Elementary students at Newport-Mesa Unified return to full-day classes

Excitement was writ large on the faces of children and adults alike Wednesday morning, as Newport-Mesa Unified School District welcomed thousands of elementary students to campus for the first full day of in-person instruction since March 2020.

Masked students at Adams Elementary School in Costa Mesa were greeted with cheery hellos and elbow bumps galore during the school’s morning drop-off period. For some friends, the start of the school day was the first opportunity for them to reconnect across cohorts that had been separated and attending in-person classes in shifts since Sept. 29.

NMUSD trustees approved the return of elementary school students to full-day instruction five days per week in a meeting last month, citing the continued countywide decline of coronavirus cases. Orange County Health Care officials on Wednesday reported 53 new infections and two COVID-19 fatalities.

During an April 8 special meeting, school board members decided secondary students would also be allowed to return to campuses on a full-time basis four days each week, with one day remaining under a distance learning model beginning next week.

Principal Stacy deBloom-Howard welcomes back a student as she returns to campus for her first full day of instruction at Adams Elementary School in Costa Mesa on Wednesday.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

Trustees also approved continuing the district’s 100% virtual Cloud campus in the 2021-22 school year for families not wishing to send their children to brick-and-mortar classrooms in the fall.

It is still unclear, however, whether a “Cohort C” of secondary students who currently livestream classes at their home schools will be disbanded or continued in the year ahead. Officials have committed to surveying school families to learn their preferences, so as to aid the planning process.

“We have done our best in distance learning, but it has its limitations,” Supt. Russell Lee-Sung said at the April 8 meeting. “If we can get kids back to in-person [attendance], that is our first objective.”

Students return to campus for their first full day of instruction at Adams Elementary School in Costa Mesa on Wednesday.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

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