MARLBORO – The Marlboro K-8 School District will offer a hybrid model of in-person and remote instruction and an all-remote model of instruction for students when the 2020-21 school year begins on Sept. 8.
New Jersey’s schools were ordered to close in mid-March by Gov. Phil Murphy at the start of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. For the remainder of the 2019-20 school year, students remained at home and received instruction remotely.
Parents were given two options for the 2020-21 academic year: the hybrid model that combines in-person instruction at a school with a remote instruction component, and an all-remote model in which students will not attend a school.
Marlboro’s return to school will begin with Phase one, which will see students whose parents selected the hybrid model attend school two days a week and receive remote instruction three days a week.
Students will be split into AA and BB cohorts. Students in the AA group will attend school on Monday and Tuesday, and students in the BB group will attend school on Thursday and Friday. The students will receive remote instruction on days they are not in school.
District administrators said the following in regard to how students will be assigned to the two cohorts: “Students will be assigned to cohorts to align our students, grades pre-kindergarten through eight, so siblings can follow the same ‘in-person reporting’ schedules.
“We believe this measure will help assist families in developing schedules, especially for parents who need childcare from older siblings. There may, however, be some exceptions to this rule as we attempt to balance our cohorts.
“We hope you understand that we will not be able to accommodate parent requests with respect to selecting a desired cohort at this time.”
The district’s estimated enrollment on Oct. 15, 2020 is 4,919 pupils. Marlboro operates the David C. Abbott Early Learning Center, Asher Holmes Elementary School, Defino Central Elementary School, Frank J. Dugan Elementary School, Marlboro Elementary School, Robertsville Elementary School, Marlboro Middle School and Marlboro Memorial Middle School.