More than a year ago, students and teachers were forced to adjust to a new learning environment and shifted to distance learning to help prevent the further spread of the newly discovered COVID-19 that had reached the United States. In March 2020, schools across the country shut down for at least two weeks. As COVID-19 cases now begin to fall, school districts around the country are eager to bring back their students to the campuses. “I’d love to have students back at school because that’s why we do this job,” principal Jeannie Gutierrez says in an interview. 

To keep staff and students safe, AUSD is following the guidelines from the Department of Health and is working to bring back small groups of students during Extended Home Learning. “It can be a variety of things like students who need extra help, could be for activities that are hard for them to do online,” says Gutierrez. This can be a huge step forward to helping students who have been struggling with online school. In addition, Mark Keppel’s staff is working to bring back the athletic programs with limited practice schedules. 

To keep everyone safe, precautions such as social distancing, a mask mandate, medical screening before entrance, and enhanced cleaning are being implemented. 

“If you are going to be here in one of those small, stabilized groups, which the limit would be 14 students, you’ll see the hallways have arrows in them,” Guiterrez explains. Inside the buildings, there will be arrows directing walkways to ensure a smooth flow and minimal contact with others. To uphold social distancing standards, the classrooms would also feature properly spaced desks with plexiglass. 

“I am mainly concerned about students returning to school. I do believe that being in-person makes learning much easier but I feel that the risk just isn’t worth it.” -Jacky Lin

As the district considers the reopening process, many students are eager to get back to school, whether it’s for in-person learning or for sports. However, there are some concerns among students about returning back to school within the next few months. Voicing his opinion as a student athlete, Senior Kyle Ng says, “I personally wouldn’t feel safe if we returned with precautions. I know there will be some people that ignore the precautions and the spread of the virus will speed up.” Many students believe that learning in-person is much easier than learning online. Reopening now demands schools to adjust to the old learning environment and risks losing the progress made in the past year.  Senior Jacky Lin shares, “I am mainly concerned about students returning to school. I do believe that being in-person makes learning much easier but I feel that the risk just isn’t worth it.” Many students feel that schools should continue distance learning as there are only three more months in the school year.

As the end of the school year approaches, the anticipation of returning to the classrooms seems to be growing. Although more and more vaccinations are being distributed, students have the option to choose between distance learning and hybrid learning for the remainder of the school year.