As a new school year begins, COVID-19 continues to loom over the heads of parents, students and school officials alike. In hopes to continue with face-to-face teaching, a number of safety protocols were put into place to protect faculty, staff, and students. One of the most notable changes is the hybrid model and schedule which allows only half of the student population on campus at a time. This new model involves a mix of e-learning and face-to-face learning all while dividing up students into two different cohorts to keep the number of people that are physically on campus as low as possible. 

     The students are divided into two different groups. A and B students attend school two days of the week, while Z students remain strictly on zoom. On Friday, classes are over zoom. The other two days are at home as well, but it mainly serves as an at-home workday. The Z schedule group is completely online, as it is safer for some students to stay home than go

Tampa Prep adapted to a new hybrid schedule this school year in order to follow COVID-19 safety protocols. From tampaprep.orgto school, due to personal reasons. *See schedule attached*

     The first week- experiencing the new schedule, having longer class periods, juggling a new workload- was definitely an adjustment for me. It felt unreal and amazing at the same time to be back on campus for the first time since March. Wearing masks, wiping down my work area, staying in class for lunch and having less interaction in the halls are some of the many safety protocols in place that made my learning environment feel safe. This gave me comfort in being back on campus.

     I felt the least prepared for the longer class periods. It was difficult to keep my attention span prominent the whole hour and a half, along with keeping up with some of the workloads. 

     Along with the workload, the first week was slightly stressful and confusing because it took some getting used to the new technology. Despite using Zoom to finish the semester last Spring, I still had to get used to utilizing the video chat tool for my classes this year. While one should expect more homework for the longer periods, I didn’t expect to be bombarded with the assignments I was in the first few days. Since every class has a different setup, it can be difficult organizing and time managing work, but the new Wayfinder tool on every class’ Powerschool Learning page gave me everything I needed to know, from homework, block schedule to in-class activities and assignments. This really helped organize my week to plan ahead of time.

Despite moments of struggle, I feel a lot more adjusted and in the gist of things this second week of school. The newly enforced schedule seems fair and I am interested to see how well it plays out and if it will still be in place by the end of the school year. It is so nice to be back knowing that the school is enforcing social distance and sanitation. With the increased workload, I hope that it will feel more evened out and I will continue to feel more adjusted.  Keeping a positive mindset and looking at the bright side of things is the absolute key to getting through this school year!