LINDSIDE, WV (WOAY) – Monroe County is finally able to send students back to school in-person this week.
Monroe was one of the only counties in the entire state to be in the red on the state’s COVID-19 map. Now they’ve dipped back down to yellow, meaning students can finally return to school.
The principal of James Monroe High School Angie Mann says that the entire community is happy to see the students finally come back for in-person learning.
“It’s going well. I think as the kids got off the buses this morning and out of their parents’ cars, you could tell they want to be back. We haven’t been able to have kids yet and we’re excited to get them this morning,” Mann said.
Roughly 450 students attend James Monroe High School. And with alternating groups, that means about 200 kids are in the school on any given day. And the school faculty is taking plenty of precautions to make sure they stay safe.
“We did come back half population to get us going and started off the school year. It was nice seeing the buses not so crowded. And as they came in to their tables to get their temperatures taken, it really allowed us to ease into things.”
High school and middle school students still attend on alternating days, meaning they still do remote learning on their days off. One student says it’s been a challenge to get adjusted to this change, but they’re happy to be back in school at least a few days a week.
“Feels pretty good, glad to be back with friends. But the schedule and stuff is a little weird right now, but everybody will get warmed up to it.”
Currently Monroe County is classified as yellow which means they’ve lately managed to stay below 10 cases per 100,000 residents.
