What does reopening schools mean for Yorba Linda High School and how does it impact our students and staff? Could we be a step closer to life getting back to normal? Only time will tell, but to take these steps we need to understand the effect of online and in-class learning, as well as consider the needed safety precautions.

The recent update for schools reopening is planning on starting in-class learning on October 14. Students from different schools within the district have received emails stating that they don’t have much information, but there are still plans on doing on-campus classes. 

The emails were fairly vague although there was a link to one of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Return to School Information. In the article, it stated that at the beginning of quarantine we were in the most restricted tier of precaution, the purple tier, since then we have moved to the red tier monitoring list. If we can manage to stay stable for two weeks we have the chance to continue school with hybrid instruction.

One of the major downsides of online school has been the negative influence it has had on students’ wellbeing. Studies have found that online schools may very well affect our mental health. As stated in State News, students found “ the lack of in-person classroom relationships…to be a downfall of online courses.” 

Also, having the chance to return to an in-class environment will affect how well students obtain information. For example, in online classes, teachers don’t have much control over their students and their attendance, attention, and participation. Online learning requires much more discipline and self-motivation to stay on task.  Students have to take time to study and apply what they are learning without being in the setting of a classroom, which can be more difficult for  students, especially those who are in grades K-12. 

Being in a classroom learning environment helps both students and teachers. Granted we are permitted to open the school doors, we would need to fight to keep that way. To pursue this there would have to be specific safety guidelines mandatory to follow. These guidelines include students attending in-person on their assigned cohort day (A or B), allowing for greater levels of physical distancing and modified social interaction, minimal interaction between cohorts to promote student and staff health and safety, and adherence to appropriate physical distancing and Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) guidelines. In addition, classroom instruction will be in groups in order to provide class sizes that allow for appropriate and safe distancing for students and staff.

Olivia Ortiz (9), from Yorba Linda High School, states how she feels about the current situation involving reopening, saying“that the schools should be reopened since high schoolers aren’t getting their high school experience. She adds that she, “mainly wants to return to school because she is bored stuck at home.” Clearly, students are eager to get back to campus and progress with their high school experience. 

While there may not be much information regarding YLHS reopening, it is essential to understand both the positives and negatives of returning to in-person learning. Students have spent months away from school, so returning will be a major change, especially with the precautions attendees must follow. The future for YLHS is unclear, but through following protocol and working towards a safe return, hopefully, the reopening can be seamless and beneficial.