Guess who’s back, back again? That’s right we’re back and we’re ready to stay! On February 23rd an email was sent out to all SVVSD families from superintendent Dr. Don Haddad officially confirming the rumors that had already begun to spread. The email itself was plain and simple as it told parents that all students in middle school and high school will be returning to fully in-person learning starting after spring break. 

The email itself was simple and clear as it was stated that case numbers have gone down, our schools are one of the safest places to be due to the fact that a bunch of “robust safety measures” are in place as well making the schools safe for everyone to return.  

The email also told us that our principals would send out more information as we get closer to break. However, if you know the Scout, then you know that we’re always ahead of the game and getting the answers to the questions that are already forming. 

With that being said, here’s everything you need to know about us coming back!

Basic Information: 

We will officially be going back to school starting Monday, March 29th.

There will no longer be any hybrid days but instead will be an option of either being fully in person, being fully remote or if you’re doing LaunchED you can stay with that. On top of that if you do choose to stay fully online you will not be required to transfer over to LaunchED but will instead just be learning through Webex.  

All of the precautions that we already have will be the ones that stay in place. No new ones will be put in place as we’re following the state and the health department’s guidelines to make sure everyone is safe. 

Things that will stay the same: 

Students will still be required to wear masks even with vaccinations going on as it helps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while protecting fellow community members, teachers, and classmates. 

All 10th, 11th, and 12th graders are still allowed to leave campus for lunch. If you choose to stay then lunches will be the same unless we get some new guidelines that say otherwise. It’s still a bit unsure as to what’s going to happen with lunches but it is without a doubt positively stated that the school will do what is best to protect the students and keep everyone safe. 

Off blocks will remain the same for those who stay on campus during their off blocks. If you choose to stay the library will be open to sitting in there along with the extra space outside of the library. 

We are also going to be trying to limit the amount of movement within classrooms as classrooms will be filled up more now than ever. This means that not as many group activities will be held because we want to keep the welfare of students and staff more than anything at the moment. 

Lastly, Webex will remain open. It will remain open for the remainder of this school year as we will still have students that could possibly be quarantined alongside students who choose to learn remotely. 

Things that will change: 

The only thing that is going to change with students going back to school is that students will be within six feet of each other depending on their class size and classroom. It was said by Mr. Young that the school will continue to do their best to practice social distancing and keep social distancing intact but it is important to know that in some of your classes you are not going to be fully socially distanced and you will be in a classroom with students right next to you and behind you. 

Other Important Information: 

After school activities are still going on and will continue to go on as we get more guidelines more things will open up and more things will change but as of right now it is confirmed that: 

“The state and the county have approved season C sports.” as stated by Mr. Young. This means that girls’ volleyball and boys’ soccer will be happening this season. 

In accordance with attendance for these games, it was mentioned that boys’ soccer may be able to have more people attend than girls’ volleyball as it is an outside sport and the rules are more flexible. In reference to girls’ volleyball, it was said that they will be following similar guidelines as Boys and Girls basketball which consists of one-hundred spectators inside the gymnasium with assigned seating, being spaced out, etc. Mr. Young, however, did say: 

“If we move from yellow to blue that will open up because the rules will open up and we’ll be able to have more spectators come.” which is one thing that everybody is hoping for. 

Alongside that Mr. Young continued to say:  

“Our performing arts department has some newly updated guidelines for things that they’re working on as far as the musical this spring, and a few other concerts (that they’re going to try to do outside)”. This means that the performing arts department is in the green for their upcoming events at the moment. 

As for other clubs like GSA, Green Club, Chess Club and many more it was also stated that we are still waiting on approval for you guys to have after school (in-person) meetings but we are hopeful that you guys will be allowed to have those meetings after spring break when everyone returns. 

To add to all of that one of the major questions that kept popping up was what happens if another outbreak occurs and COVID cases begin to rise again? Will we be going back to fully online or go back to a hybrid learning environment? 

When asked this Mr. Young said:

“I don’t think we’re ever going to go back to fully online. There is a chance (if there’s potentially an outbreak) that we will have to go back to a hybrid. We are talking about the last month and a half of the school year, so I think that the odds of things changing that much are pretty slim.” 

That in itself gives us hope as he did continue to state that at the period of time in which we go back most teachers will be vaccinated and the student body will also most likely slowly begin to be vaccinated as well since we have students who are eligible to be able to get the vaccine alongside others who are working as essential workers and are already eligible to get it. 

With all of that being said. We are officially going back to school and all of the teachers are super happy and excited to see the whole student body back in one place learning and engaging with each other. Truthfully it feels amazing to know that there’s a chance for us to have that normal school feeling that we’ve all been missing out on the course of the school year. If you ask me though nobody is more excited than Mr. Young. When finalizing our interview with him we asked him how he personally felt about everyone coming back to school? He immediately sprouted up with excitement as he said: 

“I can’t wait, I’m super excited. Every little thing we do that makes it feel closer to what we’re used to doing… makes me happy.” He then continued to say that he really does believe that we are going to end this year on a high note especially with how things are looking and how we’re slowly building up to be able to the last few months of the school year. I know I’m definitely excited and can’t wait to see what the ending of this school year brings!