2020 has been a year filled with unexpected surprises. Americans’ everyday lives have changed; social distancing, masks and many more challenges they’ve had to overcome. Things are no different at Cy-Woods. The campus and instruction look very different this year with many new rules and regulations.

Starting in the main hallway, there are signs directing traffic and reminding students to wear their face masks. At every entrance, there is a hand sanitizing station and faculty present to make sure students have on masks and IDs. 

“We have admin handing out masks in case a student forgot one,” said Lisa Bergeron, assistant principal. “I would say that 99 percent of the students have everything.”

In the classrooms, there are plexiglass shields on every desk and desks marked off to socially distance students. At the end of every class period, teachers are required to sanitize desks and workstations.

“I believe that it’s very important to sanitize items here at school because we have large crowds of people coming and going,” said Tara Mosier, substitute teacher. “It’s just a helpful step in the whole process of trying to keep the virus as contained as possible.”

In the cafeteria, every other seat is marked off by a red X to not be used by students. Additionally, the administration added an extra lunch period. The district made lunch free for every student at Cy-Woods for the first semester, yet drop-off lunches are not allowed due to a restriction on outside visitors.

Not only did Cy-Woods have big changes inside the school, but they also adapted by having many students learn online. For the first time, students have the option to learn in-person or online. Students learning online attend classes during the same times in-person students do, but they are attending a Zoom call instead of being face-to-face.

While online learning is a convenient option for students, not all online students prefer it.

“[Online learning] is not very practical, and the audio quality is often muffled,” said Junior Annie Lam, online student. “I get distracted super easily and I’m planning to switch to in-person next grading period.”

To put in place all the new adaptions, staff came back to work weeks ahead of students to prepare. 

“We were here Labor Day, before the kids got here, just to make sure we were ready to go,” said Bergeron. “[Staff] prepared to the nth degree and then back again.”

Coming back to school this year seemed uncertain and a scary feat for many students and faculty; however, Cy-Woods has adapted to these changes by creating a safe environment for students and staff.