MANTECA, Calif. — The first day of school for students in Manteca looked a lot different than previous years. The district decided to go with distance learning for the kids while teachers had to report to empty classrooms.
At Neil Hafley Elementary School, a "drive-thru" was set up for students to meet their teachers and pick up welcome packets.
It’s the first day of 1st grade for Jennifer Ftacek’s little one. Ftacek said her son wishes he was in the classroom, but is excited to meet his teacher and start the new school year.
“This is the new norm, so it’s a learning curve for everybody including the kids and the parents,” Ftacek said.
Steve Shaw has been a teacher at Neil Hafley for 23 years and this is the first time he's had to start the school year without seeing his students in person.
Shaw teaches 7th and 8th grade and knows it will be difficult to prepare his students for high school while only being able to teach them virtually.
"I anticipate that’s going to be a lot of the conservation, just, how do we do it? Even from the teacher's point of view, how do I run my class?" Shaw said.
Like Shaw, Katherine Rusconi will be teaching from her classroom. She said there are some benefits to going back to work, even if it is to an empty classroom.
“I teach kindergarten. A lot of my supplies and material are in the classroom, so I am able to access those easily such as books and pocket charts and different things that I wouldn’t working from home. It’s just much easier being in the classroom,” Rusconi said.
But other teachers, like French Camp Middle School science teacher April Petrey, do not agree with the decision to return to class.
"Why am I in the classroom, just so it will look like a classroom, coming in contact with other people that I don't need to come in contact with to possibly bring it home to my mom?" Petrey said.
The Manteca Unified School District said the decision is meant to provide consistency in what will be an unpredictable school year. A district spokesperson said in a statement that the district believes "the classroom, and all of the resources provided in the classrooms, are part of the teachers’ arsenal of tools to educate. In a year where we are likely to transition between distance and resident learning, the consistency and social-emotional connection for children is much greater and more powerful when teachers are able to rely on their resources."
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