Back to school at last
In-class learning returns – for some
School bells finally started ringing Monday morning for at least some city kids.
After a troubled and late start to the academic year, Mayor de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza welcomed pre-K students back for the first day of in-person learning.
Although it was only the city’s 90,000 preschoolers and specialneeds students heading back to class for the start of this COVID wracked year, de Blasio took a victory lap over that small accomplishment.
“This is an amazing place,” de Blasio told reporters after touring the inside of the Mosaic Pre-K Center in Elmhurst, Queens.
“Just the devotion of these teachers and the team here is just evident. Immediately, you can feel the love they have for kids. We can feel the joy they had starting up again.”
“The parents were so excited, as well,” Hizzoner said.
Monday marked the first day of classroom learning for 3-K and pre-K kids along with specialneeds students in the Department of Education’s District 75 who opted to return to their buildings.
All grades had been previously slated to return for in-person classes on Monday following a delayed start date, but de Blasio — under pressure from unions and elected officials — announced last Thursday that the city would again push back classroom learning for public-school students in all grades above pre-K.
Daily random temperature checks are mandatory, according to the DOE, and de Blasio told reporters he was confident going back to school would be safe.
“Every kid just had that mask. It was normal and natural,” he said. “That’s why I am very convinced it’s going to be a good and safe experience for everyone.”
Not every parent fully agreed. “I am a little nervous because of this situation. It’s a difficult situation, but I think it is necessary for her to be in-school learning,” said Imelda Santos, 35, who dropped off her 3-year-old daughter, Sophia Diaz, at the Queens school.
United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew on Monday marked the reopening of schools at the Mickey Mantle
School on the Upper West Side. He told reporters he was positive that there would be no more delays.
“I’m confident that we are going to open next week,” he said.
De Blasio said he, too, was “very confident” that in-person instruction would begin next Tuesday and Thursday for all other grades.
In East Harlem, Beajae Payne, 33, dropped off her eighth-grade son, Tyrell, Monday morning — and said he could not wait to get to class.
“He didn’t even say goodbye,” she said with a smile. “He just wanted to get back to school.”
Payne said that Tyrell, a specialneeds student, had struggled with remote learning and that she had little time to assist him while trying to tend to the demands of her own job.
“It was impossible,” she said. “You have parents having to choose between their work and their kids. We have bills to pay.”