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Alden-Conger Public School and Glenville-Emmons School announced they will shift learning models for students in seventh through 12th grades starting Sept. 28 because of rising COVID-19 numbers in Freeborn County.

A letter sent to Alden-Conger parents stated students in seventh through 12th grades will switch to distance learning. Students of all grades will attend in-person this coming Monday through Thursday, and students and teachers in seventh through 12th grades will prepare for distance learning.  Students of all grades will attend in-person this coming Monday through Thursday, and students and teachers in seventh through 12th grades will prepare for distance learning and will receive Chromebooks. There will be no school for all students in the district on Friday as teachers prepare for distance learning, and then distance learning will begin Sept. 28 for seventh through 12th graders. Students in pre-K through sixth grade will continue in-person learning.  There will be no school for all students in the district on Friday as teachers prepare for distance learning, and then distance learning will begin Sept. 28 for seventh through 12th graders. Students in pre-K through sixth grade will continue in-person learning.

A letter sent to Glenville-Emmons parents stated students in seventh through 12th grades in its district would switch to hybrid learning, which is a combination of in-person and distance learning.  Students of all grades will attend in-person this coming Monday through Thursday, and students and teachers in seventh through 12th grades will prepare for hybrid learning. There will be no school for students in seventh through 12th grades in the district on Friday as teachers and custodians reconfigure classrooms for hybrid learning; however, there will be school for pre-k through sixth grades. Hybrid learning will start Sept. 28 for seventh through 12th graders.

How long the districts, which are both led by Superintendent Brian Shanks, will use the different learning models depends on the county’s COVID-19 numbers, the letters stated. Both will start off for 2 1/2 weeks, and if all goes well the older grades would return to all in-person learning Oct. 20 after the MEA break.

“We spent the last several months hoping we would not have to make this transition but we were also realistic fully expecting to make a change at some point,” the letter to families in both districts stated. “We hope it is only for a short period of time but we have zero control over the infection numbers in the county.”

The letters asked people to be vigilant with wearing their masks and to continue to report any positive COVID-19 results and close contacts they may have had within their families.

“If we want our students to stay in school, we all have to do our part to stop the transmission of this virus,” it said.