This crazy year has led to plenty of schedule changes, with the latest attempt to move back to normal being a five-day, fully in-person or fully virtual schedule that started on April 6. While this return to normal might have seemed concerning at first, ultimately, the return was not hasty.

Many of those who have opted to stay online worry about safety. Considering students might have older relatives and family members that are at risk, this is a valid concern. For that reason, the district has made the five-day return optional to fit the comfort levels of all students and their families. For those who are a part of the five-day schedule, students involved in sports and numerous other extracurriculars are required to be antigen-tested every two weeks to lower transmission in the building. 

Dr. Scott Eveslage said it was made clear that safety was a priority. Throughout the year, the district has been communicating with CHOP doctors, officers of public health, and other experts about future projections, vaccination progress and transmission. Not only is expert communication key in the return to normal, Eveslage and others have been keeping up with recent CDC guidelines. Taking research from around the world, the CDC changed the six feet distance to three. It is clear that coupled with the other CDC recommendations, the new social distancing might not pose as much as a risk as previously thought. 

Even with the new social distancing guidelines though, the school day is far from perfect. For example, maintaining social distancing during lunch time at the high school is tough. Head principal Mr. Dennis  Williams even added that on the first day back, over 100 kids gathered in the same location for lunch because they wanted to eat with their friends. The administration took the right steps needed to ensure the safety of all the students by redirecting everyone to their assigned location. With time, the students and teachers began adapting to the new schedule, and while things may not be completely back to normal, this is by far the closest we have been. 

Regardless, a couple weeks ago this would have been a completely different article, but now with the vaccine being open to anyone 16 and older and the school having offered an on-site vaccination clinic for students on Monday, Apr. 26, there is an additional level of safety. Also, from recent research, there are intentions to allow 12- to 15-year-olds to be vaccinated within the coming months.

According to Dr. Eveslage, vaccines are an important consideration for when schools should open, but they alone are not enough, as the disease can still be transmitted despite being vaccinated. HH would have to take into account how the vaccines would impact numbers. With over 63% of high school students back in school, the risk factor is not eliminated. In other words, despite the rapid vaccinations, there has not been a decline in cases. Therefore, the antigen testing is still needed to prevent more spread. 

Another struggle with the new schedule has been for teachers to give equal attention to in-person and virtual students in the classroom. As Mr. Williams said, despite the majority of students being in person, the virtual students are by no means at a disadvantage. With more means of communication with teachers than ever before, whether it be through Teams, email or Remind, it is still easy to connect with teachers, even though it might not be the usual fist bump in the hallways. 

So while the new schedule is not flawless, all students, teachers and administrators are doing the best they can to make the most out of the situation at hand. 

And with this year slowly coming to an end, there is a whole other mystery of what the next school year will look like. As Dr. Eveslage said, plans are only as good as the context around us, and that has proven true time and time again for the past year. So far, it seems like the current schedule is here to stay; however, those plans are subject to change and are not official yet because of the unpredictability.