POWAY, Calif. — As part of Poway Unified School District's phased reopening plan, ten elementary schools re-opened Thursday morning, with another 16 scheduled to re-open Oct 12.
A row of cars lined up outside Canyon View Elementary, as parents picked up their kids from campus for the first time in nearly seven months.
One parent said, "Finally!"
Her daughter added, "It was scary, but it was also very fun!"
When asked if she was excited to come back Friday, her answer was yes.
At Canyon View, 60% of its students chose to come back for in-person learning.
"Yes, I'm really excited because the Zoom [and] all the connections... it was really hard and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and asking questions," said one fifth-grader.
The AM/PM schedule
The AM/PM schedule consists of students being divided into two separate two on-campus learning sessions, five days a week, with 100 minutes of virtual and asynchronous learning at home.
The day is divided into two sessions. Each session is two hours and 35-minutes long. One group of students starts at 8:05 a.m., and the second group begins school at 11:40 a.m.
In between each group, the classrooms are disinfected. For the hours kids aren't on campus, they're still logging on at home for 100 minutes of virtual instruction daily.
The following 10 elementary schools reopened with an AM/PM schedule on Thursday:
- Canyon View Elementary School
- Highland Ranch Elementary School
- Morning Creek Elementary School
- Painted Rock Elementary School
- Pomerado Elementary School
- Shoal Creek Elementary School
- Sundance Elementary School
- Sunset Hills Elementary School
- Turtleback Elementary
- Westwood Elementary School
Poway Unified Superintendent Dr. Marian Kim Phelps said there are several reasons for the phased reopening approach. For starters, it gives staff time to address any issues that arise.
“It allowed us the opportunity to work out the kinks at some of the schools to figure out what worked, what didn't work," Phelps said. "We had principals show up to see how did it go. What worked? What didn't it work? What do I still need to do to get my site prepared?”
As for why the district is only allowing elementary schools to fully reopen right now, officials say younger kids can't navigate virtual learning as well as older ones. In addition, their campuses are smaller, so it's an easier puzzle to figure out.
Dr. Kim Phelps said, "You're talking about thousands of kids on campus at the same time versus hundreds and you're also talking about kids that change courses every single period and have a different teacher every single period."
For now, some Poway high schools have experimented with allowing certain kids on campus, including those with special needs.
Though Dr. Kim Phelps said rest assured, she and others are working tirelessly to allow every school to reopen, it's just a question of when.
"Because our teachers and everybody want kids to come back," she said.
While no date has been set, the board will discuss that issue at its upcoming meeting on Oct. 15.