Alturas begins classes with plexiglas dividers, half-day in-person instruction for students

IDAHO FALLS — Alturas International Academy opened its doors Monday and welcomed kids back to class.
The public charter school is instituting safety measures to “balance the advantages of in-person education with the necessity of protecting students, teachers, and the community from COVID-19,” a news release says.
The student body has been divided into two sections, with half attending each day in the morning and half attending in the afternoon. This keeps classrooms at a maximum of 12 students for easier social distancing. Students will do two hours of online work each day when they are not in the classroom.
A hallway plan is also being implemented to help middle-school students who need to move between classrooms during the day.
“As an administration team, we feel that placing students into cohorts, not only in the elementary grades, but in middle-school grades as well, provides our school community with the best opportunity to remain open during this pandemic,” said Executive Director Michelle Ball.
Plexiglas dividers have been installed at each student table and everyone who enters the building must wear a mask.
“Alternate days would have been much easier to navigate,” said Ball. “We choose to do a.m. and p.m sessions because we believe students need daily instruction in reading and math, especially in the early years of learning how to read. If students do not get this foundation, it could impact them for the rest of their lives.”
The school has contingency plans if local COVID-19 case numbers increase or someone in the school gets coronavirus. If a student tests positive for COVID, his or her class will immediately transition to online for 10 days, but since the classes are quarantining from one another, the rest of the school will be able to remain in session.
The school’s 10-person board of directors backed the plan unanimously. The board and administration believes that this cautious approach will keep the school open longer than if they had simply returned to business as usual.
“Nothing will shut in-person education down faster than a premature return to normal,” said members of the board in a joint email sent to parents.
“A major goal at this school is to help students become responsible, community-minded citizens who take care of each other,” said Ball. “So we’re all going to walk the talk and do our part to keep our whole community safe.”
Source: eastidahonews.com