SUMMERS COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – Summers County Schools will resume in person classes on Tuesday January 19th under their blended model. That means that students with last names A through K will attend Monday and Tuesday and students with last names L through Z attending Thursday and Friday. Wednesday’s will be used as intervention days where students can be bused to the schools to gain additional help in their classes or talk to a teacher about issues they are having.
“Everybody knows kids are having not a summer slide, but a Covid slide where we got to pick up the pace and help them out,” said Summers County Schools Superintendent David Warvel. “We want to provide guidance educationally, but also social and emotionally because we might need to have some counseling time with some of our kids. Just to talk to them and see how things are going.”
Summers County will also be following the new guidelines where pre-k through eighth grade students will be in school regardless of the color on the DHHR map with high school students following the map. In order keep students safe while they are in school, each school building and bus will have an electromagnetic sprayer that will be used in addition to the deep cleaning supplies. The schools also have plastic dividers on each desk and require students to wear a mask.
“We will be continuing temperature checks at the door,” said Hinton Area Elementary School Principal Angela Gumm. “We have the plexiglass shields that were purchased for the students, extra cleaning supplies were purchased, hand sanitation stations, mask wearing for all students in the upper grades, and all students once they go outside their core classroom.”
In addition to all the cleaning measures the schools will also be using live teaching sessions. The live sessions are being done to help deal with the internet issues experienced last semester and improve the students’ academic gains.
“If they don’t have internet at home to support that then they can come into the classroom or if the parents feel more comfortable we have internet halls set up,” Gumm said.
Superintendent Warvel asks everybody to continue to be patient and flexible through the semester.
