LCSD 2020-21 First Days of School

Lyon County, NV, September 8, 2020 – Tuesday, September 1st, marked the first day students were able to return to their schools for in-person instruction since the March 16th state-wide transition to distance learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Today, the second cohort of students returned to their beloved schools, classes, educators and peers.  This much anticipated return to in-person instruction comes after months of planning, preparing, adjusting, planning and preparing again.

LCSD Student Information Systems (SIS) Administrator, Sam Felix, works in tandem with school counselors to create school calendars, among many other tasks.  He states, “One thing that is not common knowledge is that I [normally] start creating the following year [in the Infinite Campus portal] starting in January of the current year. Counselors start building schedules shortly after, sometimes not completing them until August. With the changes that happened this year, the schedules had to be remade. Counselors and I had to start almost from scratch and complete it all in just about two weeks – a process that takes about 6 months, off and on.”  

This school year began in a hybrid learning model with cohorts that alternate distance learning and in-person instruction every other week for the student in order to comply with all health guidelines and the Governor’s Directives for in-person instruction.  This method of hybrid model was the decision of the LCSD Reopening Committee who met in late June to make decisions that would guide LCSD in its planning for the 2020-21 school.   “This process was nothing short of trying for me and our counselors. Recreating schedules was the largest hurdle, but it was just one of many,” explains Felix.  The cohorts were created so that all families/households are on the same cohort, which required a lot of manual sorting from Felix and school personnel.

In addition to coordinating cohorts and student schedules, LCSD also provided Professional Development (PD) opportunities to its educators to help navigate three different models of teaching – full distance, in-person and hybrid.  In order to accommodate this PD, the LCSD moved its first day of school from August to September 1st.  During the professional learning opportunities, “the challenge was trying to meet the needs K-12 across different attendance areas without actually being in person with each site each day,” explains LCSD PD Manager, Amber Westmoreland.  Westmoreland and her team created a variety of prerecorded modules to deliver the content virtually and then allow time for educators to actually plan and create items that could be used.  In addition to the modules, many in-person sessions were delivered to support the trainings and prepare for the upcoming school year. “It required efforts from an entire team and it could not have been accomplished without this collaborative effort,” states Westmoreland.

So, after a summer of preparation and adaptation, LCSD students are finally able to return to school.  The return to school buildings comes with a plethora of precautions and procedures, as mandated by the health department and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  From visitor check-in to lunch time to traffic-directing arrows, social distance markers in the hallways and extra cleaning and sanitation, every effort was made to ensure the safest environment for students and staff.  

Charmi Mitchell, six-year veteran teacher at Smith Valley School (SVS), was excited to see her students back on the first day and felt that the first day went smoothly with the new precautions thanks to the information shared with families prior to the start of school – she feels students were very aware of the new rules and were excited to see their friends and teachers.  

New to teaching her own class this year, Ashlee Cross Physical Education (PE) teacher at Dayton Intermediate School, states that she was also very impressed with her students in the new environment, and although a bit quieter than she expected on her first day of teaching, she felt her students were very happy to be back.  As Cross begins her first year of teaching in an unprecedented time, she states, “I am just so excited that I actually get to have students in my classroom and gym. With the smaller class sizes, I will really get to know all of my kids on such a more personalized level.”

From an organization perspective, the consensus seemed to be that the first day of school went very smoothly, possibly smoother than years past, thanks to all of the preparation.  Principal Amber Taylor at Silver Stage Middle School expresses, "This is my 5th year as the Principal at SSMS and I must say this was one of the best starts to a school year." Principal Leslie Peters at Dayton Elementary School states that she had “zero tears from the kindergarten class” and Principal Sean Moyle at Yerington Intermediate School states the same of his new class of fifth graders who did exceptionally well, even without the usual orientation they give the new students. Moyle shares, “We were very proud of them and their courage on the first day. I don't think there were any tears coming to a new school.”

Moyle continues, “Our students have been very-well behaved, courteous, and doing their best to follow all of the new expectations for health and safety due to the pandemic.  As difficult and different it is to wear face-coverings all day, our kids have been doing an excellent job with wearing them.  Many students I have spoken to are very happy and excited to be back in school and especially to see their friends and classmates.  The best moments have been the positive attitudes of the staff and students and how many have been able to see the "silver lining" of the new way of doing things.”

Superintendent Wayne Workman adds, “All of the planning and preparation by students, staff and families made for fantastic first days.  It was so heartwarming to see students back in our buildings, even though we don’t have the opportunity of seeing all of them at once.  I’m so proud of our staff who worked so diligently to welcome back our students.  I also want to thank our families for being so patient and understanding during the entire process of reinventing school.”

Students who are returning for their second week of in-person instruction, especially at the younger age groups, have already accustomed to the “new” way of doing things and are engaged and excited to be learning with their peers and their teachers.  LCSD, its schools, community, educators and students will all play a crucial role in maintaining this safe and respectful learning environment.  Things may be slightly different, but LCSD’s motto of “Every Student…Every Classroom…Every Day” still comes to life when one steps into an actual or virtual classroom where students can be found engaged in rigorous learning opportunities.

Our vision… Graduate all students to be successful in college and career.

Our Mission… Provide relevant learning opportunities that develop adaptable, persistent and self-directed learners capable of creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking necessary to overcome complex challenges.

Every Student… Every Classroom… Every Day…

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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Erika Cowger at ecowger@lyoncsd.org.