Almost a year later, students return to school

Published 11:54 am Thursday, March 4, 2021

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Lunenburg County Public School (LCPS) students returned to in-person learning Wednesday, Feb. 24 after close to a year of the school’s facilities being closed to students due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students began last week in a hybrid mode with students broken into two groups and alternating days when they are in the classrooms.

Charles Berkley, Jr.

LCPS Superintendent Charles Berkley Jr. said the hybrid schedule will continue this way moving forward.

“These kids are the reason we come to work every day,” Amber Britt fifth-grade teacher at Kenbridge Elementary said. “That remained true through virtual school as we tried to reach and teach through canvas, phone calls, appointments, and zoom. However, there is nothing like having kids in the classroom. It has been amazing to see their faces light up (behind masks, of course), continue to build relationships with them, and lean face-to-face. It is obvious that so many of our students are feeling the same joy that I am.”

On Friday, Feb. 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidance on how schools can safely reopen for in-person learning.

According to the CDC, all schools can safely reopen for full in-person learning if they follow appropriate protocols and are located in communities reporting fewer than 50 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days and have a positivity rate lower than 8%.

As of Tuesday, March 2, positive cases in Lunenburg were up 16 over the previous week.