(CNN)New York City is set to reopen its public high schools on Monday, welcoming some students back to in-person learning about a year after schools first closed because of Covid-19.
The majority of high school students in the nation’s largest school district will continue remote instruction. But as many as 55,000 students between grades 9 and 12 who previously opted for in-person learning are expected to return Monday, officials said earlier this month. That’s about 20% of the district’s high school enrollment, CNN affiliate WABC reported.
Approximately half of the city’s high schools will be able to provide in-person learning 5 days a week to all or most of their students, New York’s new Education Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter said in a news conference on March 8 with Mayor Bill de Blasio.
In a message to families Friday, Porter said high schools would follow the same protective measures that have been established for younger students who have returned to the classroom, like weekly random testing of students and staff, physical distancing and masks.
Additionally, with spring break set to begin on March 29, students and staff who travel to a place on the state’s travel advisory list must quarantine for 10 days, according to the Department of Education, or test out based on state guidelines.
The mayor said children had experienced increased emotional turmoil in the last year during the pandemic, saying in the news conference earlier this month, “Think about the children we’ve lost to suicide.”
“Think about that child that right now is feeling a little hopeless and lonely, what it’s going to mean for them on Monday, March 22nd, when they walk back through the door of their high school, see their friends, see their teachers, and have hope again,” de Blasio said.
Source: New York City high schools are reopening for in-person learning on Monday
