Zoom High School?

Take a deeper look into Notre Dame’s plan for the school year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

Rachel Kim

Beginning March of 2020, Notre Dame High School switched to online classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For this 2020-2021 school year, Notre Dame announced that “courses will remain fully online until schools are approved by the Los Angeles County Department of Health to resume conducting in person learning.” 

Once the Los Angeles County is off the California COVID-19 watch list for 14 consecutive days, students who opted for the Hybrid Learning plan will return to campus on the 15th day. Students and families will be notified with all the important information needed to safely return. As for students who have opted to remain fully online will continue to attend their live Canvas Conference/Zoom meetings from home at the same time. 

Students who opted for Hybrid Learning will report to their classes two days per week according to their assigned Cohort. Cohort #1 will attend classes on campus on Mondays & Tuesdays and join their live classes with students who have opted to remain online on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Cohort #2 will attend classes on campus on Thursdays & Fridays and join their live classes with students who have opted to remain online on Mondays & Tuesdays. 

On Blue Days, even numbered classrooms will be dismissed one minute early from each class period to help with egress, while on Gold Days, odd numbered classrooms will be dismissed one minute early.

Morning office hours will be available on Mondays & Fridays from 7:40-8:10AM. X-periods will be available on Tuesdays & Wednesdays from 1:40-3:00PM. These meeting sessions will only be available through appointments scheduled on Canvas. Wednesday classes will be conducted all online for the maintenance team to perform deeper cleaning and campus disinfection. This also means faculty will not be available for x-periods or office hours on Wednesdays. 

ND’s hybrid plan allows students “to get on campus for all of their classes two days in a row—one blue day and one gold day—and then has them at home learning on-line synchronously in “real-time” for three days. Cohorts are arranged alphabetically according to last name so that siblings are on campus for the same two days each week” (ndhs.org). 

Delanee Saguros ’21 stated, “I think that ND’s online/hybrid learning system is very organized and efficient. I think our school does a very good job in making sure us students still get the information and lectures we need for each class. However, nothing can compare to learning in a physical class with the physical presence of teachers and students. I just hope that as soon as it is safe, we can all return to campus soon!”

This hybrid plan enables students to have a sufficient time on-campus learning and socializing with peers every week. It also allows students to “have five consecutive days at home (counting the weekends) in between their times on campus, which provides a cushion in the event that they, or a close family member, needs to be tested and await COVID-19 results” (ndhs.org).

Mika Panahon ‘21 stated, “ND’s online learning system, and online learning as a whole, is definitely very challenging. Learning through a computer screen seems very limiting. With a system where you cannot engage with other students for the most part, it’s apparent how much different it is from the norm that we know. While online learning is not my preferred way to learn, I trust that we are all doing this for our ensured safety. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of hybrid learning (which based on the plan is something I am super excited for).”

Everyone on campus will now use a new visitor management system called Visitu Mobile to check-in and check-out of campus. This app is used to pre-screen all students, faculties, and visitors. Visitu also provides everyone with a touch-free check-in process. The new touch-free check-in process as well as the temperature checks will be done in the Gym Lobby as soon as you arrive on campus. 

For more information and updates, check out ndhs.org.

For instructions on how to use Zoom, go to: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RD3Rih0jRbeGfHo3FwTFOdxyKiHWODVcAnUxB86Fz10/edit 

For instructions on how to use Canvas Conference, go to: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11nm3BDSEkSFBmUX9NYquvimHAVSDK_I88iLrHVhR-Os/edit 

 To print out a copy of the Blue and Gold Day Online Schedule, go to: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bc9qJW-ZUEALjin8nUy1R01ufNXUZoyyCgvnRC6lw-w/edit 

To print out a copy of the Fall Semester Blue and Gold Day Hybrid Schedule, go to: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yTnBpbcucSxce-3-6KHDWGMvUEUq9dxwOSfVSbeICuk/edit#gid=0 

For more questions on Online Classes, check out the FAQs:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BnlXbqojyVQ8uBgfZwvAmaQwq39aA6Zl_4hMcTS74iE/edit

For more information on the Protocols for Online Classes, check out: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BSH1iFhoIfuguId3uLijzg8GfogvewSnnOv-4kuIYrY/edit