ISLE OF WIGHT, Va. (WAVY) — Isle of Wight says it is the first public school division in the region to return students in all grade levels to some form of in-person learning.
On Wednesday, Isle of Wight County Schools announced that almost 1,200 high school students returned to their schools for in-person learning Monday and Tuesday.
The students included those whose families chose the in-person learning option and didn’t wish to stay with virtual learning all semester.
“This was the first time since March 13, 2020 that all schools across the division had students present for face-to-face instruction,” the division wrote in a news release.
On Tuesday, the Virginia Beach School Board also voted to begin returning grades 6 through 12 to a hybrid in-person learning model beginning Nov. 12.
Virginia Beach schools plan for all grades to return to hybrid in-person learning next month
Isle of Wight elected to return pre-K through third grade students to in-person learning two days a week at the start of this school year.
Then, on Oct. 12, about 400 students in fourth and fifth grades were brought back on the same two-day-a-week model.
Isle of Wight schools drop original fall plan, vote to start semester virtually for fourth grade and up
On Oct. 19 and 20, about 500 middle school students came back.
Now, more than half of the division’s total enrollment is doing some type of in-person learning. The rest are still learning virtually 100% of the time.
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The families that are still doing virtual learning can choose to continue with that model for the second semester or stay virtual.
The school division said it’s working closely with Western Tidewater Health District and Director Dr. Todd Wagner on mitigation strategies and safety measures.”
“Since opening on September 8, we have had no cases of school spread of COVID-19, which showsthat our procedures are sound and working as they should,” said Dr. Jim Thornton, the division superintendent.
Moving forward, the next goal would be to bring back all students for in-person learning five days a week. The first students considered for five days a week are pre-K through third grade.
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