Students return to four day in-person learning

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NC was established in 1956. It has grown to a sprawling campus of 3800 students.

Starting March 23 students have the option to return to in-person learning four days a week or students can remain all virtual. CDC guidelines have changed social distancing guidelines from six feet to three feet, allowing more students to attend in-person school.

Hybrid learning will no longer be offered as an option because the school wants students to commit to either all in-person or all virtual. 

Assistant Principal Karon Wallace gave a rundown of what in-person school four days a week will look like.

Students that are in-person are expected to attend school everyday. “Kids have had an option of going back and forth between whether or not they are in-person or virtual which is no longer the case. It’s always been an expectation but hasn’t been enforced. In-person means in-person and virtual means virtual”, Wallace said.

“In classrooms there’s going to be a change in spacing from six feet to three feet. Pretty much COVID protocols will remain the same; students will still have to wear a mask, we will have hand sanitizing stations throughout the building and the staggered bell will still occur,” Wallace said. 

Lunch in the cafeteria will look similar to how it has been during hybrid, however there will be more desks. “We will go from about 362 desks to about 510 desks in the cafeteria, and we will start to utilize the desks in B hall. Our largest lunch will have maybe 500 people in it,” Wallace said.

Sophomore Nate Killen has been in school two days a week since November and is electing to come back four days a week. Killen expressed his feelings on returning to school.

“I am excited to come back, but it isn’t the same as regular school so it feels different. The school days have felt pretty normal so far and I like that we get Mondays off,” Killen said.

Safety protocols and precautions are a big part of some kids’ decisions to return to school. “I do feel it is OK safety wise, and even the health department has cleared returning. I really just hope that we can be back in school full time next year and maybe even without masks,” Killen said.

Many students are still not comfortable with returning full time and have chosen to return to completely virtual learning. “There is no 2 day option now so some of my friends are returning to totally virtual because they aren’t comfortable with so many kids in the building,” Killen said.