Smiles —and sweat— under the masks as Peninsula kids start first week of ‘real’ school

The scene at Harbor Heights Elementary School on Monday was a little otherworldly: a long line of cars disgorging small masked children, welcomed by masked teachers, including one garbed, like a creature from Mars, in a hospital gown.

Still, as principal David Bentler put it, everyone was “smiling with their eyes.”

“Are you ready?” teachers shouted at intervals.

“We’re ready!” kids hollered back.

It was the first day of “real” school in the Peninsula School District, as kindergartners and first-graders flocked into classrooms, many of them for the first time. It was the district’s tentative first step in restoring in-person school after weeks of pandemic shutdown.

“I liked Zoom, but I’m excited,” said five-year-old Aubree LaBadie, who is starting kindergarten. “I am excited to make new friends.”

If all goes well and coronavirus rates in Piece County remain stable, students in other grades, 2-12 are expected to be called back in stages. In the meantime, remote learning continues for most.

At Harbor Heights, a long line of cars — parents were forbidden to get out — dropped off children in their nicest school clothes, backpacks strapped on and face masks in place. The sun was shining brightly, and there was excitement in the air.

“It’s nice to get this started and see the energy,” said Bentley, who was rushing about, paperwork in hand, greeting kids and parents in their cars.

A half-dozen teachers and the principal were buzzing around the area, walking up to every vehicle to have parents fill out a form before walking the child inside the school to have their temperature taken.

Many parents were seen taking photos of their child walking to school

It was extremely controlled, with students being walked into the building one at a time. All students and teachers were wearing masks, with one teacher, Dave Rucci, wearing a full out safety outfit

It took only 30 to 45 minutes to get every student safely inside the building.

Taking no chances

Teacher Dave Rucci had just had surgery, so he was taking not chances. He greeted kids in what looked like a full-out nurse suit, everything from the long blue protective gown, face mask, protective clear glass in front of face, and white gloves.

“I’m glad to see the kids. I’m a little nervous, it’s all so new,” Ricci said. “I’m looking forward to getting some normalcy back,”

“We are dealing with the littlest of the little,” he added. “We are trying to teach them something we’ve never done before.”

Parents were generally supportive. Many leaned from car windows to snap photos of their children walking into school.

“With the current state of things, the school district is doing the best it can,” said Will LaBadie, Aubree’s father. “The faculty and staff did a great job. It’s important for the young kids to get back safely. It brings back a bit of normality.”

Dan Gerl’s son, Onyu, is going into first grade.

“I’m very happy. I think the efforts to educate through zoom are laudable, but on the whole not effective. My son is special needs, so education doesn’t always translate well over the internet,”

“The social side, I know it was difficult, almost impossible for Onyu to interact over Zoom. I know in-person won’t be the same as before, but the administration will make it happen.”

Angela Rajnus dropped off her son, Luke, dressed in his first-day best.

“My son is ready to be around other kids, he is such a social boy,” she said. “I know this is tricky for the staff. My experience is my kid does better in person, but my heart goes out to the teachers and staff. The administration has been amazing.”

Flopsweat city

If teachers and principals presented smiling, welcoming faces to the first students showing up Monday, it was a tribute to their ability to wipe away flopsweat.

For most of the weekend, right up to Sunday night, a race was on to get schools ready for the onslaught. Parking lots were full of teachers’ cars, and lights burned late in classrooms. Maintenance staff were still resizing classroom tables, cutting them down to meet six-foot distancing requirements.

And right up to the last minute, the rules kept changing. On Thursday, the district learned of new instructions from the state Labor and Industries Department that will require some teachers and other staff to be fitted with N95 masks. The three days required to get that done set back the first day of school for many special-education students.

“It’s sort have been a moving target,” said Carol Rivera, president of the Peninsula Educators Association, sounding a little frazzled on Saturday. She had just finished a walk-through of several school buildings and was scheduled to do several more the next day.

“We wanted to see where the health checks would be done, to see the flow of the building, check out the bathrooms, make sure personal protection equipment is available and ready, all those last-minute things that need to work,” she said.

Safety first concern

Teachers are ready to teach, Rivera said, but they want to make sure both they and their students are safe.

“Our first and primary concern in maintaining the health and safety of our students and staff,” she said. “We always hope that parents will understand that the working conditions of teachers and the physical plant are part of the students’ learning environment.”

On the weekend before opening, teachers and others spent a lot of time with tape measures, trying to figure out how to fit X number of kids in a room six feet apart.

“Not all rooms are perfect rectangles,” said Rivera. “You have to figure out, not only how many can you seat, but which direction they will face, and how to fit a teacher into that picture.”

Over the weekend, as class rosters grew, many teachers had an “omigod” moment when they discovered they had more pupils than their room would safely hold.

“There rooms being switched and traded right up to the last 24 hours,” Rivera said.

Dodging the Zoom Bomber

Among the safety protocols in place: Children will be greeted at the school doors with temperature checks. Masks will be worn at all times. Six-foot separation will be maintained. Students will be encouraged to wash their hands often.

Like district administrators, the teachers union, the Peninsula Education Association, has been caught between parents demanding an early return to in-person teaching, and educators wary about endangering their students, themselves or their own families.

“We all want to be back in the classroom,” said Marci Cumings-Cohoe, who teaches second grade and is on the union bargaining committee. “But as an individual, I’m concerned. What if someone in my classroom gets sick? What if someone brings it home to their family, and someone dies? I worry about our most vulnerable kids.”

Pete Pratz teaches math to high schoolers. He and his classes have been on Zoom since last march.

“Honest, I hope we get to come back soon, too.” he said. “Teaching with kids in the room, it’s why I do what I do.”

Still, he added, “I feel we’ve rushed it along a bit, rather than getting all of our ducks in a row. I don’t think any teachers want to return to in-person unless we have absolute safety for everybody.”

So far, he said, “I’m just happy I’ve dodged the Zoom Bomber.”

Kerry Webster contributed to this story

This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 5:30 AM.