Norwich — Norwich Free Academy will return to hybrid learning Monday after spending three weeks in fully remote learning after a rise in COVID-19 cases and potential exposure among students who had attended an off-campus party.

Head of School Brian Kelly notified parents and students of the return to hybrid learning, now that COVID-19 cases among NFA staff and students have decreased.

Kelly said Friday there had been a possibility of three in-school transmissions among staff, and up to 60 positive cases among NFA’s nearly 2,3000 students. Kelly said there currently are two NFA staff members and one administrator with positive COVID-19 cases and about 12 to 14 students.

“We are fortunately significantly down,” Kelly said Friday during a conference call among city and school leaders.

He said the number of students choosing fully remote learning has increased to about 40% of the student body, up from about 19% at the start of the school year. But with the spike in cases throughout Norwich and much of the NFA partner district towns, COVID-19 cases have risen significantly among those students. NFA does not have statistics on cases among remote learners, Kelly said, but information has come in through relatives and multifamily households of positive cases among remote learners.