It’s been four months since students last occupied classrooms in Warren County, having their fourth quarter vanquished by the closing of schools in response to COVID-19.

A sense of normalcy will sweep through the buildings on Monday, June 15, as the approximately 900 students enrolled in summer classes return to Warren County R-III campus locations.

“I’m really excited to get kids back into the buildings,” said Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith. “Our curriculum will be the fourth-quarter learning we had to shut down. Our hope is that when we come back in August, we’ll be back up to speed for the most part.”

While the surroundings will be familiar, the structure of classes and daily practices will appear different in order to accommodate social distancing. Klinginsmith says the district acknowledges that it may be difficult to keep students from interacting in close range, so the concentration is on limiting the capacity and engagement across classrooms.

“What we’re really focused on for summer school is limiting co-mingling groups,” said Klinginsmith. “We’ve worked with the health department and come up with a plan. We really appreciate their collaborative nature. We want to keep kids safe. That’s the priority.”

Classroom sizes will be limited to 20, and students will remain in one classroom setting for all courses. Additionally, students will have lunch brought to the classroom to further prevent co-mingling. Students will have recess, which will be structured to limit contact across cohorts as well. Buses will also run at half capacity.

“This will put an additional burden on our transportation department, so we are asking that if parents are able, to please give their kids a ride to school,” said Klinginsmith. “We would ask that parents not enter the buildings, though.”

The schedule for summer school will look different as well, with students going Monday through Thursday for two consecutive weeks, before taking two weeks off around the Fourth of July holiday. They will then return for two more weeks of summer school beginning on July 13.

“We will use that break to assess how things are going and make any changes that we might need to,” said Klinginsmith.

He says the district developed a 30-page plan to orchestrate a successful and safe summer school experience. Much of the plan was modeled after schools in southwest Missouri that have made their returns to the classroom.

Summer school hours will mimic that of the regular school year, with sessions beginning at 7:40 a.m. and concluding at 3:15 p.m. Kindergarten through fourth grade will be housed at Warrior Ridge Elementary School. Fifth through eighth grades will be at Black Hawk Middle School, while the high school will host ninth through 12th.