ST. LOUIS — Staff and faculty in schools across St. Louis began to put the final touches on their buildings and classrooms to prepare for a new year on Friday.
Thousands of students in the region started this week and thousands more head back to class Monday.
Many students will experience school for the first time without masks, social distancing, and digital learning. Much of the protocols were brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years.
That includes students at St. Louis Public Schools, which has been affected this summer by floods and shortages.
Lisa Kadlec, a kindergarten teacher at Betty Wheeler Classical Junior Academy in South City has seen a lot of first days.
"I love the first day. This is going to be the best year because this will be our first normal year in about two years,” she said.
Kadlec was one of many educators who felt the pressure of the pandemic.
"You had to be flexible for the student and for the parents to be successful and make the students feel successful," she added.
Saint Louis Public Schools have worked to get past those challenges brought on by the public health crisis to welcome a little more than 19,000 students back across the district’s 68 buildings.
'It's busy. It's crazy. and it's really exciting," said George Sells, communications director.
George Sells cites a few challenges the district will still have to overcome.
Eight schools won't have bus services for the first two weeks as drivers wait on licenses from the state.
"We actually have more drivers right now waiting to take the CDL than routes that need to be filled for those eight schools so once they get through that testing process, we should be in pretty good shape," Sells said.
Sells added that recent storms caused damage to 48 buildings across the district.
Soldan High School’s cafeteria, which was underwater, will not be able to carry out cooking but will bring in meals while appliances are replaced.
"All the schools that had damage will be open. There will be some that have some areas that are kind of cordoned off while we finished the repairs that need to be made but it's going to be business as usual, they will be there Monday morning," Sells continued.
The district has and will use federal dollars to go toward resources like free backpacks for each student to help struggling families, and improvements in classrooms to make up for lost learning, including furniture and STEM technology.
"Families in St. Louis will see is a more equitable level playing field for the kids in our district,” Sells added.
Saint Louis Public Schools will offer 75 dollars a week in gas card reimbursement to families who bring their kids to school, or they can opt for metro cards to help out during those transportation challenges.
The district has also expanded before and aftercare at grade schools to accommodate families.