‘Fantastic!’ Bend- La Pine K-3rd graders return to in-person classes

Vast majority of parents on board with return to school

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- It was the welcome return of a scene out of the past, as parents lined up to pick their children up from Bend's North Star Elementary School Monday afternoon.

Bend-La Pine kindergarten through third-graders returned to class for the first time after months of online learning due to COVID-19.

The school district told NewsChannel 21 that in a survey of more than 12,000 families, 86.5 percent said they planned for their schildren to return to in-person learning.

At Bear Creek Elementary School, students could be seen out playing on the playground.

Principal J.P Richards said the majority of students made their return to the campus after last week's sessions orienting the kids to safety protocols.

"It's been fantastic!" Richards said. "Students are super-excited, staff has been super-excited, We've had ,most of our parents dropping off in the last week, and today, and they have all just expressed their excitement and gratitude coming back to school."

While we couldn't film inside, Richards explained some of the changes.

"You see markings on the floor that remind students about social distancing," he said. "You see classrooms the are staggered when they are released to go to things like PE and music."

Even outside the classroom, there are changes, as Richards explained.

"Recess, we have one grade level per playground, for one time, so there's a lot fewer students on the playground at one time," he said.

Jennifer Hall, who's son is in kindergarten at Bear Creek, said she was happy about her son's return to school.

"It feels like the right thing," she said. "He's a kindergartener, and he needs to be in person. And personality-wise, he's super-social, so it's just a really good thing for him. But more than anything, I think the in-person instruction is so important."

Hall said balancing both schooling and her job has had its challenges.

"We were just (at) a plateau," she said. "You know, I'm where I couldn't do really what I needed to do. I'm a full-time working mom, so I had to like, hire someone to help with homework."