By Jane Martin
Special to The Chronicle
Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy is off to a great start for the school year, using its cyclical learning model. In their first week back at school, all HBHA students, K-12, engaged in virtual-only learning, followed by a week of in-person learning during Labor Day week. This week they are back in their virtual classrooms, and, if Johnson County COVID numbers remain steady, the plan is to continue alternating in-person and virtual weeks for the foreseeable future.
HBHA’s Head of School Adam Tilove said the goal is to mitigate the risk of exposure within the school community by separating people for prolonged periods of time. The science shows that this additional intervention method may help thwart the spread of COVID-19 should someone in the school contract the virus.
“Of course, our top priority is to keep our students, teachers and families safe, while also giving students and teachers the direct, in-person time needed to build community and relationships,” Tilove said.
HBHA’s learning model was fully vetted by the school’s reopening task force, a committee of 16 school administrators, doctors, health experts and teachers — many of whom are parents of current HBHA students. In addition to alternating learning models between being in school and at home, HBHA has implemented a number of in-school protocols to reduce exposure to COVID-19, including keeping students in limited cohorts, social distancing, masks, good hand hygiene, Plexiglas dividers and continuous cleaning and disinfecting. The school has re-imagined classroom spaces to ensure students can work several feet apart from one another, and also offers the HBHA Virtual Live option for those students who need to remain virtual throughout the pandemic.
Tilove attributes the success in these first weeks to a great partnership with families, along with huge amounts of planning and preparation by HBHA’s staff and faculty.
“One of the challenges presented by our model is simultaneously teaching students face-to-face in the classroom, while also teaching our all-virtual students. I am glad to say that our faculty has been resourceful and inventive every step of the way. At the same time, we know parents are at home, often trying to juggle work and helping their child(ren) succeed in the classroom. This isn’t easy for anyone,” Tilove said.
HBHA’s lower and middle school Principal Dr. Jessica Kyanka-Maggart noted the school’s teachers spent many hours preparing and worked hard to have a strong start to the school year.
“Their care and careful planning for the education of the whole child during a difficult time is what makes HBHA such a special place,” she said.
And, when it comes to virtual learning, Todd Clauer, HBHA’s upper school principal, said, “Teachers continue to differentiate in the classroom — whether the classroom space is virtual or in person. They are using every tool at their disposal to ensure virtual classrooms remain engaging and educational, and a place where students can learn and grow at their own pace.
Head of School Tilove said that with the anticipation that the virus will be with us for the foreseeable future, it has been important for HBHA to be able to get off to a strong start.
“So strong that our admissions department is seeing far more new families looking to enroll, even now that we have begun the school year,” Tilove said.
Students were excited to get back into the classroom (whether virtual or in person) and HBHA will continue to follow its guiding principles, which is to provide an exceptional, engaging and individualized education for their students. Part of that includes getting back to “normal” including virtual field trips, athletics, Chiefs Spirit Day and the kickoff to the upper school’s annual social justice project, which is held in partnership with their peers at University Academy. In HBHA’s first grade, parents are getting into the act during virtual learning weeks by blowing the shofar during the Hebrew month of Elul, leading up to Rosh Hashanah.
“I am excited with how things have progressed so far in the 2020-21 school year,” Tilove said. “It was a long summer of planning and implementing a number of new processes — both in the physical building and in regards to educational systems — to ensure we are keeping our school community safe while fully meeting the needs of our students academically, socially and emotionally. It was so good to see teachers and students learning and engaged, and to feel the vibrancy of our school.”
Jane Martin serves as director of marketing for Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy.