Principal Ruby Cutshaw didn’t sleep a wink Sunday night. She was prepared to open the doors of Hiwassee Dam Elementary/Middle School to about 56 of her 128 students Monday morning, but couldn’t stop thinking about all the different plans and procedures in place to keep her students and staff as safe as possible.
As the sun rose, she saw the plans take action, starting with parents being fine with new drop-off procedures. Then she watched as no students appeared to have problems with wearing a mask. Everyone seemed to just be happy to be back at school.
“We are so happy to have our kids back,” Cutshaw said.
Luke Harbin was happy to return for his eighth-grade year.
“It was very fun seeing everyone,” Harbin said. “But I don’t care for the masks.”
Monday was the first day of school for students, who hadn’t been in school buildings since mid-March, when the state closed schools due to the coronavirus pandemic. Schools had to follow guidelines – including everyone wearing a mask – to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
By mid-morning, Cutshaw was hesitant to say things went smoothly, concerned that she would jinx the situation.
“It is pleasantly hectic,” Cutshaw said as she worked on fine-tuning the school’s cleaning schedules.
‘Out of our control’
Just down the hall, Principal Daniel McNabb said it felt good seeing Hiwassee Dam High School students back, even if it wasn’t as social of a first day the students were used to.
“I’m sure it’s disappointing for them,” McNabb said. “I can tell they’d rather be back to normal, but I think they understand it’s out of our control.”
He said the start of the day went smoothly with the combination of student drivers, buses and parent drop-offs, noting they divided the two schedules for the week well.
McNabb expected some rebellious behavior, but was surprised to see his students following guidelines and the lead of teachers throughout the morning. He said the students seemed to be settling in to the modified learning environment.
‘Wonderful’ first day
At Ranger Elementary/Middle School, the year started without Principal Kelley McDonald due to the death of her father. Assistant principal Brandy Raper learned Saturday she would have to lead the school as it reopened. Fortunately, she had been working with McDonald on plans for reopening starting in June, and everyone in the school pulled together and offered support.
“Our first day was wonderful,” Raper said. “We could not have asked for it to go any better.”
She said she didn’t hear anyone complain all day. Raper was sure some students knew why McDonald wasn’t there since her father was a “big pillar in the community,” but she’s also sure some were probably wondering why they did not see her friendly face greeting them. No school-wide announcement was made about McDonald’s absence.
Same ‘first-day jitters’
Andrews Elementary School students were greeted by new Principal Sarah Tatham.
“I had the same first-day jitters I always have,” she said.
Tatham could see her staff was nervous to see how the plans to welcome students back while staying 6 feet apart and wearing masks would work in action.
“I knew once we got the kiddos in the building everyone would calm down,” she said.
During JumpStart two weeks ago, she was pleasantly surprised to see students had no trouble with the guidelines, and Monday with 126 students on campus was no different.
“They did wonderful,” Tatham said.
System down
The first day did have one major issue outside of the control of local educators, as online tools were down across the state. Due to an overload of use, both PowerSchool, the official student information system for the state, and Canvas – the learning management system many districts, including Cherokee County, are using – were not accessible for a few hours.
Dr. Jeana Conley, superintendent of Cherokee County Schools, thinks the state’s system wasn’t ready for number of students logging on during the first day of school.
“We put all our eggs in that basket,” Conley said.
Dr. Lisa Fletcher, principal at Andrews High School, said her teachers worked around the outage by showing students the mandatory bus video, going through the student handbook and doing other tasks that did not require the use of PowerSchool or Canvas. Other than that, she said the day “went very well.”
“I think I was expecting more hiccups than we had,” Fletcher said.
She talked with students at the beginning and end of the day to see how they felt about returning to school.
“What they missed more than anything was changing classes and seeing each other in the hallway,” Fletcher said.
She said they told her they were glad to be back, and it was good to have the students back as well.
‘Great teamwork’
At the school board meeting Thursday night, Conley said she was terrified to start class, but also terrified not to start school due to what they provide for students. By the end of the day Monday, there was joy in her voice.
“It was just so wonderful to have the sounds of children and young people in our halls again,” Conley said.
Cutshaw said a few parents did call last minute and ask to have their child go to full remote learning. Conley said they also had some families they hadn’t seen since March who needed make decisions about how their children would attend school.
Fortunately, each school had a team ready to assist those families, as well as teams to ready to tackle any other issues, like transportation. She said everyone was asked to do something outside of their job.
“It was just a really great example of teamwork today,” Conley said of the teachers and staff. “I’m so proud of them.”
Remote learning
About 600 students in Cherokee County elected to spend at least the first half of the school year at home through remote learning. All other students will be remote learning only three days week, as schools were required to have reduced capacity. About half those students had their first day Monday, while the other half will have their first day Thursday.
Xander and Trinity Winner were among those who had to wait until Thursday for their first days back to Murphy Elementary School and Murphy High School, respectively. Their mother, Christine Winner, said her kids were fine with waiting.
“Granted, they admitted to missing their friends that go on different days, but I told them that is how everyone is feeling,” Winner said.
She said her kids were ready to go back, but were hesitant.
“We had a few family discussions before making our final choices,” Winner said. “They knew my husband and myself would make the final choice, but they were very determined to go back.”
Cherokee County Schools was better prepared for remote learning than they were in March. Besides implementing the Canvas learning management system, the district has purchased 900 new Chromebooks and received has 200 hotspots for students to access the internet anywhere they can get cell phone signal.
Computers, hot spots, tent
For the Chromebooks, about 200-250 were ones regularly ordered each year for sustainability. The remainder were purchased with funds from Dogwood Health Trust, CARES Act, Title 1 and Murphy Electric Power Board.
The hotspots were purchased for about $75 each thanks to a statewide deal to purchase the devices in bulk. In addition to the Dogwood Health Trust providing a year of service on each of the devices, funding came from Murphy Electric Power Board and state technology funds.
Schools also got a something to help them have more outdoor time. Conley said Sheriff Derrick Palmer and Chief Deputy Joe Wood arranged for big tents to be installed on school campuses.
Tatham said several teachers took their students to the tent on their campus to play games like Red Light-Green Light and Simon Says on Monday. She anticipated classes would use the tents for learning as well and was happy the tent can provide a shady area for students to spend time outdoors in warm weather.
“It’s a wonderful space, and we’re so grateful,” Conley said.