2020 was supposed to be the grand opening of Loudoun County’s newest educational facility, Lightridge High School.  That opening was marred somewhat by the move to distance learning caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Dr. Ryan Hitchman, principal of Lightridge High School, was responsible for overseeing the construction and opening of the new school and now, as the Loudoun County School Board looks to send students back to the classroom, has been responsible for researching and deciding how best to go about the guidelines given by the county.  Lightridge’s low numbers, due to the newness of the school, has been a factor.

 The Center for Disease Control suggests six feet of social distancing be maintained at all times.  Loudoun County demands eight feet. The Lightridge classrooms were designed to be large spaces with oversized desks bought in to create room for students to collaborate.  Those spaces have been retasked in a hybrid environment.  What was intended to space be used by multiple students will now be used by individuals.

“We have 470 students who have either selected hybrid learning or did not make selection,” explained Hitchman. “We have around 200 ninth grade students coming into the building, we have a little less than 200 tenth grade students coming into the building and right now we would have about 80 juniors coming into the building. If you are a junior teacher your class may only have four or five students in the classroom whereas if you are a ninth grade teacher you may have eight to nine students in your classroom per class.”

Given the size of the building, this means that students who have chosen hybrid will be very spread out, not just in the classroom but all over the building.

“Our cafeteria normally  can seat 600 students,” said Hitchman.  “Even with maintaining eight feet of social distance, we’re going to have at most 110 students in the cafeteria, probably somewhere between 75 to 100.”

Social distancing is not the only thing that is in place  to protect students.  Cleaning has been stepped up as well.

“We have 16 custodians here everyday,” said Hitchman. “They are cleaning everything multiple times during the day. They are going to the restrooms. They are cleaning those high touch surfaces.” 

A concern for many students and parents is the capability of being able to switch from hybrid to distance or vice versa. Hitchman explains that students wishing to switch will be accommodated.

“ I do not see how we can deny a student that chooses hybrid but then says ‘You know what? I’d much rather go back to distance learning’  that opportunity,” explained Hitchman.  That said, there are difficulties involved in a student deciding to switch between modes – a variety of variables like transportation and amounts of desks that must be in a classroom have to be considered prior to allowing even just one student to return. 

At the time of this writing, the Loudoun County School Board has not set a definite date for hybrid students to return to in-person learning.  The faculty and staff at Lightridge, however, have taken steps to assure that when that decision is made, everyone involved is as safe as possible.