Teachers and support staff from Mentor Schools have been vaccinated, and kids are returning to class

By Mimi Vanderhaven

As we slowly emerge from the pandemic, our schools face the enormous undertaking of coordinating the vaccination of teachers and staff, as well as ushering students back into the classroom.

“We’ve talked all along that when it comes to keeping people safe in the Covid-19 world, a layered approach to virus mitigation is a must,” says Kristen Kirby, director of community relations for Mentor Schools. “We’re extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to add a new layer of safety for our team. More than 1,200 Lake County school personnel received their first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at Mentor High School on Friday, February 26, and are scheduled to receive their second dose on Friday, March 26.”

The Lake County General Health District and many volunteers and medical professionals, a team of nearly 100 school workers and the Mentor Fire Department came together to make this possible.

To say the least, the teachers and staff were appreciative to be vaccinated.

As Instructional Coach Maryann T. put it, “I am super excited. It felt like Christmas to be honest with you because I couldn’t wait to get it and be on the path to a return to normalcy.”

That path took another “right” turn on Monday, March 8, when in-person-enrolled students at Shore and Memorial Middle Schools and Mentor High School went from two-day weeks to four-day weeks in the classroom, with Wednesdays remaining a remote day.

“With the number of students learning from home through Mentor Schools Online, our numbers look good for appropriate social distancing and class sizes in our schools,” says Kristen, adding that there are no changes to the Mentor Schools Online schedules.

At the elementary level, students are returning to in-person learning Monday through Friday, eliminating the remote learning on Wednesday.

“We’ve made some adjustments to the custodial routines to accommodate this change and ensure the deep cleaning of schools is still happening regularly,” she adds.

The Mentor school system educates 7,500 students from pre-K to 12th grade in seven elementary schools, three middle schools, one high school and one school for students with autism.