Back to school – virtually!
See our gallery of submitted back-to-school photos
Published 9:05 am Friday, August 28, 2020
The first day back to school for the 2020-2021 school year was like no other for students in the Boyle and Danville school districts.
There were no excited students with fresh new backpacks waiting for the doors to open; no laughing and chattering as friends re-connected in the hallways; no friendly bus drivers and teachers welcoming students into buses and buildings; and no parents walking their children to school and waving goodbye.
Nope, this year students with their brand new school supplies and backpacks had their first day back to school, right in their own homes because of precautions the two school boards took during the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
However, one tradition remained the same: first day back to school photos.
Boyle students had their first day of virtual classes on Wednesday, while Danville students began on Thursday. Families shared lots of photos of their students at home desks and in their yards for the first day of school on Facebook.
At Woodlawn and BCHS Thursday, several teachers were in their normal classrooms where they greeted students online. Welcome back signs were posted behind some teachers so their students could see them. Others had book shelves as their backdrops.
But behind and beside the teachers were rows of empty desks and chairs. Many bulletin boards were decorated, but they were left over from March when the schools first closed because of the pandemic.
One teacher at Woodlawn Elementary said even though it was a very different first day, everyone seemed to be working closely together to make the online learning a success.