JERSEY CITY – The night before Dwayne Redmon returned to School 20 for the first time in 402 days, he couldn’t stay asleep. He woke up thinking about school, he said.
“He was up at 4:30,” his grandmother Renee Peterson said. “He got anxiety today. Yesterday and today.”
Clutching his grandmother’s hand, the 8-year-old was one of the first students to arrive at School 20 in the morning.
Soon, the rest began to arrive. Music started blasting, and a dancing dolphin, the school’s mascot, began greeting the young students before a school day like no other.
The Jersey City school district just reopened for in-person schooling for the first time in nearly 14 months. The schools closed amid coronavirus precautions in March 2020, and reopening dates were repeatedly pushed back. As recently as 11 days ago, Superintendent Franklin Walker announced they wouldn’t reopen at all this year, then changed course three days later.
The district was ready today, though, Walker said on a visit to School 24. He said his favorite moment was seeing youngsters lined up to enter their building.
“Even with a mask, you can see them smiling and excited,” added Board of Education President Mussab Ali.
The district is doing a phased reopening. Today was the first day back for students in pre-K through third grade. Their older peers are scheduled to return May 10.
Most of the district’s approximately 4,500 staff members were on site to join their students in person. Only 190 did not report to their buildings on Thursday. About 25% of pre-K through third graders have chosen to return to school buildings, according to attendance and enrollment data.
Pre-K teacher Thao Bui and her aide Brenda Randolph had only three students in her first cohort of in-person students Thursday, just slightly below School 20′s four-students-per-cohort average. She spent the first 10 minutes of class teaching them the ways of the classroom before their classmates at home signed on.
“If we need anything, this is what we’re going to do: We’re going to raise our hands,” Bui said. “So can we practice that? Let’s put our hands in the air.”
The three students tentatively lifted their arms. It was like the first day of school, except in April.
“Never put paper towels inside of the toilet bowl, guys,” Randolph told the class after the first student experimented with the bathroom.
Then, the virtual students began arriving to class, popping up one by one on Bui’s laptop screen.
“Uh, Ms. Bui?” one of the first said. “My stomach hurts.”
Upstairs, drama teacher Melissa Jayme’s students in the classroom and online did arm circles.
Across the city at School 16, Jackie Cox’s twin kindergarteners Marty and Olney walked into their classrooms for the first time. Cox was amongst the most vocal parents who advocated for schools to reopen.
“I had the first day jitters,” Marty said. “I was nervous and excited.”
The schools performed temperature checks on each person entering the building, and none, as far as Walker heard, had fevers. Parents also filled out a digital questionnaire that morning about their child’s current health.
Nine parents called throughout the day and asked School 20 Principal Hani Ileya to have their students added to the in-person roster, he said. Of the 390 students in pre-K through three, 49% have so far opted for in-person learning.
At pick up, School 20 parents said they had been slightly nervous to send their children off since the pandemic isn’t over, but they wanted them to be able to socialize and learn in the classroom.
Some said they had carefully trained their children for the new safety protocols. Anna Lacrete packed Lysol wipes, hand sanitizer and extra masks in her third grader’s backpack and was nervous sending her off.
But her daughter Anaylah Lacrete said school went well despite the many differences.
“The hallways are emptier and playtime is less,” Anaylah said. “You get less equipment to play with and you can’t play on the playground.”
Nonetheless, recess was her favorite part of the day. She played tag and ran around, something she doesn’t do during virtual school.
“Kids need to socialize,” her mother said. “They’re not supposed to learn just at home.”
Jersey Journal staff writer Joshua Rosario contributed to this report
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