Hopwood Middle School to offer online classes

Hopwood Middle School principal Rizalina M. Liwag said the school is ready to welcome students and excited for the new school year. (Bea Cabrera)

In a first for the CNMI Public School System, Admiral Herbert G. Hopwood Middle School will offer online courses to students who are off-island, but only for those with valid reasons.

Hopwood principal Rizalina Liwag said the school’s online courses is a new program offered to students who are off-island for reasons that are beyond their control.

“It is a pilot program for students who need credit recovery and we offer this because some Hopwood students go off-island because their parents were affected by the CW-1 cap and we also consider emergency situations that make them go out of the island for many months that affects the flow of their studies,” she said.

Liwag said the number of slots for the pilot online program is limited and she’s encouraging qualified students to enroll as soon as possible.

“What we do is we can enroll them in the online course program so they can continue their studies even though they are outside the CNMI so when they come back, they remain updated with the lessons that they need to take in school,” she added.

Ready for school opening

As for the school opening on Wednesday, Aug. 16, Liwag said that Hopwood management and teaching staff are ready to welcome the students.

“The preparation for this school year was smooth that is why we were able to prepare with no problems. We have painted the school, fixed the lights in the classrooms, fix the restrooms, cafeteria, as well as the bus shelter inside our school.”

“Handbooks will be given to new students. As for school supplies, we only ask the students to bring notebooks and pens. The rest of school supplies we will be able to provide with a list as soon as the commissioner approves our list. We understand that not every parent can afford [the supplies]. It is only a suggested list but if they can then that would be nice because our list would contain just the basic supplies such as notebooks, rulers, pencils, and erasers,” said Liwag.

To date, Hopwood is hiring one Language and Arts teacher and one CCHLS (Chamorro Carolinian Heritage Language Studies) teacher.

“During the summer, we were able to hire five teachers and staff. The job opening happened because one of the teachers resigned recently for personal reasons,” Liwag said.

Hopwood welcomed many parents and students that came to register their children during the summer.

“Right now, our doors are open for enrollment and still waiting for the parents to fill the registration form and pass the requirements. We encourage them that they should register on time but we will be waiting for them for another week after school opens,” Liwag said. “This week and next, our councilors will start doing some home visits to some of the families that we know should register.”