Air hugs and high-fives: Some Wake County elementary students return to the classroom
Air hugs and cries of “we missed you” greeted thousands of Wake County elementary school students as they returned to school Monday for the first time since March 13.
Wake County’s 160,000 students have been taking online classes only since March due to the coronavirus pandemic. But on Monday, officials estimated that around 8,000 elementary students returned for in-person instruction as part of a plan to gradually bring more children back to school.
“It’s exciting to welcome kids back so that they’re going to be able to socialize with their peers and their teachers,” Alyssa Housman, a first-grade teacher at Hunter Elementary School in Raleigh, said in an interview Monday.
“This morning I could already tell they were so excited. They were chatting with their friends, and it’s such a good energy to have them back.”
But Monday was also a far different first day of school than normal due to new COVID-19 safety measures. In particular, the physical contact that’s so much a part of elementary school life is now discouraged.
Housman, like other teachers across the district, spent part of Monday reminding students of alternatives to regular hugs and high-fives this school year.
“They can give them an air hug,” Housman said. “They can give them an air high-five. It still builds that classroom community and makes it feel like it’s a fun and exciting environment even though it’s completely different this year.”
Phased return of students
Wake is phasing in the return of students, so many elementary schools only had around 50 students on campus Monday. That number will rise over the next three weeks.
For now, PreK-3 students and the K-12 special-education students in regional programs are split into three groups using a rotation of one week of in-person classes and two weeks of online classes. They won’t begin receiving daily in-person classes until Nov. 16.
Some Hunter families whose children weren’t scheduled to return yet showed up Monday, according to Briana Pelton, the school’s principal.
Middle school students will return to school Nov. 9 for a three-week rotation of in-person and online courses. Fourth- and fifth-grade students will begin on that rotation on Nov. 16.
High school students will continue to only receive online classes for the rest of the fall semester, which ends in January.
Paul Politte, a Cary parent, said his two oldest children were jealous Monday that their baby brother, Max, was able to go to school. Max is a kindergarten student at Hunter.
“We’re really excited,” Politte said in an interview. “We’re nervous too, but we’ve got so much faith in the school here. They’ve done an amazing job.”
More than 85,000 of Wake’s 160,000 students are attending classes this fall in the Virtual Academy. Registration for the spring semester for middle and high schools runs to Nov. 4. Registration for the virtual program for elementary students is Dec. 2-9.
New health requirements
Students are attending an environment where they have to pass daily health screenings and temperature checks to be allowed in school. Students are required to wear face masks for most of the day, wash their hands regularly and practice social distancing.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to step away from health and safety procedures this school year,” Pelton said in an interview. “I think that’s always going to have to be in our minds.”
Some teachers have complained it’s not yet safe to return North Carolina’s largest school district to in-person classes. But some parents have complained Wake has moved too slowly to bring students back.
“It’s easy to feel uncomfortable or nervous, but we’ve been practicing how to stay safe,” said Housman, the Hunter teacher.
Wake could accelerate reopening in the spring semester so all students who are not in the Virtual Academy get at least some in-person classes.
School administrators are looking at bringing all elementary students and the special-ed regional program students for daily in-person classes in the spring semester that begins in January. In that scenario, middle school and high school students would use the three-week rotation of in-person and online classes.
Helping students catch up
The partial return of in-person classes comes as some parents have complained that the use of remote learning has caused more students than normal to fail. Wake County Superintendent Cathy Moore said the district will do a review of the grades given during the first quarter of the school year to see if any changes need to be made moving forward.
Pelton said educators realize they’ll need to reinforce the material that students may have missed or covered really quickly online over the last seven months.
“Most students are not typically where they would be,” Pelton said. “It has been different since March so I think the expectation is a little different.”
Remote learning works too, but Housman said having the students back in person will help her work with them to close any gaps that have occurred.
“It’s just so important that they’re in the room for that,” Housman said. “Even at a safe distance, you’re helping them close those gaps because it’s easier to communicate things when you’re in front of them than maybe over a computer screen.”
This story was originally published October 26, 2020 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Air hugs and high-fives: Some Wake County elementary students return to the classroom."
