Before the 2020-2021 school year was off to a start, there were many precautions and changes that needed to be made over the summer if students were going to be able to attend their classes in person. The administrators, teachers, and janitors are just a few of the ones that had to change their yearly routines of preparing for the upcoming school year. The tasks that needed completed were easier for some and challenging for others. Below are perspectives from a teacher, janitor, and an assistant principals on how different getting read for this school year was different then others.

From a English teacher’s perspective, Mrs. Marsh stated that this year was different for her because everything was digital. Also learning and being trained how to use the new English series was different, but as a result it is easier because all of the work is in one place.

Moving on to a janitor’s perspective, Mr. Knapp’s job did not change too drastically when preparing for the upcoming year. He stated, “Cleaning has not changed a whole lot due to the reason that they were already cleaning everything that was needed before it was required.” Additionally he stated that before the classrooms could be set up, they had to wait until they were given class rosters to know how many students were coming back. From there, they were able to set the classrooms up at the recommended distance.

Coming to an end, the last perspective comes from assistant principal, Mr. Passinger. By far, his job along with the administrators had the most complex task when getting ready for students to come back for the school year. When asked about some of the changes this year he stated, “Rules changed all the time. We had to create a plan that was safe for both education and the state recommendations.”

After the plan was created, parent communication was important because surveys were needed to calculate how many students were even coming back. From the results, the class rosters were made, and classrooms set up to the recommended distance. Feeding the students was the next biggest problem that needed to be addressed. Changes needed to be made so students are spread apart while being able to take their mask off to eat. This was achieved by putting tables in the old gymnasium.

After months of planning for the upcoming year, it has been a challenge in some ways, but a few positive things have came out of it. With creative thinking and teamwork, it has been a smooth transition into the new school year.