Most Lakewood students back at school full time

Lakewood elementary and middle school students returned to full-time in-person instruction in May which will continue to end their school year.

Elementary school students returned to five-days-a-week instruction beginning on May 3 while middle school students returned on May 10.

Local schools have been closed since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 and have relied on online learning over the past year.

The Lakewood School District board of directors approved the decision to return on April 19.

“We did not want to wait until next year. We wanted to finish this year off strong,” said Scott Peacock, Superintendent for the district.

Guidelines for schools were recently relaxed slightly by the Washington State Department of Health so that only three feet of distance was required in classrooms.

Six feet is still required in some situations such as gym or band class and lunch.

“We felt this was a good time because we had new guidelines regarding classroom safety,” said Peacock.

A full class could fit into a classroom again because of the loosening of the rule.

Getting kids back into the school routine was also important for the district, said Peacock.

“Building those relationships is really important for the kids, between each other and to their teachers as well,” he said. “We wanted to get our students reconnected.”

Lakewood High School will remain in the hybrid model for the rest of the year, although the district is planning to return to full-time instruction after summer.

“We had about 10 cases there [at the high school] in the days before the school board made the decision,” said Peacock.

With important senior-year milestone events coming up, the district did not want to risk further increasing that spread which would require more students quarantined and potentially missing their graduation.

“It was disappointing to be in that place,” said Peacock, who added the district wanted to fully reopen the high school and would have if coronavirus cases there were low as well.

Peacock said the first week of elementary school went well.

“I think what has allowed us to come back is that our security measures have been robust enough so far,” he said. “Our staff has done a great job of monitoring the kids and supporting them in this unique time."

The main change for students is the lunch period. Six feet of distance is still required there.

“We have had to identify new spaces to accommodate that,” said Peacock.

At elementary schools half the class is staying in their classroom to eat while a school administrator takes the other half to a common area to eat.

Meanwhile at Lakewood Middle School an event tent has been added to provide additional lunchroom space.

The district rented the tent for the remainder of the year.

Students are returning from a year away from regular in-person instruction and Lakewood School District is in the process of putting together a plan to support academic and emotional recovery.

Washington state is requiring districts to submit a plan by June 1.

Lakewood school officials are currently surveying staff and students, and gathering public comment.

“We’re seeing this as an opportunity to continue to improve our systems,” said Peacock. “We really want to make our academic support systems robust."

Like many school districts, Lakewood is expecting a larger-than-normal summer school and hopes that will support credit retrieval.

For next year they also hope to continue to help students and staff. “There will be a lot of emphasis on how we support our teachers,” said Peacock. “We want to continue to focus on the social/emotional support, as well."

Peacock wanted to thank local staff who have worked through a difficult year.

“We have a terrific staff here and everything we have is a tribute to their dedication,” he said.