LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — More than 200,000 Oregon students are now back in the classroom for some form of in-person learning. Even more go back this week or next.
Until last week, the vast majority of students at Lake Oswego Junior High hadn't been inside the building for a whole year.
"If you could describe your heart exploding - it's magical," science teacher Lindsay Kopacek said. "It moves you. It’s been a while since we’ve been in person."
Sixth graders Aubrey Jewsbury and Micah Lim feel relieved being back with their teachers and friends.
"I'm happy to be back in person school because I get to see everybody again," Lim said. "I still feel safe."
Kindergarteners through 5th graders went back the last week of February. Middle schoolers followed a few weeks later. High schoolers will go back for hybrid learning in mid-April.
Kids like Aubrey and Micah come to school for three hours for two core classes four days a week. They have a 90-minute transition period to go home, where they learn remote the rest of the day.
"We do our first two in-person and other two online," Jewsbury said. "Mostly we just stay in the classroom. This quarter since I have PE I switch my classrooms. But normally we will just stay in the same one and just have the different teachers."
Kids stay in cohorts with around 15 to 20 other kids, with half doing in-person instruction in the morning and the others in the afternoon.
"Math is a little bit tricky because there are so many different levels of math so math is online. And electives are online," Kopacek added. "Even spacing out here as they arrive just to kind of stagger that, it's not been a problem at all."
Before kids arrive at school, the district asks that their parents and bus drivers (if they ride the bus) perform a visual check to see if the child is showing any signs or symptoms of COVID-19. Bus drivers are also required to have a list of students on the bus to help with contact tracing.
Once students arrive at school, district officials say they undergo a visual screening by staff and teachers outside.
There are multiple entrances throughout the building to make the beginning of the school day more efficient and minimize mixing; 6th, 7th and 8th graders all have different entrances.
There are markings all over the school floors directing kids which way traffic flows, as well as reminding them to stay six feet apart.
There are hand sanitizing stations set up throughout the building so staff and students can sanitize their hands throughout the day.
Inside classrooms desks and kids are spaced six feet apart. Students wipe down their desks after class.
"We wash our hands and we don’t have any passing through the halls," Jewsbury said. "So we don't get COVID and don't have to go back to online school."
The district added air purifiers, ionization devices, updated HVACS and put in some HEPA filters. Teachers can also open windows for ventilation. Large fans circulate airflow in the school's large gym and teachers open doors open, weather permitting.
Signs everywhere remind the school to stay safe and protect each other.
While hybrid is a tough balance, Kopacek says the past week ran smoothly. They're all adjusting and learning.
"This is why we do what we do, we love to be with kids," Kopacek added. "With all those pieces the kids are phenomenal! They want to be here."
Like every school district in the state, Lake Oswego has a plan for responding to a COVID case or outbreak.
While they haven't had dealt with a case in a school so far this year, several Lake Oswego High School athletes got sick from a get-together outside school. The district canceled sports games and practices.