STOKES COUNTY, N.C. — As the academic year draws to a close in about two months, more Triad students are getting the opportunity to learn in the classroom. Asheboro City Schools elementary students, Rockingham County Schools elementary students, and Stokes County Schools middle and high school students returned to classrooms, five days a week, on Monday.
STOKES COUNTY SCHOOLS
Stokes County middle and high schools are shifting to Plan A. They'll be in-person five days a week for face-to-face instruction. The district welcomed those secondary students back on Monday morning.
Superintendent Dr. Brad Rice says it's an exciting day for the school district.
"We’re trying to make a pretty big deal out of it, to welcome them back and let them know that we’ve missed them and we want them back where they belong," Dr. Rice stated.
He added that the district has been working toward this all year, and they are well prepared.
"Our numbers have been pretty low all year," Rice said, referring to COVID-19 data within the district. "They went up in January like they did everywhere else but right now we have one student out with a positive test and no staff members out with a positive test so our plan has worked very well and we’re confident in that."
Tessa Joyce works at a Stokes County elementary school and also has an eighth-grader who returned on Monday.
"Today for me was just a tiny victory in what has been a very dark year," Joyce explained. "I was just ecstatic, I knew today was his first full week of school and it's his last year there at the middle school so it's very important, he couldn’t wait to be back full-time."
Stokes County elementary students returned to in-person learning for five days a week in October. For parents who don't want to send their student back to in-person learning, they still have the option to choose Plan C for the remainder of the year.
"We still offer Plan C for those that wish to stay home during this time that have family health issues or things like that but everyone that wants to come back to school can," Rice said.
ASHEBORO CITY SCHOOLS
Also, Asheboro City Schools students in Kindergarten through fifth grade are returning four days a week starting this week. Previously the district was operating under Plan B which is a mix of in-person and remote learning.
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY SCHOOLS
In Rockingham County, kindergarten through fifth grade will be back in the classroom five days a week. This return was approved by the school board after more than 600 Rockingham County educators were vaccinated at the beginning of March.