Together again
Students return to the building after months of remote learning
With the pandemic still present, the school adapts by putting safety protocols in place, which includes mask-wearing and social distancing. “We’re adapting to something we’ve never had to deal with before. We’ve never dealt with a pandemic before. So unfortunately, it takes some of these protocols to be in place and students are doing a fantastic job,” principal Jared Mcevoy said. Most students haven’t attended school since March 2020.
After months of preparation, the school building is back in business; students return with a hybrid model of in-person and remote learning.
“I couldn’t be more proud. Everything I’m seeing [at school] is not what students expected school to be like. Nobody would have ever said, ‘This is what my school is going to look like,’ but we’re adapting to something we’ve never had to deal with before,” principal Jared McEvoy said.
Despite strong efforts to teach in-person full time, safety measures require half of the students to stay home. The gradual transition from remote to in-person learning creates time for students to adapt to the change with only two days of in-person learning per week.
“It’s been a challenge and I really didn’t like it at first, but the more we do it, the better it seems to be getting. For as much as I miss my friends in the white cohort, I’m really happy I get to see at least a few of my friends in person,” senior Margaret Howell said.
Other protocols taking place to ensure safety include required face-coverings, staggered passing times, social distancing, one-way hallways, four people per bathroom and five lunch times for more spacing.
“Everybody handled the return extremely well. The whole teaching and learning component of the hybrid model is something that we’ve never experienced before. It’s brand new. So I’m proud of our staff and how hard they’re working and making this reality work for our students; I’m proud of our students for continuing to work hard to do the best—the best they can given the circumstances,” McEvoy said.
With all of the safety protocols in place, staying in school completely depends on the staff and students to execute them to the best of their abilities.
“Remain diligent. Do everything that you can possibly do, do what’s expected of you. So if everybody does that—their own part—we’re going to be that much better off in a shorter time frame,” McEvoy said. “We all want to get back to normal. So if everybody does their own personal part, we’ll get back to hopefully that normalcy sooner than later.”
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