In Mt. Pleasant schools it was a regular first day with masks

MT. PLEASANT - It was a regular first day of school for Mt. Pleasant Community School District students - just with face coverings.

'It seemed normal to me, other than kids in masks and teachers in face coverings. We had kids who were sad to leave their parents, and we had kids who were looking for buses,” Superintendent John Henriksen said at a school board work session Monday evening.

Henriksen said he visited all school buildings and the middle school bus stop on the first day.

Though schools will continue to work out minor kinks, Henriksen said he felt the day, 'from start to finish … went really well,” even in light of the many changes the district implemented in response to the pandemic.

The district is requiring students and staff to wear face coverings when 6-feet social distancing is not possible and has incorporated time to practice hand sanitizing and washing into schedules.

Henriksen said teachers spent the first day teaching students new routines including how students are expected to use hallways and new processes with getting lunch and where to sit to stay safe. In the district's return-to-learn plan, each building implemented a third lunch period to ensure students would be able to properly space out and stay within cohort groups.

'There will be some adjustments to make at lunch. It's just the timing. Even in a normal year, it takes a little while to get the timing of everything down,” he said.

Henriksen added that secondary students are getting used to only walking one way in hallways, which have been marked with arrows, as well as not using lockers. The superintendent said without students needing to stop at lockers between classes, it gives them more time to run to the bathroom and practice good hand hygiene.

'They're getting used to the new routines and flows of things,” he said.

In an email to Henriksen, Lincoln Elementary principal Lori LaFrenz, said other than 'hiccups” related to online registration and after-school instruction, the day went 'great.”

'The kids did great with the masks and sanitizing. They are, so far, better than the adults,” she wrote.