Mentor Schools are focused on staying open and keeping students safe

By Mimi Vanderhaven

Mentor is one of those areas that has always lived up to its outstanding reputation for education. You know you’re in the right place when people move to your area specifically so their children can attend the schools.

But as students headed back to school on Wednesday, September 2, in the midst of a global pandemic, classrooms and learning spaces looked a lot different than what parents and community members have seen before. And, 2,000 students’ parents/guardians chose Mentor Schools Online, where students will be learning from home with Mentor Schools teachers.

“Our in-person learning will be conducted with a strong layered approach of safety measures,” says Kristen Kirby, director of community relations for the school system. “This includes focusing on the importance of vigilantly assessing for symptoms and staying home when sick, face-covering requirements, social distancing, hand-washing breaks, abundant hand sanitizer, increased school cleaning and sanitizing, attention to high-traffic areas, plexiglass dividers and much more. Our priority continues to be creating a system that addresses students’ needs—academically, socially and emotionally.”

Within the Hybrid Plan, elementary students attend school in-person on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. At the middle and high school levels, students attend school in two groups based on their last names. When not in person, they are required to Zoom into their scheduled classes.

“Wednesday is a day for extensive sanitizing and deep cleaning,” she says. “We’ve hired additional custodial staff who are working all the time, disinfecting high-touch areas. We also brought in electrostatic sprayer machines to make sure every space is properly disinfected.”

In addition to academics, she reports that fall sports and extracurriculars are also moving forward with extra safety precautions in place.

The situation is fluid. On Tuesday, September 8, out of an abundance of caution—and as a temporary measure—the school system switched Hopkins Elementary School students to remote learning following the positive Covid testing of four staff members.

The Mentor School system educates 7,400 students from pre-K to 12th grade in seven elementary schools, three middle schools, one high school and one school for students with autism. For updates, visit MentorSchools.net.