Name: New Trier High School halts in-person instruction due to spike in regional COVID-19 cases
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New Trier High School halts in-person instruction due to spike in regional COVID-19 cases

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AdvertisementBy Pioneer PressOct 13, 2020 at 11:01 amJust one week after welcoming some students back to New Trier High School, a spike in COVID-19 cases in suburban Chicago this week has prompted officials to put a pause on in-person instruction.After starting the new school year with remote learning, officials at New Trier began bringing 25% of its students back to campus Oct. 5 under a hybrid instructional model.AdvertisementNew Trier Superintendent Paul Sally said in a Monday letter to parents that the decision to return to remote instruction at the high school’s campuses in Winnetka and Northfield was made due to this week’s surge in the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the area, and the state citing some of the cases since May.In addition, Sally said officials have seen an increase in the number of New Trier students testing positive for COVID-19, with 11 students currently positive. The total enrollment between the two campuses is more than 4,000 students.Advertisement“It is important to note that none of these cases are from school-based transmission,” Sally said. “In fact, most of these new cases have been traced back to a party and a series of weekend gatherings that many students from New Trier as well as students from other schools attended.”Sally said it has been challenging to conduct contact tracing from the gatherings, adding that he was disappointed that the events are a contributing factor to the school’s rising numbers.“I would like to reiterate in the strongest terms possible that all members of our New Trier community must abide by the common sense rules of social distancing, wearing a mask, no large gatherings, and hand washing if we want to have a chance to offer uninterrupted in-person learning,” Sally said.Still, despite the spike in COVID-19 cases closing the high school for in-person student instruction this week, the state SAT for seniors is still planned for Wednesday, and the PSAT/NMSQT for juniors is slated for Saturday, Sally said.The exams, “will take place as planned at the Winnetka Campus under the strict safety protocols we have been following for standardized testing,” Sally said.Citing data from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the high school’s COVID dashboard, Sally said the township ZIP codes currently have a rolling seven-day rate of new cases of 88.4 per 100,000 people — a number which for the fourth consecutive day has exceeded the high school’s threshold for hybrid in-person learning, which is set at 70 cases.In addition, Sally said the metrics based on the high school’s staff members' ZIP codes, which is currently at 117 cases per 100,000, has also exceeded the threshold for hybrid in-person learning, which is set at 100 cases.Sally said officials hope to be able to resume New Trier’s 25% hybrid plan on Tuesday, Oct. 20, and a final decision is expected to be made on Sunday.Advertisement“We are hopeful that this pause will be a brief one, and that by working together as a community we can get our students back in school for in-person instruction as soon as we can,” Sally said.kcullotta@chicagotribune.comTwitter @kcullotta Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Pioneer PressOct 13, 2020 at 11:01 amJust one week after welcoming some students back to New Trier High School, a spike in COVID-19 cases in suburban Chicago this week has prompted officials to put a pause on in-person instruction.After starting the new school year with remote learning, officials at New Trier began bringing 25% of its students back to campus Oct. 5 under a hybrid instructional model.AdvertisementNew Trier Superintendent Paul Sally said in a Monday letter to parents that the decision to return to remote instruction at the high school’s campuses in Winnetka...

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Karen Ann Cullotta

The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are named), it remains the most-read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It had the 6th highest circulation for American newspapers in 2017.

New Trier High School halts in-person instruction due to spike in regional COVID-19 cases

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