With 2,872 students enrolled at SJHHS, 54% of students remain on a completely online school schedule. Approximately 660 students are on campus each day.

“Starting to bring kids on campus and to see life back on campus has been such a joy,” said Assistant Principal of Student Services Alexandra Easton.

According to the California COVID-19 Dashboard and the Orange County COVID-19 Dashboard, Orange County recently reverted to the lowest tier, purple. Meaning, the Coronavirus has become widespread in our county, so many non-essential businesses are temporarily closing. However, the purple tier status does not mean schools will be forced to close.

“School closure would be at the direction of the Orange County Health Agency.  A benchmark for closure would be for 5% of the total student and employee population to be Covid positive in a period of 14 days to initiate a possible temporary school closure,” said principal, Dr. Manoj Mahindrakar. 

As of December 1st, 38% of freshmen, 56% of sophomores, 63% of juniors, and 76% of seniors are embracing fully online learning.

How school next semester will look is still unclear, but it is expected to look similar to the first semester. 

“There is some discussion about maybe changing up the structures here on campus as far as the bell schedule, but nothing has been set in stone. As of right now, it is going to look and feel the same. Still have the distancing measures, still have the masks on, still have the same protocols in place,” said Easton.

As of right now, CUSD high schools plan to remain open, as many parents and students rely on in-person schooling for education and a safe place.

“Some students don’t have a choice. They need to be here on campus…Some learn better when there is a teacher in front of them rather than online. The flexibility is still there for family and students who need it,” said Easton.

In order to keep families informed on the numbers of COVID-19 cases, CUSD started a district-wide COVID-19 Dashboard. The dashboard shows current cases in the district by school. Each known case is shown on the dashboard for 14 days, and is then taken down.

In-person students interested in switching to online schooling can always contact their guidance counselors to make the switch. Current online students are able to enroll in in-person learning for the second semester by contacting their academic advisor by December 4th.