Normally, returning to school after the winter holidays wouldn’t be a problem. However, due to COVID-19 circumstances, many students had mixed opinions and were unsure about returning to hybrid learning. Keep reading to see how students feel about this transition.

Sadie Norgaard (Sophomore)

Do you think we should have gone remote for two weeks after the December break? Why or why not?
“I think it was okay that we went back [to hybrid], and that the people who actually traveled and saw a lot of people [went remote]. I saw a lot of people Zooming [into classes] instead.”

How safe do you feel in school right now?
“I am a little more cautious than before, but I know if I keep on sanitizing and trying my best to keep myself clean, then I think I will feel safe. The responsibility is in my hands, so if I forget then it’s my fault. If I want to go to school and if I want [hybrid learning] to work, then I know I have to clean and keep my distance. I think the school is doing a great job keeping everyone safe.”

What did you do over break?
“I was in my house ninety percent of the break. I went to a store once or twice to get some gifts. I went to basketball [practice] and [Zoomed with friends]. For the holidays, all [my family] did was have our grandma and uncle come over because we have been seeing them constantly over [COVID-19].”

Do you know anyone who traveled over break?
“No, but there are probably people in my grade that traveled. None of my close friends traveled.”

What is your opinion about going back to the hybrid model right away?
“I am okay with [going back to hybrid], if I take the steps to keep myself as safe as possible. I know other people might not take those steps. If I am cautious and I am aware of the fact that people did travel and that people [could have] exposed themselves [to COVID-19], then I am okay with going back [to school]. I also like seeing people in person, even if it is different.”

Camille Bearman (Junior)

Do you think we should have gone remote for two weeks after the December break? Why or why not?
“I think going to hybrid right after break was the right thing to do because the school was really prepared and set up the proper precautions.”

How safe do you feel in school right now?
“I feel pretty safe at school, there is hand sanitizer everywhere and we clean our desks. It’s super safe.”

What did you do over break?
“Over break, my siblings came home from college and we hung out.”

What was your reaction to hearing that we would go back to the hybrid model?
“At first, hearing that we were going to hybrid right away, I was a little mad because I didn’t want to go anywhere, but after the [first week back] I realized it was the right thing.”

What were you originally expecting?
“I wasn’t sure if we were going to do hybrid or online.”

What is your overall opinion about going back to the hybrid model right away?
“Overall I think going straight to hybrid [was] good, so we can get right back to school and hybrid is easier on students.”

Grace Marto (Sophomore)

Do you think we should have gone remote for two weeks after the December break? Why or why not?
“I think it would have been a safer choice [to go remote for two weeks] because [Wayland] is in the red zone now. I don’t think it has been too detrimental to [return to hybrid]. In the following weeks, we will find out what should have happened.”

How safe do you feel in school right now?
“I definitely feel a little less safe [now] because I know a ton of people have been traveling and seeing other people without masks [from] social media. I hope that [people] have been taking precautions and taking [COVID-19] tests, but it’s never going to be one hundred percent safe.

What did you do over break?
“My Grandma came [over], but other than that I didn’t see anyone.”

What was your reaction to hearing that we would go back to the hybrid model? Did you expect to go back to hybrid?
“I was a little surprised [that we went back to hybrid] because I know a lot of towns nearby are doing remote for a couple of weeks after break.”

Do you know anyone who traveled over break?
“Yes.”

What is your overall opinion about going back to the hybrid model right away?
“I don’t feel strongly either way because [since] people have been traveling, [going to school] is [not as] safe as before. Obviously, it is tricky to do completely remote school. For now, I trust the school board.”

Ava Renneker (Freshman)

Do you think we should have gone remote for two weeks after the December break? Why or why not?
“I think it would have been a good idea to go remote for two weeks after break because then you would know if you needed to be tested or not, depending on how you were feeling. I’m also sure a lot of people traveled over break and might not even know that they’ve been infected until later.”

How safe do you feel in school right now?
“In school, so far, I’ve felt safe because of all the rules in place and amount of times we’re reminded of them throughout the [school] day. In general I feel safer going to school than being out in public around people I don’t know, since I know everyone at school follows the rules and safety precautions.”

What did you do over break?
“Over break I didn’t really do much. I spent time with my family and practiced basketball for the high school team with masks and with other rules like staying apart from each other and sanitizing our hands whenever we could.”

What was your reaction to hearing that we would go back to the hybrid model?

“I wasn’t really surprised that we were going back to [the] hybrid model because it’s been fine so far. The only reason I was slightly surprised was because I had heard other schools [going remote after break] and since Wayland tends to be a more precautious school, I wondered why [Wayland] didn’t choose to go remote like at the beginning of the school year.”

What is your overall opinion about going back to the hybrid model right away?

“In general, I’m fine with the hybrid model as long as people wear masks, social distance and just follow the rules.”

Heather Lui (Freshman)

Do you think we should have gone remote for two weeks after the December break? Why or why not?
“I think I would have liked it better if we did do remote for two weeks because there were already stats from after Thanksgiving break that the numbers went up again. I think it would make sense if there was an increase in positive cases, we should [go remote] after Christmas too.”

How safe do you feel in school right now?
“I feel pretty safe most of the time.”

What did you do over break?
“I stayed home and celebrated the holidays with my family.”

What was your reaction to hearing that we would go back to the hybrid model?
“I was a little surprised, like I said before, I thought we were going to do two weeks or at least one week of more remote learning. I was imagining a safer routine, rather just going right [back to hybrid].”

Do you know anyone who traveled over break?
“Yes, I heard a couple kids from my grade did.”

What is your overall opinion about going back to the hybrid model right away?
“I preferred if we did remote for two weeks, but given time I think that it all worked out. Numbers are pretty stable right now.”