POST FALLS, Idaho — Tuesday marked the first day of school for thousands of students in both the Post Falls and Lakeland School Districts.
While a return to the classroom felt like a welcomed return to normal for some families, other aspects of the first day of school were anything but usual thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I just keep telling the students 'I've got a hug waiting for you in 2021,'" said Janelle Baker, principal of Post Falls' Prairie View Elementary, of social distancing measures put into place.
The Post Falls School District is starting the school year in the orange category of the district's reopening plan. In the orange phase, students split days between in-person classes and online learning at home. The plan, according to district leaders, allows teachers to accommodate social distancing in classrooms.
"We are so excited to have students back in our building. We've been waiting a long time for this," said Baker. "We've done everything we can to make school as safe as we can for our kids to come back to us."
Baker was handing face masks to students who arrived at Prairie View and was asking parents not to enter the building as a precaution.
"I'm kind of nervous. We don't really know what to expect," said Prairie View parent Melyssa Wilcox, who has children in third and fourth grade. "We're hoping for the best."
While students in the Lakeland School district also returned to class on Tuesday, their learning schedule was different.The Lakeland district was starting the school year in the yellow category of their reopening plan. Under that model, students are in class five days a week with social distancing measures used to "greatest extent possible" along with recommended face coverings.
Post Falls superintendent Dena Naccarato previously told KREM that the district board was set to meet on September 14 to potentially discuss changing the district's reopening category from orange to yellow. Regardless of the district's opening phase, some parents said their kids were still excited to be seeing classmates on a regular basis.
"But the kids are hopeful, the kids are excited," said Wilcox, who was complimentive of the Prairie View staff. "They're ready to get back into their routine, see their friends and have recess and all that."
"I don't think there's any substitute for face to face learning," added Baker. "We love our students, they love our staff. And we just can't wait until the regular high fives and fist bumps and hugs can come back."