ST ANN, Mo. — In less than two weeks, a St. Louis County public school district will start bringing students back to the classroom.
When students walk through the doors at Drummond Elementary for the first time this school year on Sept. 21 things will look a lot different.
Like most schools making the transition back to in-person learning the Pattonville School District will be using a hybrid model.
"I'm so excited for these kids they are really lucky," said one Pattonville teacher.
The Pattonville teacher who wanted to remain anonymous says virtual learning has been a challenge, especially for younger students.
"I can't even imagine teaching kindergarteners and first and second graders through a computer like how would you teach them how to hold a pencil through a computer," the teacher added.
It's one reason Pattonville superintendent Tim Pecoraro is starting in-person learning for kindergarten through second grade on Sept. 21.
"Based on the data that was shared transmission rates and positivity rates for children under nine are much lower than 10-19 right now especially that 15-19 age group who has the highest positivity rate and transmission rate," explained Pecoraro.
The school has also installed Plexiglas dividers to help keep children socially distant in the classroom.
All students and employees will be required to wear masks.
Superintendent Pecoraro says the reason he's bringing back students is because the county COVID-19 numbers show that age group has a lower transmission rate than older students.
"We feel really confident we can bring students back in a safe way we are doing temperature checks each morning and we just feel like we can do it," added Pecoraro.
Now they're looking ahead to bring even more grade levels back to the classroom, as virtual instruction continues to be a challenge for teachers.
"You know whether they're paying attention or not, some of the teachers were talking today and we were like they break out into individual break out rooms and like whatever their name is, lets say Jack so it's like Jack, Jack where are you and I think they're dead asleep in their bed," added the teacher.
Another district in St. Louis County is transitioning young students back to in-person learning.
The Mehlville school district will have preschool through second grade students return on Tuesday, Sept. 22 on a staggered learning plan.
