{"id":329600,"date":"2020-09-11T06:00:40","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T20:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=329600"},"modified":"2020-09-11T06:00:40","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T20:00:40","slug":"mcs-launches-first-week-of-hybrid-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/mcs-launches-first-week-of-hybrid-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"MCS launches first week of\u00a0hybrid learning"},"content":{"rendered":"
This week, Mount Carmel School welcomed its students back to campus through a hybrid learning approach. To accommodate over 600 students, MCS launched a hybrid system where only specific classes or \u201ccohorts\u201d are on campus on a given day. Those who are not on campus for face-to-face synchronous learning are participating in asynchronous online course work. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mount Carmel School welcomed its students back to campus this week to a hybrid learning approach. <\/p>\n

To accommodate over 600 students, MCS launched a hybrid system where only specific classes or \u201ccohorts\u201d are on campus on a given day. Those who are not on campus for face-to-face synchronous learning are participating in asynchronous online course work.<\/p>\n

Leading up to the start of face-to-face classes on Sept. 8, 2020, Mount Carmel School worked to exceed the expectations of the Governor\u2019s COVID-19 Task Force. The school divided its primary areas of focus on safety and learning.<\/p>\n

To ensure that students, employees, and community members are safe on campus, MCS invested in many resources to reconfigure the school appropriately. Throughout the campus are place markers spread out every 6 feet. Areas like the playground and canteen have been shut down to avoid a congregation of students. Throughout the campus are new washbasins to promote good sanitation practices. In each classroom, desks are spread out every 6 feet and, where possible, plexiglass cubicles are attached to each desk. To ensure the circulated air in each classroom is sanitized, MCS also invested in a UVC lighting fixture in each classroom. Lastly, Mount Carmel School revised its handbook to include new policies and procedures regarding the COVID-19 virus. Many of the school\u2019s procedures are guided by the guidelines from the Governor\u2019s COVID-19 Task Force and were adopted in Mount Carmel School\u2019s policies and procedures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team has worked hard for the past six months to make face-to-face classes possible again for our students,\u201d said MCS president Dr. Galvin Deleon Guerrero. \u201cWe understand the importance of reopening face-to-face classes as parents are also returning back to work and can\u2019t be home with their children. More importantly, we understand the expectation to keep all our students safe during this pandemic. I can assure you, we have been committed to going above and beyond to keep everyone safe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mount Carmel School principal Frances Taimanao said, \u201cThis experience has been challenging but eye-opening. We have had to approach almost every event or circumstance with a new perspective, but I think this experience has also made us stronger as a school.\u201d<\/p>\n

MCS senior John San Nicolas said the first week of face-to-face classes \u201cis a bit challenging to get used to but I\u2019m also happy just being able to see my friends again. \u2026When it comes to online classes, it can be difficult because I\u2019m having to work harder to pay attention and motivate myself to keep up with the course work, but I\u2019m also grateful to be learning again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mount Carmel School\u2019s Parent Council president Tina Crisostimo Tudela said, \u201cSo far, the beginning of face-to-face classes are going well. My two sons shared with me that the [6-foot] social distancing is being practiced and the teachers are doing their best to keep them safe in their classrooms. Although afternoon pick-up takes a little longer, both the morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up have been smooth. If our community continues to prioritize safety with regards to the pandemic, I truly hope that school\u2019s will be allowed to operate like before, but at this moment, I\u2019m happy with Mount Carmel\u2019s efforts to keep our students safe.\u201d (PR)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mount Carmel School welcomed its students back to campus this week to a hybrid learning…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":329602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1181],"class_list":["post-329600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-mcs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}