It’s back to school like never before

On Tuesday, students in Santa Fe Public Schools return to in-person learning — a back-to-school day like no other. Of course, not all students will be attending. Last week, district officials had numbers indicating 5,490 of the 11,891 students would choose to return to a physical classroom, with the rest continuing with remote learning.

Not all teachers will be behind their desks, either. Some have medical exemptions through the end of the year, and others still are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

With education during a pandemic, little is normal. But there is a joy and relief in seeing students coming together to learn, see friends and be guided in their intellectual growth by an adult who is a physical presence rather than a face on a computer screen.

For the first time in little over a year, all Santa Fe Public Schools will be physicaly open for the business of learning.

School openings are being pushed by the Biden administration, part of his promises to return the country to a new normal in his first 100 days with vaccinations, economic stimulus and now, the return of children to actual classrooms.

This move is both political and practical. After months of remote learning, there is genuine concern for the academic and mental health of children isolated for so long. The key is to reopen as safely as possible and be ready to pull back if necessary.

Students will be required to wear masks. They will be asked to wash hands repeatedly. They need to bring a bottle of water because fountains won’t work — although there will be stations to refill the bottles. Desks will be at least 3 feet apart. Every day, students must bring their computers and chargers to class. And every day, they must take those computers and chargers home.

Teachers, staff, students and family must be ready to turn on a dime should a school or classroom be told to cease in-person instruction because of a coronavirus infection. All involved will have adjustments to make; it’s a new way of in-classroom learning, distanced yet together, with some students perhaps having class in the gymnasium or outside because a classroom is too small.

Students won’t be hugging their teachers (although we’d wager a few hugs will happen). They won’t be hugging or touching each other. They can expect colder classrooms — open windows to get the air circulating — and in some rooms, the hum of air filters.

Schools will look different inside.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced recommended spacing for children and adults from 6 feet to 3 feet. Reducing the required distance between desks should accommodate children, even in smaller classrooms. Teachers and staff are returning to class vaccinated and protected from the virus, something that should make them less apprehensive.

The CDC believes schools can operate safely so long as they practice what guidance calls “consistent implementation of layered mitigation strategies to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV2 in schools.”

Those include wearing masks, distancing, rigorous hand-washing, having clean facilities, and implementing surveillance testing and contact tracing. Santa Fe has committed to these strategies.

The front lines of the pandemic are continually shifting. The new focus is in the classroom, and teachers and school staff deserve the kind of attention and praise other workforces have rightly received.

Yes, this will be challenging, fraught with the ups and downs the pandemic has given us before. But on the first day of school — even in April — all things seem possible.