Students Return To School In Stamford, Only A Few Issues Reported

STAMFORD, CT — Whether it was in-person or distance learning, students had a successful first day of school in Stamford on Tuesday, according to school officials.

For many students, Sept. 8 marked the first time they could enter a school building since the spread of the coronavirus forced the district to shut down and move all students to distance learning in March. (To sign up for Stamford breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

Under the district's hybrid model for reopening, students operate on a "blue/green" schedule, which allows for approximately half the number of students to attend school in person every other day. Students learn remotely on days when they are not physically in the school building.

Students also have the option to attend classes at home through a distance learning "academy," which a large number of students indicated they would opt for last month.

See also: Thousands Of Stamford Students Expected To Learn From Home

Speaking by phone Tuesday evening, Associate Superintendent Michael Fernandes said he was able to pop into three schools throughout the day, and overall things seemed to be going well.

"I think it was a very successful opening," Fernandes said to Patch. "It was good to see kids again, and I think teachers and administrators were excited."

He also noted some younger kids may have been a bit "apprehensive" at first, they were ultimately happy to see their teachers and to "sort of get back into the swing of things."

According to Fernandes, the principals he spoke with said they had "a great day," and overall the district did not encounter a lot of problems Tuesday.

"The first day of school always has issues," Fernandes said, "bus issues, knowing the kids' schedule issues, miscommunication issues...but it was a really good day."

Fernandes said some of those issues faced on the first day back were ones the district had anticipated, such as students coming into school buildings on the wrong day of their hybrid schedule.

"It was a handful at each school," Fernandes said, "it wasn't a significant number, but that just posed problems contacting parents and having to remind them or let them know about the 'blue/green' schedule and everything else. I think that's a minor issue, but that was a problem I noticed in all the schools I went to."

He also noted this issue was easy to resolve. The district's bus system also ended up operating better than anticipated, with most buses transporting only a handful of kids, according to Fernandes.

"I think it's a little more common for families to drive their children on the first day of school, particularly elementary students," Fernandes said, "so those numbers might go up, but with the distance learning academy and with us encouraging parents to drive their students, I think that's been a benefit to limiting the number of students on a bus."

This did, however, lead to another anticipated challenge: more traffic at schools.

"Managing the parent drop off and pick up today was probably a little more of a challenge than usual," Fernandes said, "although it is typically a challenge every year within the first few days of school."

Scheduling has also been a challenge this year, as schedules need to be finalized for students learning under both the hybrid model and the through the distance learning academy.

"We're still working on some scheduling issues and finalizing schedules, but again that's not unusual to do at the beginning of the year," Fernandes said. "With the distance learning academy, [scheduling] is a little more complicated, so I think that's an area that we'll continue to work on as we move forward...it's very complex, but we're getting there."

He also noted the district was still collecting data regarding attendance on the first day.

Fernandes attributed the day's success to the large amount of planning that went into the first day of school this year.

"I think [effective planning] led to a really productive start to the school year," Fernandes said, "and I give a lot of credit to our principals, our staff and administrators and teachers that were on the task force with the superintendent. I think that really went a long way."

During the Board of Education's meeting on Aug. 25, board president Andy George noted the district's current reopening model was chosen due to its balance of three important goals: safety, learning and the social and emotional condition of students.

"There's no perfect solution," George said during the meeting. "There's no fantastic model to roll out, so this was the model that the committee has chosen and worked on, and I think that administration has done a Herculean job of putting this together in a relatively short timeframe."

George said the board was aware the plan was "fluid" and could change quickly depending on different factors.

He also noted distance learning will be improved in the fall compared to the spring, when the district had to suddenly shift to that model after school buildings were temporarily shut down.

"It is going to be a better experience overall," George said.

Fernandes acknowledged that, though they have been working toward the reopening "for a long time," the district was ready to make changes as they receive more information each day.

"We've been working on this for a long time," Fernandes said, "and we still are going to make adjustments every day, because things change and we're learning as we go. It was a really good first day though, and I think the planning was really key."

Patch has reached out the Board of Education for further information.