Dearborn Public Schools has plan to return students to in-person learning in March

DEARBORN, Mich. – The Dearborn Public Schools district is sharing its plan to return students to in-person learning amid the coronavirus pandemic starting March 1, 2021.

Here’s what the district shared on Tuesday:

• Face-to-face learning labs for special education students who are part of the Act 18 program will start on Tuesday, Feb. 16. Learning labs for other students will start later next week. Most staff will report to their buildings starting Feb. 16.
• The second week after learning labs start, schools will start reopening to all students for blended learning. With blended learning, students will be in school two days a week -- either Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday -- and will work from home the other days. Wednesdays will be live online classes for all students.

Here’s the reopening schedule:

• March 1 -- The first students return for blended learning, including grades kindergarten, first, second, sixth and ninth.
• March 8 -- More students start blended learning including preschool, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and 10th grades.
• March 15 -- The rest of students start blended learning including eighth, 11th and 12th grades.

The district said it was able to arrange COVID vaccinations for all the remaining staff who want them on Thursday and Friday of this week. Friday, Feb. 12 through Monday, Feb. 15 were already days off school for mid-winter break. Students will now have a half day of school on Feb. 16, and teachers will use the other half of the day to prepare to return to teaching students face-to-face. The district earlier canceled the remaining late starts to allow for this half day.

Parents can look for information soon from their child’s school about which days their students will attend and other details specific to the school. Every effort will be made to have siblings attend on the same day. This will be easier to accommodate at the elementary level but may be more difficult across school buildings. Parents can learn more about blended learning on the district’s back-to-school website. Busing and food service will be provided during blended learning.

For more information, go to the district website: dearbornschools.org/backtoschool

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