Great Expectations School director talks about in-person return to school

School Board members of all of our local schools have been very busy of late, working with administration and teachers to determine the best learning model for their schools as students return this fall in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a school board meeting via Zoom on Thursday, August 20, the Great Expectations School board voted to return to school in-person at the start of the year. GES Director Peter James explained that there was some “heartfelt discussion” of concerns, but at the end, the vote to start in-person was unanimous.

GES families who have concerns about sending their child to school because of health concerns–for the child or for an immunocompromised family member–have the option to attend school through distance learning. The school day at GES will end at 2:15 p.m., to allow for cleaning of the school and to give teachers time to work with individual students.

GES has a cap on the number of students to keep their student-teacher ratios low and they are at that limit, so they cannot have any more children come to GES. There is a waiting list of students who would like to attend GES if there is an opening.

Great Expectations School will start school on Tuesday, September 8.

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence checked in with Great Expectation Director Peter James to learn about the Great Expectations School decision, as well as some of the logistics of returning for the 2020-2021 school year.

Rhonda Silence August 21, 2020