Just four weeks into school and Immanuel Christian School is changing up its kindergarten program from hybrid learning to an a.m./p.m. learning model.

ICS started school on Aug. 31 with a Hybrid Learning Model for all students in K through 12th grade, where students attend in-person two days per week, with a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning on the other days for five full days of education. Kindergarten teacher Seth Mansor has built a reputation over the past few years for the grace-based and playful approach he takes to teaching his students and his ability to easily keep even the more challenging students engaged.

This past spring during the COVID-19 school closure, he successfully delivered quality, interactive videos to students for instruction, and the students moved forward with great progress and were ready for first grade this year.

About two weeks into the ICS Hybrid program, Mansor realized that school was not going the way it had the prior spring, even with the same videos and structure, and the addition of two full days in person at school.

“The children are younger at the beginning of the school year, they don’t know how to use technology, and they don’t have the six months of established classroom routines that the students had last spring. These items were essential to our online program being effective when schools were closed last spring due to COVID-19,” Mansor said.

Susan Selby, CEO, said, “Mr. Mansor is an outstanding teacher and he brought us a proposal, prepared a parent survey, and we were able to work together to transition over a two-week period.

This will be much better in meeting the needs of our youngest students.”

The a.m./p.m. model will allow ICS to maintain its physical distancing requirements in its health and safety plan. Students will be on a four-day program with assignments Mondays at home.

Another benefit that a.m./p.m. kindergarten students will receive is music. ICS was just awarded a grant to offer the Music Together program to its kindergarten students. Each student receives a kit to take home for at-home activities that parents can do together with their children.

More information is available on the school’s website: www.ICShazleton.org. Busing is available through several school districts, including Weatherly.