ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Pattonville becomes the latest school district to offer 100% in-person learning. This week. Starting Monday, elementary students will be in class five days a week.
Starting March 1, middle school students will also come back to the classroom full-time. High school students will continue learning via a hybrid model, a combination of virtual and in-person learning.
In December, Pattonville partnered with the CDC, Washington University, Saint Louis University and the St. Louis County Department of Public Health to study COVID-19 transmission in schools. According to a district memo, preliminary results of the study combined with other studies is what led Pattonville to make this move.
"Although the study is ongoing, preliminary results in the Missouri study and previous school-related studies in the U.S. have shown that in-school transmission of COVID-19 is rare when mitigation strategies are in place," the district wrote in an article on its website.
The mitigation strategies include wearing a mask, proper hygiene and social distancing, and Pattonville has also installed plexiglass barriers in classrooms and offices. The district still offers an all-virtual model if students choose to stay home.
To read more about the study, visit the school district's website.
In January, the Mehlville School District announced elementary students could return to the classroom full-time.