BALTIMORE — Students at most Baltimore City schools finally returned to in-person learning Tuesday after an extended period of virtual learning.
Samuel Rather who’s the principal at Calvin Rodwell Elementary Middle School said there are many things City Schools are implementing to combat the spread of COVID, and adapting to new changes has been no easy task.
“It’s definitely been a challenge you know our first priority of course is keeping our students safe but also we still have to educate them. You have to stay flexible in order to do this work we were able to adjust last week and move to some virtual type learning. It feels good to have our kids back in school safe face to face. Students are tested every week in a pool test and it makes us all feel more safe,” Rather said.
Last week his school was one of almost 50 Baltimore city schools who transition to temporary virtual learning for the week.
Tuesday all of those schools except five of them have allowed kids to step back in the classrooms. But first they have to be tested. Many students receive pool test in schools and if their parents don’t consent, they must provide their own weekly test results.
Rather said testing weekly is one of the measures City Schools have adapted to help combat the spread of COVID.
“We also keep students socially distanced throughout the day in the cafeteria, in all of their resource classes, so that we are just being proactive as possible so we can keep everyone safe,” Rather said.
And although City Schools is taking every safety measure possible to limit the spread of the virus, Rather believes those safe practices should start at home.
“Parents were a team here. Reminding your child to properly wash their hands, reminding your child to keep their hands to themselves, to keep their mask up, it starts there and we can definitely reinforce it when we get to school,” Rather said.
Of those five schools who are still virtual this week, three of them are virtual due to COVID. The other two had some mechanical issues in the building.
