KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Emerald Academy students will head back to their classrooms Wednesday. The move came after the virtual learning waiver was approved by the state education commissioner the previous week.
“Last week we started to see an abundance of staff calling out, not only due to COVID, but other illnesses that spread this time of the year,” said Carlissa Martin, the Interim School Director for Emerald Academy. “Friday we did have to make the decision to close and switch to virtual learning.”
Martin explained faculty members have been out with a variety of sicknesses. “It hasn’t been just COVID, we have staff out with the flu, we have staff out with a stomach bug, we have staff out with strep throat,” she said.
Martin explained throughout the past week, she and other school leaders have been checking in on those teachers who were sick. “Just making sure we are following our protocol with COVID, making sure that their symptoms are improving and that they are fever-free for 24-hours before they can return and that they are healthy and well enough to return,” she said.
Martin also said the situation was so dire the previous week, administrators even had to step in to teach.
“Administrators did step in to help substitute teach probably about Wednesday of last week, that’s when we saw the biggest increase in our staff absences,” said Martin. She also noted at no point did the school have to combine classes because of a lack of teachers, though substitutes were hard to find.
While the nearly 75 staff members and 450 students moved to screens for the first two days of the week, the curriculum stayed the same. “We actually did not change what we offered virtually, we stuck to the same school schedule that we offer, with the exception of kindergarten,” she said.
“They’re on regular schedule, which means they do get related arts, which includes music, PE, library, we do book club, they’re doing that virtually,” Martin explained of the normality in students’ schedules when switching to virtual. “We’re even offering special education services virtually.”
The school staff also took advantage of the empty hallways and classrooms, doing a deep clean. “Our custodians have reported every day that we’ve been closed this week so that we are able to increase sanitation and our cleaning measures to make sure the building is safe when we return,” she said.
Safety being the ultimate goal, in addition to getting students back in the classroom as quickly as possible.
“We have determined that in person instruction is always going to be the best,” Martin concluded.
As students and staff head back to classrooms Wednesday, wearing a mask will continue to be encouraged but not mandated by Emerald Academy.