NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — For a lot of students and families in the suburbs, Monday is the first day of school. School districts in the region have not just been planning for this day but for a return to full-time in-person learning for the first time since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
In Norristown, only a small number of students will continue to learn from home. There was so much excitement at Hancock Elementary School on Monday morning, families started lining up outside the building 30 to 45 minutes before the doors opened.
Parents, students and educators at the school said they were happy to be back.
As much as 7-year-old Braheem enjoyed attending classes at home -- "Oh, it was fun!" -- he says he’s really happy that he will now get to see his friends and teachers every day.
"I’m gonna like it better," he said.
Superintendent Chris Dormer told NBC 10 that about 7,700 out of the district's 7,800 students will be in the classroom five days a week. The rest will be learning remotely. For students and staff who are in a classrooms, masks are required.
Masks are not required in all area school districts. For example, in Central Bucks, the school board voted 5-4 against a mask mandate last week.
The School District of Philadelphia will open on Tuesday, while the rest of the districts in the region open after Labor Day.
Braheem, other children, and the parents who brought them all had masks on.
No one who spoke to KYW Newsradio on Monday morning had any issues with that, including parent Lawrence Daniel.
"I’m liking having them back in school for the full week," he said.
His daughter Laila is happy about it, too. Remote learning, she says, was a challenge.
"You got to pay attention, and it’s hard," she said.
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Daniel said he hopes his daughter and the other kids can build off the end of last year.
"They did a couple days [a week] in school last year. So, they kind of got used to getting in the swing of things."
And Chris Gregory hopes his fourth grader can get a little more normalcy this year.
"Very excited to get back around kids, to be around classmates and so forth," he said.
As hard as school Principal Brooke Vaught and her staff worked to make virtual learning a reality, she says there’s nothing like being back in school.
"I’m really, really excited to see people in 3D and not keep asking students to turn their microphone on," Vaught said. "So, just to turn their voice on will be a joy that I took for granted in a lot of years in education."
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Distancing is also a key part of the district’s health and safety plan.
"I’m thrilled. It’s a different start to the school year," said
Vaught also said they will try to get as much outdoor classroom time as they can, if the weather cooperates. She says those are great opportunities for the kids and the staff to get extra mask breaks.
"We’re hoping to get as much instruction outdoors as possible," she said. "So we said, 'Hey, if it’s a read aloud or a shared read, and we can do it outside the classroom, let’s do it -- weather permitting."
District officials say they used some federal funding to install tables at schools for outdoor instruction. And they’re also requiring desks in the classrooms to face forward and to not be arranged in pods or clusters.
Officials throughout the area also remind drivers to watch their speeds in school zones, look out for crossing guards and yield to students who are looking to cross the street, and to not go around a school bus that is stopped with its stop sign out and lights flashing.
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