School is finally back! Well, kind of. This past Monday, April 19, Hillsborough High School started the new 4-day hybrid option for students to return back to school. Previously, the students were separated into 2 cohorts, Red (students with the last name A-K) and Gold (students with the last name L-Z), with Red coming in Monday and Tuesday while Gold came in Thursday and Friday. Now with the 4-day hybrid option students are now combined no matter the last name coming in all days of the week besides Wednesday staying all virtual.

There are numerous changes occurring as well with the arrival of this new hybrid schedule. The original 2-day hybrid choice is no-longer an option. Unlike with the 2 day hybrid option, when students were allowed to attend class virtually from home on a day they were meant to come into class, if you do not attend class in person as you are supposed too, it is marked as an absence. There is still the option to opt for virtual learning for the desired students as well as the option to decision to switch to virtual learning from hybrid.

The transition will be tough for many students who might be switching from all virtual to the 4-day hybrid. They now have to wake up around 6 or 6:30 in the morning rather than at 7:29, logging on to the Google Meet just in time for their teacher to mark them present. Their will also still be people home, opting to stay virtual which may not change many of the teachers lesson plans which have been centered around the students at home. But nonetheless, you are able to see your friends again and have a sense of normalcy after a year of being stuck behind a 12-inch screen for 4.5 hours of the day.

It definitely seemed to be an exciting first day for the students who came back from a year of virtual learning to in-person classes for the first time this year. The staff and students are very happy to see the same old faces (and some new ones) that they are used to seeing. They are very optimistic also wondering were the Board of Education will go from here regarding the end of the year. Will students at Hillsborough High School finally return to full in person learning?