TOLEDO, Ohio — Monday morning, students at St. John's Jesuit High School arrived for the first day of the 2020-21 school year.
This year, leaders started the year early with in-person learning.
Chris Knight, Vice President of St. John's, said many things will be the same when it comes to the learning experience. Although, there will be changes and extra precautions around the building to keep students and staff safe.
The biggest change is that masks are mandatory. They will be worn at all times throughout the day, unless eating or drinking. Temperature checks are also taking place for all students entering the building.
Knight said there will only be two entrances for students as they start their day. Sixth through eighth grade students will enter through a separate door than the ninth through twelfth grade students.
"We're going for 6 feet in the classrooms. We actually added a class period to our schedule so we could thin out all of our classes and reduce the number. We used to have an 8-period day, now we have a 9-period day," Knight said.
As students move through the building, Knight said they have taken the steps to label halls and stairways with certain directions, marking the ways that foot traffic should flow.
"This is the safest place I possibly could imagine them to be, quite frankly. They're going to be here in school. Following a specific, really strict set of rules on how they're going to behave, how they're going to function, how they're going to learn," St. John's Medical Advisor, Kris Brickman, said.
Brickman added that he feels confident that they will be able to keep kids safe in classrooms and around the school. Desk have been spread six feet apart or have dividers on them.
Since making sure students keep a safe distance is a priority, leaders say group and partner learning will not happen as frequently. But, they're working to figure out ways to accommodate for those methods.
They have new technology to help keep learning at the highest level.
Teachers said they are excited to have the students back -- but everything felt brand new.
"To be honest, kind of a little bit nervous anticipation because a lot of us, me included, feel like we're first-year teachers again. A lot of those thing that we're going to be doing, since we haven't done them since March, and some of the processes and procedures that we're going to do feel relatively new," explained Social Studies teacher, Steve Spenthoff.
Mass is a big part of the learning experience at St. John's. Leaders say they have been working for months, trying out ways for the students to have chapel time while still social distancing.
"We did some of our all-school masses on the football field. So the boys are spread out, there's plenty of room and we're able to have the whole school out there," Superior of the Jesuits, Father Brian Lehane, said. "We'll continue to do regular masses as well. But instead of doing all-school, meaning all the kids together in the chapel, we'll be able to break them down by class."
Leaders say their earlier-than-normal start was done to help address summer learning loss, and to also have flexibility with their academic calendar in case of any further significant surges in coronavirus cases.
If parents are still not comfortable with their students returning to the classrooms, the school does have an online option. Students would watch their teacher live, throughout the day, during hours when class is in session.
Leaders are asking families to test the virtual option two weeks at a time before deciding to return to in-person learning or staying virtual.