Name: Last to return in Maryland, Prince George’s County opens its schools
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Last to return in Maryland, Prince George’s County opens its schools

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This article was published more than&nbsp;1 year agoCommentGift ShareSchools in Prince George’s County became the last in Maryland to reopen for in-person instruction Thursday, with 29,000 students part of the first wave of a week-long return to classrooms that were empty for almost 13 months amid the pandemic.The return came with excitement, anxiety, thrill and some reservations, as school leaders welcomed children in prekindergarten to sixth grade, along with high school seniors and students in special-education programs.By mid-April, an additional 10,500 students in seventh to 11th grades will go back.“Any amount of time in front of a teacher, no matter when it starts, is going to be a great experience,” said Monica Goldson, chief executive of the 132,000-student system, speaking outside Tulip Grove Elementary School in Bowie as students began to arrive Thursday morning.AdvertisementGoldson said — more than any other county in Maryland — kept . School employees who wanted a vaccine have received at least one dose.“While it may seem late, it’s never too late for our kids who are excited to be with their classmates and their teachers in person,” she said.First to arrive at Tulip Grove Elementary — an hour before the 8:15 a.m. opening bell — was Randy Soliz, a first-grader who waited patiently with his father and younger sister.“I’m excited to see my classroom,” the 6-year-old said, a Super Mario backpack slung over his shoulders. “It feels pretty cool but pretty nervous.”His father, Reynaldo, said he expected in-class learning to be “100 percent” better than school by computer screen.“I’m not bored in school,” Randy chimed in.AdvertisementJust 30 percent of students in the state’s second-largest school system are expected to return to “hybrid” learning, which combines two days of in-school instruction with three days by computer at home. At school, some teachers will be delivering lessons to students online and in the classroom simultaneously, while others will switch off, Goldson said.Some families who are not returning have worried about the further spread of the virus, while others said a return so late in such a disruptive school year did not seem worth it. Still others say their children are doing well with remote instruction.In neighboring Montgomery County, with the state’s largest school system, has rolled out .Thursday marked reopening, with the return of thousands of students in prekindergarten and grades 4, 5, 6 and 12, along with more students in special education. About 39 percent of the system’s 161,000 students are expected back.AdvertisementBut waiting lists have cropped up all over Montgomery County. School officials said that 130 of their 208 schools have lists of students who want to get a spot.Surveys were sent out late last year to obtain family preferences, and in January and February, families could contact schools to change their choice, said spokeswoman Gboyinde Onijala. Schools are working with families on the lists, but space and other factors remain challenging, she said.Jennifer Reesman, a leader with the parents organization Together Again MCPS, said she knew of 28 schools with waiting lists — and found that troubling. “If you want to send your child to a public school in 2021, you should not be put on a waiting list in one of the richest counties in the country,” she said.In comparison, Prince George’s has no waiting lists and can accommodate everyone who wants to come back, a spokeswoman said.AdvertisementThe differences between the two counties point to some of the push and pull of pandemic education.Montgomery County had vocal parents urging a return to classes and criticizing the school board for dragging its feet.Prince George’s took less heat for its delay but announced its plans school systems to open, saying that if they did not immediately make good-faith efforts to open by March 1, the state would explore legal avenues.Although Prince George’s was last to begin bringing students back, Montgomery County’s final group of students will return a week after Prince George’s.Teachers in both systems have expressed concerns as schools prepared to reopen.In Prince George’s, Theresa Mitchell Dudley, president of the teachers union, said that Goldson is doing “the best she can.” But she said, “I’m just questioning, ‘Are we ready?’ ”AdvertisementEducators have raised concerns about the state of ventilation, the placement of school nurses and the adequacy of technology, she said. “I don’t want it to be a mess,” she said, “but I am holding my breath.”Some educators and community supporters rallied at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt on Wednesday night to call attention to building ventilation systems and teachers potentially bringing the virus home because children are not yet vaccinated, Dudley said.School officials said they have upgraded air filtration systems in every building and assigned nurses to all schools. Every school has a covid compliance committee to assess health and safety needs weekly.In Montgomery, ” in mid-February on the county’s reopening plan before the gradual return began, citing issues including vaccinations and staffing.AdvertisementBut for many families, getting back to school was a flicker of long-awaited normalcy — even with all of the masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing rules. Both Prince George’s and Montgomery counties are keeping six feet of separation between students, officials said.In Montgomery, it was a “first day” of school in person for Zach Hasson, who attends Thurgood Marshall Elementary in Gaithersburg.A day earlier, he had packed his brand-new Fortnite backpack, loading his Chromebook laptop inside, along with new pencils and pens and pandemic-minded gear: hand sanitizer and an extra mask. The 10-year-old’s favorite class is math, and he was particularly excited to meet teachers he has never seen up close.When he left school Thursday, he rushed to tell his mother how well it went.“I got to see people,” he said in an interview. “I made a new friend. And in the class, I don’t have to just stare at a Chromebook. I can look at the teacher instead.”AdvertisementHis mother said seeing his smiling face told her it was the right decision.“These kids have been through so much, and I love that there is some sense of normalcy for them,” said his mother, Jessica, a psychologist who said she has seen the mental health toll of the pandemic.Employee vaccinations have been underway for weeks in both school systems. More than 11,000 of 19,000 Prince George’s employees were vaccinated through a partnership involving school and health officials and health-care providers. Others may have received vaccinations elsewhere.In Montgomery, about 15,000 of the more than 26,000 school employees — including part-time and temporary workers — have received a vaccination through an effort with Johns Hopkins Medicine and county health officials. As in Prince George’s, others may have sought shots in other places.Schools reopening: | | | Current school year: | | Higher ed: | | The latest DMV news: | | | We want to hear from you:Tell us how school reopening is going: | Financial aid: CommentsGift ArticleTOP STORIESThe DMV GuideWhether you’re a lifelong resident of D.C. or you just moved here, we’ve got you covered.Try a different topic or to save your preferences

This article was published more than&nbsp;1 year agoCommentGift ShareSchools in Prince George’s County became the last in Maryland to reopen for in-person instruction Thursday, with 29,000 students part of the first wave of a week-long return to classrooms that were empty for almost 13 months amid the pandemic.The return came with excitement, anxiety, thrill and some reservations, as school leaders welcomed children in prekindergarten to sixth grade, along with high school seniors and students in special-education programs.By mid-April, an additional 10,500 students in seventh to 11th...

Last to return in Maryland, Prince George’s County opens its schools

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