What made this day special was that, for many of the children, it was the first time that they had seen a teacher or other students in person since the pandemic that closed schools last March
They returned to a classroom where the desks are spaced – a precaution put in place to help prevent the possible spread of Covid-19 – and where everyone, including Oquendo, is required to wear a mask. But after months of distance learning, everyone seemed happy to be together.
“It was very important for me to go back to the classroom (e) to see my students, especially at this age,” Oquendo told CNN. “Children aged five and six need to be in school.”
This week was a milestone for students and teachers, including Oquendo, at the Chicago Public Schools. The country’s third largest school district welcomed thousands of students from kindergarten through 5th grade on Monday, and high school students can return next week. High schools are becoming remote for now.
Only 30% of the district’s 122,000 total K-5 students are being sent to face-to-face schools by their parents, and it remains a hybrid experience – with students in the classroom for two, three or four days a week and online for the rest .
School district officials are confident that more parents will accept admission at the next opportunity.
Making classrooms safe for return in person
Dr. Janice Jackson, CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, was the first to admit that it was not an easy journey.
“Everyone wanted the same thing,” she told CNN. “Our teachers, principals, parents – they want their children at school, they want them to have a great education, but they want it to be safe.”
The director of the Hawthorne Scholastic Academy said it took “months and months of hard work in logistics” to prepare the school to open safely.
“You are always nervous about the possibility of something going wrong and you don’t know what’s going to happen,” director Trish Davlantes told CNN. “You want to have systems, monitors, to know what you’re going to do if something goes wrong.”
At least 1,800 doses have been administered at four Chicago Public Schools vaccination sites, with thousands more appointments to come, according to school district data.
Oquendo, who has his vaccination appointment coming up, said he started working with his students even before they came back to familiarize them with the new protocols in place – including how to follow one-way signs in corridors, keep distance from others and use their masks.
“We were recording our times of building the resistance of the masks, that’s why we used them, even though we were on computers,” said Oquendo.
Davlantes said the school encourages this type of behavior to help limit the possible spread of disease. He also does health checks before anyone enters the building – and the school has plans in case a student arrives with Covid-19 symptoms or becomes ill during the day.
‘One step on a long journey’
Jackson, of the Chicago Public Schools, said that everything is being done to make people – teachers, staff, parents and students – comfortable with returning to school.
“This is a step on a long journey,” said Jackson. “We cannot go from where we are today to where we were a year ago, it will be a process.”
Jackson knows of President Joe Biden’s goal of reopening most K-8 schools five days a week for the first 100 days. But she called it “a very ambitious goal”.
In the meantime, schools in Chicago are operating as smoothly as possible.
“I can read the photos, read the words, retell the story,” said a kindergarten student during Oquendo’s class.
“Wow! Did you remember all of that?” replied Oquendo, his smile clear, even under the mask.
Oquendo was once a student at Hawthorne, and her mother also teaches there. She doesn’t want to go back to the past – but she said she is ready to move on in a new way, after a year of virtual education.
“There are some things I discovered and learned from the curriculum and ways to teach and be creative that I will continue to implement, even though we are here personally.”