Some Merced County schools welcoming students back to class. What parents should know
Washington Elementary School first-grade teacher Wrenda Holt calls it the “deer in the headlights” look on a students face.
It’s that familiar look that alerts her a student doesn’t understand a lesson or concept.
But for the past few weeks, Holt has struggled to recognize that look on her students’ faces through a computer screen, since distance learning started. It’s made her job tougher as a teacher.
That’s part of the reason she’s excited that Washington Elementary was one of the Merced County schools granted a waiver by the state to reopen for in-person classes.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” said Holt, whose been teaching in the Merced River School District for 15 years. ”I’ve got to see them on the Zoom but that’s not the same thing. I extremely miss them. I’ve just really seen the difference, they are not blossoming as fast on Zoom.”
Washington Elementary will reopen for in-person classes Monday, welcoming their students on campus for the first time this school year after having to open the year with distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Le Grand Union Elementary, Plainsburg Union Elementary, Merced River Union Elementary and Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary were the other Merced County public schools granted waivers by the state this week to open for in-person classes. Dos Palos Preschool, Dos Palos Elementary (TK-2) and Bernhard Marks Elementary in Dos Palos were also recently granted waivers to reopen.
Five Merced County private schools — Los Banos Adventist Christian, St. Paul Lutheran, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Mercy and St. Anthony — have also had waivers approved to reopen for students.
In terms of when other schools in Merced County will be able to open, that will depend on whether local coronavirus infections continue to decrease.
Alan Peterson, Merced Union High School District superintendent, said he’s been told is the number of coronavirus cases continue in a downward trend, his district would be about five weeks away from again holding in-person classes.
Why students need in-person classes
Washington Elementary eighth grade teacher Shelly Gibson says students need to return to school.
“They need something that is consistent,” said Gibson, who has been teaching for 13 years. “A lot of them have been coming to school here since they were in kindergarten. This is like their second home.
“We have a lot of students who are in dead zones. Even with the Wi-Fi that we have provided they’re having problems connecting, they’re having problems hearing us and we’re having problem hearing them. I have students that are outside working from underneath a tree trying to find connectivity. That’s just not good, that’s not good for them.”
When are schools reopening?
Some schools on the list reopened not long after the waiver announcement was made Tuesday. El Nido Elementary School reopened for students on Wednesday.
El Nido Elementary School District Superintendent Lori Gonzalez said the school had 100 transitional kindergarten through sixth grade students on campus Wednesday.
“I cannot describe how incredibly happy students were” said Gonzalez via email. “They were excited to be back on campus, see their friends, learning from their teachers, and just be among others. Families have expressed so much appreciation and support throughout this process and they are incredibly thankful that their children can return to school.”
Plainsburg Union Elementary is scheduled reopen for its 106 students on Sept. 28, according to Superintendent/Principal Kristi Kingston.
Le Grand Union Elementary School is scheduled to open for transitional kindergarten through second grade students Oct. 5, according to Superintendent/Principal Scott Borba.
Dos Palos Preschool, Dos Palos Elementary (TK-2) and Bernhard Marks Elementary (third through fifth grade) have been approved to reopen via the waiver process and will reopen in a hybrid model starting October 5th, according to Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified School District Superintendent Justin Miller..
Safety guidelines in place
The schools had to present a reopening plan to the Merced County Department of Health that included strict safety guidelines due to COVID-19.
At El Nido, student temperatures are taken prior to coming on campus and then students must wash their hands prior to going to class, according to Gonzalez.
“Students were provided with masks, face shields, and reusable water bottles,” Gonzalez said. “Teachers were also provided with (several) face masks, face shields. Hand sanitizer is in every room on campus. Rooms are cleaned each day which includes a disinfecting fogging mist at the end of the day.”
Washington Elementary has implemented similar safety guidelines.
All classrooms, offices, and other facilities at school will be cleaned and disinfected daily, according to Merced River School District Superintendent Richard Lopez. Buses will also be cleaned and disinfected daily. Computers and all digital devices will be wiped and disinfected at the end of the day.
“Anything in general where little ones can put their hands on, we’re going to go through the process and procedures to make that it’s clean as possible,” Lopez said.
Different school schedules
The schools will reopen with modified schedules.
Students at El Nido will attend classes on campus from 8:20 a.m. until 12:30 p..m. Students will take a nutritional break during the day and will be served and grab-and-go lunch before they leave. They will then continue with remote learning in the afternoon.
Washington Elementary students in Winton will have a hybrid schedule with a group of students attending in-person classes on Monday and Tuesday, while the second group of students will attend classes on campus on Thursday and Friday. Wednesdays will be dedicated to remote learning for all students. The on-campus school days will start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m. with a nutritional break during the day.
What will schools look like when students return?
Lopez says there are plans in the works to make Monday special when students return. There will be balloons and decorations.
However, the procedures and the look of the classrooms will be a little different.
“Parents are only allowed to drop students off, Lopez said. “It’s kind of a different feel. Specifically kindergarten parents or first grade parents want to walk their kids to the classroom. Unfortunately, because of the precautionary measures that we have to take, (the parents) have to drop off (kids) at the parking lot and then we’ll gladly escort their students over to the classrooms.”
The teachers have been preparing their rooms for the arrival of students.
“We’ve been practicing this, I think we’re ready for it,” Gibson said. “We have guidelines in place, most of us have sinks in our classroom, we all have hand sanitizing stations. We all have our rooms ready, they’re 6 feet apart. We just went over everything, the procedures we’re going to do leaving the classroom, coming into the classroom. I think we’re going to be OK.”
This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
