UPrep Lets Students Return to Campus for a Day

Our school is letting students return to school for a sense of normal

UPrep+Lets+Students+Return+to+Campus+for+a+Day

Photo: Sofia Metz

This year, it’s been one unexpected thing after next, but a few weeks ago University Prep tried to spark a new sense of normality by going back on campus.

On the days from October 25 through October 30 the middle school went back to campus for one day. Each grade divided up by day, and the high school went the following week.

The general feeling of “ordinary” was still far from close. Masks were mandatory, you had to eat outside six feet away from other people and there was a feeling of strangeness in the air.

“School was normal in the sense that it was the most normal in this weird time,” states seventh grader Jordan Woogerd.

On the day people went back to campus students had 6 classes each, 55 minutes each, with little breaks in between.

“This was one of the downsides of hybrid, I feel like it was a little stressful, and I couldn’t exactly enjoy myself,” seventh grader Miller Weimann said. “It felt like I could barely see my friends. I know safety precautions were put in place but it still felt a little distant.”

Blue and green hybrid groups were put in place for it to be more safe and to help divide the students

“I wasn’t in a group with any of my friends and I felt sort of isolated. It was sort of this new layer of distance,” says Woodgerd.

Despite the separation, a poll taken by the UPrep Media team showed that many people really enjoyed coming back to school, and people generally preferred hybrid over online.

“It genuinely felt good to go to school and be there for the first time,” sixth grader Amara Kovussi-Korner said.

A common response from the middle school community is a hope that going back into school is possible some time soon.