Day one of the Tiyan High campus closure has been met with a flurry of activity throughout the department as Simon Sanchez High School ninth grade teacher Joberte Petree shared that they are working hard to get students back to in-person instruction following an emergency meeting at the Guam Department of Education Tiyan headquarters Friday morning.
"During our meeting today, we talked about how we would take steps to get the students on track with their learning, even though we are out of school for a little bit and I know that we are working really hard to get these students educated even though it's not exactly in the classroom," Petree said.
Armed with steps and a plan, he said teachers are "trying to prepare themselves for that."
"Me being a new teacher and all, it's a little nerve-racking, but I think the plan is solid, so we'll have a good idea about what we are doing, especially by next week," Petree said.
Petree indicated that they would be using two models of instruction: hard copy and online learning, though he recognized the challenges.
"I feel as a teacher, generally speaking, I want to try to reach as many students as possible. I know that my colleagues feel the same way. Not every student has access to internet or a way to contact us very consistently, so I know our plan is to try to reach as many students as possible," Petree said.
He said teachers are moving to connect with students and provide lesson plans and establish a good line of communication to support distance learning.
"To my students, we've had a roller coaster of a week, especially with the ending of the week. But I feel very strongly that this year's set of freshmen, at least from my perspective, are very engaging and positive people to be around," Petree said.
GDOE is mandated to meet the 180-day instructional requirement of the Adequate Education Act. Each day the school is closed, and students do not receive instruction will either need to be made up, or a waiver will need to be secured from the legislature.
When asked, Simon Sanchez Assistant Principal Ron Canos agreed he was hopeful that the deficiencies at their host school, Tiyan High, would be addressed in a week's time.
"Well, we're hopeful. Our timeline is always to not be away from school as long as we can. We want to get kids in classrooms. We want to continue the momentum we had when we started the school year," Canos said.
He said Simon Sanchez staff is working to address what they can.
"These are things that we've been carrying over from the summer. It's just all hands on deck at this point. We really appreciate all the moving parts, the support of GDOE, the support of Core Tech, getting the students back in the classroom," Canos said.
GDOE Public Information Officer Damen Michael Borja acknowledged the instructional loss concerns from the community and reiterated that the collaborative efforts of the stakeholders involved are focused on getting students back to in-person learning.
"At this moment, we don't have an estimated time, but they are working day and night to make sure that your students can get back in, get back to learning in a physical campus and most importantly in a safe campus," Borja said.
The campus closure impacts students at both Tiyan High School and Simon Sanchez as both populations share the Barrigada campus.
