Local students adapting well in return to classroom

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Mountain Home, Cotter and Yellville-Summit saw their students return to the classroom Monday, with leaders of all three districts reporting a group of excited students.It has been almost six months since schools in Arkansas shut down onsite learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the students returned to school, it is a much different world with guidelines in place to minimize the risk from coronavirus.Yellville-Summit Superintendent Wes Henderson says it was a great day in his district.


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A similar scene was in place in the Cotter school district, according to Superintendent Vanessa Thomas-Jones.


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Dr. Jake Long of Mountain Home Public Schools says in some ways, the first day of school wasn’t different than any other, at least at the Mountain Home Kindergarten.


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Masks and social distancing are some of the biggest changes due to the coronavirus and COVID-19.

Henderson credits parents with informing their children on mask usage, making it a nonissue at Yellville-Summit.


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Long says he has seen proper mask usage during the day, but that proper social distancing will need more work among Mountain Home students.


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With approximately 20% of students opting for virtual-only instruction, unexpected technology issues did surface in either the Mountain Home and Yellville-Summit districts.

Long describes the challenges the district faced.


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Yellville-Summit’s problems were similar, Henderson says.


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All three schools did see some of the normal transportation delays, with Long reporting Mountain Home buses ran 30 to 40 minutes behind schedule in the afternoon.

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