Return to In-Person Learning

NORMAN CHOW

The Return to In-Person Learning

Cupertino High School has returned to in-person schooling through a hybrid model. This is the first time that students will return to campus in over a year since the start of the pandemic in 2020, other than non-class related activities.

The system that is put in place currently allows for classes of students to return in 2 groups, with each group being socially distanced to ensure safety. However, the option for going back to school has not been popular. Classes rarely see more than a quarter of their students returning to campus. Especially with the split between two sections, there are rarely more than five or six people per classroom. The reason for this unpopularity is varied; students stated reasons including safety, inconvenience, and the fact that after more than a year of online learning, some are unaccustomed to going back on campus to learn.

However, the relative unpopularity of the hybrid learning system does have its benefits. It allows for almost empty classrooms, making a safe and easier learning environment, which means that there is less risk involved for both teachers and students.

Additionally, it allows for teachers to become reaccustomed to in-person schooling. As students will be returning in small groups, it allows for instructors to gradually return to the normal, and the eventual shift to completely in-person lessons will be easier.

Among the greatest benefits are still to students. After over a year of zoom classes, those who are returning are eager to come back to normalcy. Students will be able to benefit from directly seeing their teachers, and are no longer prone to run into a myriad of technology problems, including things such as server crashes and internet downtime. This change has taken place as of April 19th,

and the timeframe as to which students will return fully is still uncertain, but is expected to be at the start of the next school year. For now, the optional hybrid system at CHS will allow for especially motivated students, or just those who seek to find a return to normalcy, to return to campus and meet up with their teachers and friends.

Students will be able to benefit from directly seeing their teachers.