Schools in northern Pa. move to at-home, hybrid learning as COVID-19 spreads

• Anne Danahy/WPSU
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Anne Danahy is a reporter at WPSU. She was a reporter for nearly 12 years at the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pennsylvania, where she earned a number of awards for her coverage of issues including the impact of natural gas development on communities.
  
  She earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and a master's degree in media studies from Penn State.
  
  Before joining WPSU, she worked as a writer and editor at Strategic Communications at Penn State and with the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute before that.
  
  She hosts a Q&A program for Centre County's government and education access station and teaches a news writing and reporting class at Penn State.

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Baker Elementary School, in the Altoona School District.

(State College) — A growing number of school districts in central and northcentral Pennsylvania are switching schools to remote learning, even if temporarily, as COVID-19 case numbers in that part of the state increase sharply.

Hollidaysburg Area School District moved its junior and senior high schools to remote learning this week, as it faced rising numbers of students testing positive and in quarantine because of possible exposure. The district hopes to return the schools to in-person learning Dec. 1.

Forest Area School District also moved to remote learning starting today because of “a substantial level of community transmission for COVID-19.” The district will continue remote learning at least through Dec. 4.

The nearby Altoona Area School District transitioned schools to a hybrid of remote and in-person learning, instead of fully in-person, because of the rising number of COVID cases.

Schools in the Bradford Area School District are having an “at home learning day” Monday while district officials wait for the COVID-19 test results from multiple families who were tested on Thursday because of exposure to the virus or because family members were symptomatic. Parents will be notified Monday if at-home learning needs to be extended or if schools will shift to remote learning.

The Huntingdon Area School District is continuing with a mix of in-person and hybrid learning this week, with elementary students attending in-person. Middle and high school students have a hybrid/blended approach.

The State College Area School District announced Sunday that it is putting a class at Ferguson Township Elementary School in quarantine after a student tested positive and another person was a close contact. The district says that class will be in quarantine until Nov. 24.

According to the St. Mary’s Daily Press, South St. Marys Street Elementary School will be closed this week due to a high number of staff quarantines because of COVID-19 exposure. Students are scheduled to return to school on Nov. 23.

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