As students and teachers count down the days until they head back into the classroom, they're still likely to be dealing with some covid related restrictions but things still look better than last year.

 

As Our Lady of Peace School prepares for their students to head back to class on September first, teachers like first grade teacher Pam Madara are excited, "It's going to be a more normal school year this year so that's fantastic, less stress, less worry, more relaxed atmosphere, that's what I'm hoping for."

Some of the changes in the classroom from last year are: desk now only three feet apart, no shields, and kids moving to and from classrooms. 

Madara telling Erie News Now this will help students be more comfortable during class, "when I think they're more relaxed, more learning will occur, they'll interact with each other, they'll be able to see each other and it'll just be more fun."

Even though it's been a stressful year and a half making changes to the way students have to learn, staff at Our Lady of Peace School are just excited to see their students learning and having some fun.

"We are prepared, we were definitely prepared last year, there was a little bit of scared feelings inside of us because it was unknown," says Suri. "We know that we can do it, we did it for a year, we know that we are prepared, we know that we can handle this pandemic and we can keep our students safe inside of our building and learning which is the most important thing."

"We're looking forward to them being in the classroom," says Erie Catholic School Systems Interim President, Bridget Philip. "We are looking forward to them learning, participating in their specials and just fulfilling our mission."