Over this last Spring Break turned Summer, our school district had to come up with plans for the new school year in accordance to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In the past two months, these plans involved a multitude of procedures, including temperature checks, social distancing, and the new requirement to wear face masks.  

In the spirit of continuing social distancing, students now have the option to take this year of school virtually. For those who decide to come to school in person, school schedules have completely shifted in order to keep everyone safe. 

As soon as students enter campus, staff wait outside each gate in order to take temperatures. If a student is showing signs of fever, they may not continue past the gate. Each classroom has cut down drastically on how many students they can hold in order to spread the seats apart enough to maintain social distance. Teachers are now required to sanitize each student desk in the morning and in between class periods. 

Lunch this year has been divided into A and B lunches, reducing what has traditionally been an hour lunch to a mere 30 minutes. Students must now go to their homeroom either before or after their lunch. Lunch will be the only time where students are allowed to take off their masks and must put them back on when they need to stand up during lunch (i.e. to go the bathroom, meeting etc). Along with that, students will be limited to two people per table while maintaining a distance of six feet apart.

Dismissal this year has also changed drastically. Both car riders and bus riders undergo a whole new process. If a student is a bus rider, they must report to the expo hall and listen for their bus number to be called by a staff member. While waiting, students must find a seat, staying only two to a table and remain four feet apart. If a student is a car rider, they must report to the auditorium. In there, they must find a seat and wait for their name to be called by a staff member. Parents must have a sheet of paper with their child’s full name on it so that a staff member may read it from a distance and call for that student with their two-way radio.

Any performances typically set in the auditorium, such as recital and masterclass, will no longer be taking place for the time being. There are currently no plans for after school activities and events for this year. Clubs this year will be continuing with online meetings and activities. 

It seems that social distancing will not end any time soon, according to uchealth.org, in their article titled, “When will the Coronavirus social distancing end? it depends.” They stated, “What the useful models are now telling us is that physical distancing works, but that soon after we stop distancing, COVID-19 infections will ramp back up.” In other words, there is no clear indication of when the pandemic will end, so these new school regulations are set in stone until further notice.