ongoing nature of the pandemic, hybrid learning will be optional with all families completing a survey on MyETHS indicating their preference between March 2 and March 5. All families who do not complete the survey by March 5 will be scheduled to continue Enhanced E-Learning and will not be allowed to switch to a hybrid model. Students who choose hybrid will be free to return to E-Learning at any point.

Those who opt-in “will attend one in-person session for a given course every other week” according to the existing E-Learning block schedule. This means that any student who wants to will spend eight half-days in the building per month in addition to any in-person experiences that they choose to attend. Students will be divided into four groups—A, B, C, D—arranged alphabetically. These groups will rotate which days they attend classes, with groups A, B coming on one week and C, D the following week. Group A/C will attend in the mornings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays going to periods 1, 2 and 0, 6, 7  respectively and in the afternoons on Thursdays and Fridays going to periods 3, 4, 5 and 8, 9 respectively. Groups B/D will follow the opposite schedule—attending afternoons Tuesdays and Wednesdays and mornings Thursdays and Fridays.  

Throughout the hybrid transition, ETHS has affirmed its commitment to its guiding principles to “maintain a healthy and safe environment for all students and staff,” “provide meaningful and engaging academic experiences for all students” and “address the social and emotional needs of all students and staff.” As such, safety measures including social distancing and mask-wearing will be enforced.