STUDENTS WELCOMED BACK TO CLASSROOMS
Greengate, Cesar Chavez and Head Start programs starting in-person instruction
Greengate Principal Jonelle Castiglia had mixed emotions when she arrived on campus Monday morning at around 6:15 a.m. for the first day of in-person instruction in nearly a year.
“I’m very excited, it’s almost been a year since we had students back,” an emotional Castiglia said. “So there is a lot of excitement, but also it’s new here now. We have new things we have to do now, new processes to follow, especially the health and safety guidelines. But I think today means there is hope, more and more students will be coming back, and school will hopefully soon be back in session for everyone.”
Those changes to Greengate’s campus, located at 285 W. Beamer St., include a long list of new safety procedures and regulations to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The campus follows the small cohort guidance from the California Department of Public Health that allows students to come back to in-person learning as long as there are no more than 16 students and staff per classroom. All of the classes have met that standard. Community case numbers and Yolo County’s placement in the red tier also played a role in reopening.
“It means everything to me,” Castiglia said. “Teachers just could not wait to see their students.”
To protect everyone, the school will limit the number of people allowed inside the campus. Staff, along with parents, have had some training on the new procedures to follow. The school nurse has also been trained on how to wear all the personal protection equipment properly.
“It feels a little bit like we are moving in the right direction of getting back to what school used to be but knowing that it is still different,” Castiglia said. “Just seeing students, I think people are overwhelmed with happiness. It’s like having butterflies in your stomach because it’s the first day of school.”
The staff, which includes a school nurse, school site psychologists, regular office staff, speech and occupational therapists, and behavior technicians, try their best to stay six feet away from one another with signage throughout the classrooms to serve as reminders. Select staff will need to wear face shields if the students cannot wear a mask for any reason.
Different drop-off and pickup locations for the busses and recess times are used to ensure that cohorts are not mixed up or passing one another.
Castiglia, who has been working in education for over 30 years and into her fourth year at Greengate, estimates that around 50% of the students chose to remain in distance learning.
“We are finding a way to bring those families that choose to continue distance learning into our classrooms virtually so that they can see their classmates and teachers,” Castiglia said.
The students on campus will attend in-person instruction four days a week, Monday through Thursday. Students are there from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Afternoons and Fridays will be virtual.
“Nothing beats being inperson so we can actually work with the students,” Castiglia said. “For our population, distance learning has been very difficult, but parents and students have tried their hardest and have been amazing. They loved our virtual Friday dance parties that we have been doing.”
The preschool program Head Start, along with Cesar Chavez Community School, also welcomed back students Monday. The Yolo County Office of Education oversees all three programs as well as others within the Davis, Esparto, Washington, Winters and Woodland districts.
Over at the Head Start program, located within the same campus, site coordinator Sandra Hernandez met many of her students for the first time away from a computer screen.
“I’m very excited,” Hernandez said. “It’s different to see them compared to on the screen. When you meet them in person, it’s a dream come true. I know the returning students from last year, but for the new students, this is the first time I’ve seen them. It’s an amazing experience. Some look taller. Some look shorter. It’s very different.”
Three cohorts of around eight students returned to Cesar Chavez as well.
According to Principal Gayelynn Gerhart, students will attend class five days a week but remain in the same room. Teachers will rotate in and out of classrooms.
“Today has been great,” Gerhart said. “Big smiles and happy people here today. I’ve never had to do the first day of school welcome packet that included masks and hand sanitizer and gloves in addition to pencil boxes and rulers but that’s this year.”