18 | JUNE 4 • 2020 

West Bloomfield School District
Plans Tentative Fall Re-Opening

Blended learning may become the new norm as other
schools begin to develop their COVID-19 plans.

CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER

Jews in the D

A

s summer begins to roll in, schools 
throughout Michigan are begin-
ning to plan for what the fall will 
bring for their students, families and faculty 
members. With the effects of the coronavi-
rus pandemic still looming, school districts 
are trying to find a new “norm.
” 
For the past two months, schools have 
been involved with distance learning. 
Students and teachers alike have been faced 
with new challenges and are eager to get 
back into the classroom. Unfortunately, that 
may not be a possibility. 
One school district, West Bloomfield, 
rolled out a plan May 18 for the upcoming 
school year. The district is believed to be 
the first in the state to do so. Its plan, called 
“Classroom to Cloud,
” provides a roadmap 
of three potential instructional methods for 
the fall. 
“We’
re awaiting guidance from Gov. 
Whitmer, who set up a task force that 
is going to be looking at the open-
ing of schools,
” said West Bloomfield 
Superintendent Gerald Hill. “They are 
just starting their work right now, but 
we thought we needed to get planning in 
advance of that.
” 
The first plan, “Plan A,
” is a blended 
instruction approach combining both 
online and in-person instruction. This plan 
will split the student body in half and allow 
for 50% of students to come into the class-
room on Mondays and Tuesdays and the 
other 50% to come in on Thursdays and 
Fridays. 
There will be a cleaning day on 
Wednesdays, when no one is in the 
schools, to provide a safe environment for 

students and faculty. When the students are 
not in the classroom, they will participate 
in remote learning. 
“Plan B” is a continuation of the remote 
learning that they have been participating 
in since March. This plan is strictly for if 
there is a continuation of a stay-at-home 
order and they need to be compliant with 
those guidelines. 
The other option, “Plan C,
” provides the 
option of online instruction to students, 
parents and faculty. It would be provided 
as an option for students and parents in the 
event some do not feel comfortable return-
ing to the classroom. 
“We want to make sure our families who 
we are serving have some options,
” Hill 
said. “Everyone has different situations, dif-
ferent needs and different concerns so we 
want to make sure we can satisfy whatever 
their concerns are, and that they can select 
a plan that best fits their situation.
” 
Instructional plans are still under devel-
opment. The three plans will also be a more 
competency-based instructional model, as 
opposed to more traditional methods. 
Hill and the rest of the district also need 
to begin forming class schedules for stu-
dents and implementing social distancing 
techniques within the classroom. 
“Schools are not built or designed for 
social distancing. It is quite the opposite, 
in fact,
” Hill said. “Our classrooms that 
traditionally house 20-30 students will now 
have 12-15 students in them. The furniture 
will now also be socially distanced, and we 
will have to develop a plan for the cafeteria 
as well.
” 
West Bloomfield shared its plan with 

the West Bloomfield Board of Education on 
May 18 and has held two Zoom commu-
nity presentations to address questions and 
concerns of family members. 
Although fall seems far away, Hill wanted 
to begin developing plans sooner rather 
than later to ensure that families were 
informed and to also build budgets, which 
are due June 30. 
Ann Arbor Public Schools also recent-
ly announced its plan for the upcoming 
school year. According to MLive, the school 
district is planning for a start date of Aug. 
31. Its instruction plan is similarly struc-
tured to that of West Bloomfield’
s, where 
it will implement a combination of face-
to-face instruction and continued virtual 
learning. 
As for Hillel Day School, no final deci-
sions have been made yet for the new 
school year. However, three internal task 
forces, Campus Reopening, Academic 
Continuity and Excellence, and Financial 
Planning, have begun the planning process. 
“We are planning for several possibilities 
for the 2020–2021 academic year that will 
be consistent with local, state, and federal 
guidelines and regulations,
” Hillel’
s state-
ment to parents read. “While life at Hillel 
might not return to exactly as it was before 
COVID-19, we are certain our community 
will bring ingenuity, passion and determi-
nation to answering questions of how to 
adapt to our new normal that preserves 
the neshama (soul) of Hillel Day School.
” 
Frankel Jewish Academy is also current-
ly developing its plans for the upcoming 
school year and hopes to have more infor-
mation by mid-June. 

COURTESY OF PIXABAY

