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Woodland Hills School District superintendent James Harris, right, greets students during the school district's reopening of schools Monday, March 29, 2021, at the Wilkins Elementary STEAM Academy in Churchill.
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After a full year away, Woodland Hills students return to the classroom

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

After a full year away, Woodland Hills students return to the classroom

There were first day jitters Monday morning at Wilkins STEAM Academy.

Teachers and staff helped the elementary students off of their buses and into the right door. They pointed the students to their new classrooms. They exchanged enthusiastic waves and fist bumps. 

This, however, was not the first day of school. In fact, the school year is eight months old.

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But for students in the Woodland Hills School District, it was the first time since March 2020 that they had been in a school building because of closures and other difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“We’ve adapted, we’re better, we learned from our experiences over the last year,” Superintendent James Harris said in the school foyer. “It’s a welcome back, and it’s time to get started again.”

 

Woodland Hills was one of just three local school districts — with Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg —  that had not yet reopened to students in some form since the state closed schools in March 2020 in an effort to slow the spread of the pandemic. Students will be in a hybrid learning model that allows for in-person instruction two days a week and online learning the other three days.

The Pittsburgh Public Schools plans to welcome back some students in a hybrid model on April 6. The Wilkinsburg School District’s reopening plans were not immediately available.

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In addition, Manchester Academic Charter School, a K-8 school in the city’s Manchester neighborhood, also opened Monday for the first time since the pandemic shutdown.

Mr. Harris said Woodland Hills had hoped to reopen sooner but was unable to because of rising cases and other complications. The combination of COVID-19 cases declining, vaccinations becoming available to school employees and other nearby districts reopening helped get Woodland Hills to this point, he said.

Teachers and other school employees in Pennsylvania became eligible for the vaccine in March, removing one of the largest roadblocks to reopening schools as many staff members were hesitant to return before getting inoculated. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also changed its recommendations for the distance needed between students in a classroom, to three feet from six feet, a move that increased the number of children who could be in a classroom.     

Mr. Harris said he was excited to have his students back in school after more than a year of fully remote instruction.

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“Schools are really depressing without kids,” he said. “The kids make it.”

As the young students climbed off of their buses just before the 9 a.m. bell, Mr. Harris and other staff members were there to greet them. 

“Are you awake?” Mr. Harris asked one sleepy-looking student.

“What?” the boy said.

“Are you awake?”

“Yeah!”

The kindergarten students had never attended school. Students who were in kindergarten last year now are almost ready for second grade.

Much was similar, but many things were different than the last time they had been in a classroom. Students were led into the school in cohorts. They were kept at a distance when possible. Masks were universal. 

For the students, their parents and the school staff, it was a first day of school unlike any other.

“I think there will be a lot of tears today,” Mr. Harris said. “I know there are a lot of parents crying. Some [children] not wanting to leave because they’ve been with them the whole year, but it’s their day.”

SERRA CATHOLIC

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh on Monday said Serra High School in McKeesport will be having classes remotely on Monday and Tuesday as it heads into Easter Break on Wednesday. The school said it made the switch after a third positive COVID-19 case in the last 14 days. Extracurricular activities and athletics are suspended both days as well.

The school returns from Easter break on Monday, April 5. The diocese said in-person learning is expected to resume April 6.

First Published: March 29, 2021, 3:02 p.m.
Updated: March 29, 2021, 3:05 p.m.

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Woodland Hills School District superintendent James Harris, right, greets students during the school district's reopening of schools Monday, March 29, 2021, at the Wilkins Elementary STEAM Academy in Churchill.  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Students arrive at the Wilkins STEAM Academy in Churchill on Monday, March 29, 2021.  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Laura Del Rosso, a math teacher at Wilkins STEAM Academy in Churchill, assists students off the bus during Woodland Hills School District's reopening of schools Monday, March 29, 2021, in Wilkins.  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
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