Falls Church City Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Peter Noonan sent out a message on Friday detailing the school system’s plan to have students in all grade levels be able to participate in hybrid learning by Feb. 23.
“This decision is based on Health Metrics, the Covid variant, the Wednesday/Friday decision cycle, instructional/operational issues, and the newest tool in our toolbox – the vaccine!” Noonan wrote in his announcement.
As faculty and staff complete their Covid-19 vaccinations and are given enough time for immunity to build up over the next few weeks, this is the schedule Noonan proposed:
- Cohort 1 (Special Populations) will continue with hybrid instruction, given the very small numbers in the programs. Falls Church schools will gradually increase the amount of in-person classes over the next couple of weeks to four full days per week, as appropriate for each program.
- Cohort 2 (Grades K-5) will all return to hybrid instruction on Feb. 23. Students will remain in virtual instruction until then.
- Cohort 3 (Grades 6-12) will also all return to hybrid instruction on Feb. 23. Students will remain in virtual instruction until then.
All cohorts will remain in hybrid once they return to class.
As Noonan said in his announcement, any moves back to virtual will be based on the need to “pause” isolated groups to allow for contact tracing or other similar issues. Falls Church schools will make these decisions in collaboration with the Fairfax Health Department.
