Columbus schools will offer in-person learning 5 days a week this fall dispatch.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dispatch.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In her 23 years of teaching, Deborah Staples has never been this excited for a class to step into her classroom for the first time.
It s the first time that has ever happened in February, though. And, as expected, the kindergarten room at East Linden Elementary School looks a little different this year.
But much has also stayed the same, if you look beyond the spaced-out desks topped with plastic barriers and the jug of hand sanitizer ready to greet students at the doorway.
There is still a bookshelf stuffed with stories and a vibrantly colored alphabet fastened on the wall. Each desk has a name tag, shaped like a sneaker, and bulletin boards are decorated bright blue, one adorned with a giant cutout of book character Pete the Cat.
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High schoolers in tech programs at the Downtown High School and Ft. Hayes Career Center, Pre-K through 3rd graders, and select students with complex needs will return to a schedule of two days in class and three days online. The following week, 4th and 5th graders will return to hybrid learning. Superintendent Talisa Dixon says she understands some parents are concerned about children returning to classrooms before all adults are vaccinated, and the all-online self-directed Digital Academy remains an option. She says a hybrid model, where some students return to school for two days, and some remain online all week, is not feasible this year: