Will Start of Different Kind of School Year Lead to Normal?

The San Diego Union Tribune headline described it as the first day of school in the San Diego Unified district like none other.

For every school district, the new 21-22 school year the first day of school is and has been indeed different. With masks having to be worn indoors and most places outdoors, San Diego Unified students from K-12 may have had a different look to them, but most of them and their parents who reporters talked to said they were happy to be back in class in person with their friends and teachers and not zoomed together on a computer screen.

The first day of school is always a little nervous for kids and especially their parents, but with the virus still out there and no vaccine yet for kids under 12 and the recent increases in infections, it was more nervous than usual.

At schools that have already been open for the last few weeks, from San Diego to other places around the country, many parents have already received emails and calls informing them of their student being exposed to the coronavirus and what that means to being able to go to school or having to quarantine or having to stick a swab in their nose to test for the virus.

But despite it all. all the experts agree that it’s better for kids’ education, mental health and social development to be in school, unless they have medical or other good reasons for not being around others quite yet.

We all hope that in the coming months once the vaccines for younger kids arrive, and more and more adults get vaccinated, this new and different school year will become more normal, the way we all want it to be.

(Photo reporting partner 10News)