The School District of Philadelphia announced a plan Wednesday that would allow public school students from kindergarten through 2nd grade to return to classrooms two days a week across the city beginning Nov. 30.

At each school, kindergarten through 2nd grade students will be sorted into two groups. One group will attend class in person on Monday and Tuesday and the other group on Thursday and Friday. All students will participate in remote learning on Wednesdays, according to the plan.

The plan is opt-in, so parents can also choose to keep students at home where they will participate in online direct instruction, independent learning and small group instruction. The hybrid plan could be scrapped for a particular classroom or school if the “vast majority” of students don’t opt in or if “significant numbers” of teachers are unable to teach in person, according to the plan. 

Teachers can continue to teach online-only if they meet certain health- and age-related criteria.

If all goes well with the hybrid model, other students will begin to return to schools in January. Students in grades 3-12 with “complex needs” – including those who are visually or hearing impaired or receive other forms of support – could return in January.

Ninth grade students and students enrolled in career and technical education programs could return as early as late January.

The remainder of students won’t return until at least February, according to the plan.

All of this, of course, is contingent on limited spread of COVID-19 and could be shut down at any time.

Parents will be able to select an instruction method for their students from Oct. 26-30. No selection means a student will remain in remote instruction.