Hamilton County Schools return to 5 days a week

Hamilton county schools will return to class five days a week starting today.

News12’s Bekah Birdsall has the story on how the first day went.

On Monday, Hamilton county schools transitioned into Phase 3, meaning students who are enrolled in in-person learning will attend class 5 days a week.

Previously, under phase 2, students attended class 2 days a week with the rest virtual.

Principal of Chattanooga School for the Science and Arts, says the first day with both A and B groups together went smoothly.

“Our upper school is about 45 % at home students, and then the lower school K-5 is about 32%, so I would imagine compared to some schools that’s a bit of a blessing for us.”

Class sizes at C-S-A-S hold up to 20 students.

The larger classes at CSAS can move into a larger room or other spaces such as a library or gymnasium.

“You can walk into a classroom and see a group of students spread out you know, on their desks across the room and up on the TV, you’ll see the kids that are at home and they’re all getting that same lesson.”

Principal Boles says the students are excited to be together with the A and B groups, some of which they have only seen virtually.

Boles explains the school has learned a lot from hybrid learning, and it also helped ease parents concerns about entering phase 3.

“The different things that we’re doing to keep kids safe whether its social distancing, the masks, the shields, the different partitions and things that are in the classrooms, i think all of those things together you end up with a pretty good situation.”

Parents can also opt for at home learning at any time.

After two full weeks of class, the district will then re-evaluate the schedule on Friday, September 11th.

Reporting in Hamilton county, Bekah Birdsall, News 12 Now.