How do you feel about going 100 percent?

I feel confident. We had procedures in place when we were at 25 percent and then we went to 50 percent, and now we are at 100 percent. We still have roughly 400 kids who haven’t come back. I think we have a lot of procedures in place to make sure that students are at least three feet apart, we want the six feet apart. 

What was the difference between past years and now?

The social piece, the proximity of kids being together. I think the kids lost some of that social, emotional piece that they need to be in school. And I think that’s the toughest part in the last year since we’ve been out.

What’s the hardest part during distance learning?

The hardest part for me was not seeing the students around and walking into empty rooms, empty spaces. it just didn’t feel like a school without the students.

What didn’t you like throughout hybrid?

Just those simple things, like making sure we’re disinfecting spaces and cleaning and spraying and that we had to plan those types of things. We did a great job, trying to keep kids safe and healthy here at school, (but) who knows where it’s gonna lead in the next couple of weeks.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Just making sure our building is up and ready, making sure that we’re following the Department of Health procedures and making sure that students are social distancing and wearing masks. Our custodial staff going in and spraying stuff and following the guidelines, constantly changing what we can and can’t do has probably been the biggest challenge.

What has been the biggest take away from this?

The biggest take away is never assume. Never assume that you are going to do everything right. Things change. Things were changing so quickly from last April until now. Everytime we felt like we were doing things, we were implementing procedures and then they would change. 

If you wish you could’ve prepared yourself a different way, how would you?

Connecting with other school districts and just listening. I tried to get on that to hear what other districts were doing. There were so many (aspects), even the academic piece, grading pieces and attendance. And how are we meeting the needs of our students. I think our building has done a great job, and I think when we were at distance learning it really impacted students.