Return to the Halls of Troy

The Halls of Troy will once again be filled with the pitter-patter of scuffling feet as students will return to on-campus learning on August 13.
High school principal Dawn Shipp said the schools are going to look completely different on that first day. “We’re going to have infrared thermometers,” she said. “We’re going to have automatic sanitizer dispensers. The desks are facing the front and are six feet apart. For those desks we could not move six feet apart, we’re going to have protective shields.”
Elementary principal Virginia Morein said all of her classrooms now have desks. “We took away the tables in the kindergarten classrooms,” she said. “Right away my kindergarten teachers and I decided to pull back the desks, and we will have shields.”
All of the other elementary classrooms will have their desks six feet apart. “As of right now, the teachers are working on separating all of their desks,” Morein said. “They’re taking out extra furniture that is not necessary for the year. Their rooms look totally different because of that.”
As of right now, masks will only be required when the students are doing projects in small groups and when the students are in the halls. The schools are awaiting word from the Diocese of Lafayette on any mask mandate in the classrooms.
When students are not in the classrooms, there will be social distancing markings and directional arrows on the floors.
“The high school will have one line going in one direction and another going the opposite way,” Shipp said. “Even to go to lockers, we’re having to assign kids where they’re going to go by grade level in groups. We’ve assigned lockers to where they are not side-by-side. There will be a locker in between each child for those which we could.”
As for the junior high students, Morein said they will not be able to use their lockers because the space is not big enough for adequate spacing in between. As a result, the desks will have “baskets for the excess.”
The high school students will also switch classes in groups. Shipp said, “When the bell rings, they’re not going to all start moving at the same time. They’re going to go staggered in groups.”
At the elementary, Morein said, “My teachers will move and the students will not move because the hallways are smaller than the high school hallways.”
Neither school will be able to do anything as a whole including eating lunch.
Shipp said, “When we go to lunch, we’re going by grade levels. Whenever we do assemblies, we’re having to do them in two different groups. We can’t go as a whole school. The only time the high school will be able to do anything as a whole school is whenever we are outside and whenever we go to church.”
Similarly, Morein said, “We cannot do anything whole school because my number has gone up to 412, and I just got a phone call for two more.
Morein went on to say how her lunch procedures will look. “My kindergarten and first grade students will stay in their classrooms because they have little sinks in the classrooms. We could go further for second grade to eating in the classroom.”
She continued, “Right now, there are 30 minutes for each grade level. They’re sitting apart every other chair and diagonal.”
Despite all the changes, both principals are eagerly awaiting the return of their students.
Shipp expressed, “As for the kids, I cannot wait to have normalcy and to have them back in the halls where they belong to bring back the spirit and pride of our school and to see them with the camaraderie that we have. I can’t wait for them to be here.”
“I think it’s time we all gather back together like we’re supposed to and have our little Trojan family back together,” expressed Morein.
Shipp concluded, “We’re excited to bring them back to see what they missed and to bring them all together back home.”