Yuma Lutheran takes the plunge
School back in full swing – in person
The 2020-2021 school year looks a bit different for Yuma Lutheran School than other institutions in Yuma County, as 87% of the school’s 430 students returned to their desks Monday for full-time, in-person instruction.
The return follows a survey distributed to families after Gov. Doug Ducey left the decision of reopening up to individual schools. According to Principal Angela Schiller, the responses “overwhelmingly” indicated that after five months of being away from their school campus at 2555 S. Engler Ave., families were ready to be back.
“We know that students just learn better in person,” Schiller said. “We’ve got kids wearing masks as they arrive, when they leave, when they work in small groups
– if they’re not able to social distance, they’re wearing their mask.”
Before Monday’s full day of learning, teachers welcomed students in three separate cohorts last week for a half-day of orientation to introduce new protocols and a review in proper handwashing.
Through the app myTempTracker, parents will sign in before leaving the house each morning to take their child’s temperature and answer a few screening questions to receive either a green flag indicating they’re safe to head to school, or a red flag urging them to stay home. According to Schiller, Yuma Lutheran’s teachers are also using the app.
And while hand sanitizer has “always been a thing” in every classroom, several outdoor sanitizing stations have been added to campus as well. According to Schiller, each Yuma Lutheran School classroom has been rearranged to ensure social distancing between students, who are granted a respite from their masks while at their desks as long as that distance is maintained.
“Everyone’s excited to be here,” Schiller said. “You can see the smiles in their eyes, because you can’t see their faces anymore, and the parents are just excited that their kids are able to come back. Seeing their friends and getting instruction in person is definitely the best way to be instructed. All the desks are separated, and it’s not how it normally
“We know that students just learn better in person. We’ve got kids wearing masks as they arrive, when they leave, when they work in small groups – if they’re not able to social distance, they’re wearing their mask.” Angela Schiller, Yuma Lutheran School principal
looks around here, but we’re adapting and making changes so that we can meet in person.”
The school has attracted some new students as well.
“Because of the military presence in Yuma, we normally have about 80 new students (each year), and right now we’ve got 111,” Schiller said. “I’m guessing that’s probably because we’re opening in person, because we’ve had a lot of transfers during the last couple of weeks specifically.”
For families who don’t feel comfortable returning to campus just yet, the school is offering an independent learning option that’s part of the same curriculum students are following in class, so that when they’re ready to transition back to in-person learning, they’ll be able to do so with ease.
“It would be just as if they were out sick for a week and had to do their makeup work at home,” said Schiller. “We didn’t put a time limit or a time frame on it, so if they wanted to come back next week, they could come back next week. As soon as they’re ready to come back in, we’re ready to have them.”
Similarly, if families have returned to in-person learning but suddenly feel uncomfortable with that instruction model, they are able to switch over to the independent option, though they’re asked not to switch back and forth between the two.
Traditionally, Yuma Lutheran School has welcomed visits and volunteerism from parents during the school day, but according to Schiller, those have been put on hold for now.
“We’re not allowing parents to come on campus to volunteer at this time,” she said. “Normally, parents have been able to bring lunches to school if their child forgets a lunch or if they just want to bring them a special treat during the day, and we just feel like we really need to not have any more people on campus than we need to have on campus, so visitors right now are not allowed.
“Anyone who does come into the school office does have to have a mask on, because parents will come in to pay tuition or buy a lunch ticket or things like that. We’ve got protocols in place that if students do forget their lunches, we’ll provide lunches for them.”
As a parochial school, Schiller said that faith “absolutely” has a role in Yuma Lutheran School’s return to learning.
“I don’t want people to think that we’re solely putting our trust that God’s just going to protect us – I do believe that he will, but we also have put precautions into place to make sure that we have a safe environment for our students,” Schiller said. ”But our parents have adopted faith over fear and they’re ready to send their kids back, having all faith that things will work out.”
Schiller said she recognizes that there are some who may disagree with the school’s decision to begin in-person instruction right away – and she says that’s OK.
“I know there are a lot of people that don’t think this is the right thing to do, and they’re absolutely entitled to their opinion,” Schiller said. “That’s why we’re offering an option for our families that aren’t comfortable with coming back yet. I respect everyone’s opinion. Just because you don’t think it’s time to come back doesn’t mean that opinion is wrong; we just decided that is what’s right for our campus at this time, and we’re excited to be able to offer that to families that want to come.”