6 Orange County Elementary Schools Head Back To The Classroom

LOS ALAMITOS, CA — It was back to the classroom for Los Alamitos Unified School District elementary school children, this week, they reported.

On a day that Orange County moved out of the statewide purple "widespread" tier to the red or "Substantial" tier, the first public school district in Orange County returned to in person instruction on campuses for TK through 5th graders.

Lee Elementary, Alamitos Elementary, McGaugh Elementary, Rossmoor Elementary, Weaver Elementary and Hopkins Elementary students were black to the classroom, a bit different than usual.

Superintendent Andrew Pulver congratulated all for moving mountains to get the schools back open for hybrid learning, right after Labor Day.

“I am deeply proud of the extraordinary team effort that brought us back here. Months of planning and problem solving by a district-wide committee to make sure we could safely reunite. Countless hours by teachers completely reimagining classroom instruction. Tireless efforts by our maintenance professionals to thoroughly sanitize our campuses and reconfigure them to maximize student safety,” Pulver wrote in a prepared statement, Tuesday. “This is a very big day. We are prepared. We are pleased to welcome our students back on campus. We are truly better together.”

It's school, but different.

On campuses, playgrounds are closed. Handwashing stations are prevalent. All are wearing facemasks and sitting behind clear plastic barriers. Each class will remain together in a "cohort" and will not be in contact with other classes or groups. Students are divided between morning and afternoon classes. Special education students are also back to school.

There are 3,500 elementary school students registered among the six Los Alamitos Unified School District campuses. The district reported a total of 2,800 students registered for in-person school. Families had the opportunity to select an online "academy" for the year, if they chose.

The district offered protective equipment for all on campus personnel and for students. Masks are required most of the day, except during exercise periods or while students eat. Parents are asked to take part in monitoring health, and all are temperature checked upon arrival. No parents or non-essential visitors can be on campus, according to the district. All surfaces and rooms are sanitized daily.

The remainder of Orange County's public schools are hopeful to begin in person instruction by Sept. 22. For now, they will need to watch daily coronavirus counts and determine if the county can remain in the red tier, the second of four tiers back to "life as usual," once the pandemic is under control.

For now, the county will watch and wait, hopeful to get back into the classroom, onto sports fields and courts, and beyond.

What are you most looking forward to when school reopens? Let us know in comments, or by emailing your Patch editor.