The anticipation is high as the school board has decided that cohorts will merge together after spring break. With the ever-changing CDC guidelines alongside the spread of COVID-19 and the increase of vaccinations, the return to school is official. The CDC has recently reduced the social distancing requirement from six feet apart to now only three feet. Currently, there are four cohorts, but after an emergency school board meeting on March 25, there will no longer be any cohorts, and everyone will have the option to go four days beginning April 19.
Earlier this year, while cohorts were being created, the school board gave students the option to return to school or remain online. A large number of students are still choosing to remain at home due to the increased numbers of people contracting COVID-19. The hope for many students that wished to come back to school is coming true after spring break as the school is allowing the kids who opted to stay home to choose to return to school. West Forsyth’s data manager, Liliana Parada, comments on how students are able to come back to school.
“We are allowing parents to request their students to come back from Remote Learning by contacting student services,” Parada said.
Some students would choose to opt in to going back to school because they would have more students in each class.
“I would go back if there were more people in each cohort because I don’t want to go back if there are only going to be two people in each of my classes,” senior Sakshi Kaikini said.
Others are excited for the chance to be able to get back some normalcy and social interactions.
“I would go back because I have really missed the social interactions we got at school. School was the place where I met some of the best people and had the best relationships with, so it’s been difficult to not have that everyday like we used to,” senior Alex Bryant said.
Some seniors are excited to see their friends for the final few weeks of their high school career.
“Yes, I would go back so I could see my friends for the last few weeks of school,” senior Darren James said.
Some are excited that the classrooms will be filled with more students since some in-person classes only had one or two students due to the cohorts.
“I think I would choose to go back if we got to go more frequently. I just want the classes to be more full because that will be the most fun,” junior Ava Shearin said.
Some students would prefer to stay virtual.
“I would rather continue with remote learning since I have already done it this long. I think that switching it up this far in would just make everything a lot harder as well as when it comes to getting used to the schedule. Another reason is that I would not have any of my friends in my classes and I would not like to be alone with the teacher and three other students,” senior Gaby Ferrer said.
Some students would rather stay virtual as they have become so used to their current schedule.
“I would choose to remain online because that is what I have been doing since August and it’s not worth changing everything for the last few months. I still have three more years to experience high school and I would rather wait until everything is 100% back to normal before I go,” freshman Tanner Fiorani said.
Students are excited for the possibility of being able to return to school with more than just a few people in the classroom, and are excited for a sense of normalcy after this hectic year. Many students have gotten used to their new schedule at home and are just going to stick it out virtually. Not only are students happy about their ability to return after spring break, but the teachers are thrilled about seeing most of their students if not all of them.