Editor’s Note: Community Comment is a periodic column in The Mount Airy News featuring commentary from community leaders in Mount Airy and Surry County.

The school year is coming to an end. The community came out to support our seniors last week as they paraded down Main Street. Seniors are excited as we plan the graduation ceremony in the Wallace Shelton Stadium on August 1 at 9 a.m. They will be able to celebrate their many accomplishments over the past 13 years and forge a path ahead to college, career, or the military. We are celebrating them with banners, parades, pictures, and congratulations.

The graduating class of Mount Airy High School has received more than $1.3 million in scholarships and many of them are moving forward to college and career. Here are a few interesting statistics showing how their hard work and effort have paid off:

– 42% of the class will attend a four-year university (Nearly 10% of the class will be going to UNC-Chapel Hill)

– 47% of the class will attend a two-year community college/technical school

– More than 130 college acceptances

– More than 25% of the class plans to enter the healthcare field

– 76% of the class will graduate with college credit that will help them achieve their postsecondary goals

– 89% of the class will continue their education, while 11% plan to enter the workforce. Several students made connections with employers through internships, work-based learning experiences, and Innovation Day where we hosted local industries.

– 37% of the class participated in an internship or work-based learning experience during high school

As we wrap up this year, we need to think about supporting our students returning in the fall and how school may look very different for them.

Schools hope to reopen in the fall and have our students and staff back physically with us in the buildings. Health safety is our first priority and we will watch conditions, listen to the Governor’s office, and work with our local health officials to see if it will be safe to return. If it is safe to return, we need a blueprint to safely do so.

There are many aspects of re-entry. The safety of students and staff will be a top priority. Can schools operate with social distancing? Would this require shelter in place that contains the teacher and students to one classroom? Would we limit access to congregational areas such as common areas, gymnasiums, and media centers? Will schools be able to test, screen, and have protective equipment? We need to think about daily sanitation processes and environmental safety. Will sports be possible as we return? There are many variables and unanswered questions. These unknowns are forcing us to wait until we get closer to August to make final decisions, but there are key items we must consider now.

First, we must have clean, manageable environments for the return of students and staff. We are working on routines that sanitize cafeterias, classrooms, restrooms, gyms, and other areas daily. We have purchased backpack sanitizers that can sanitize large spaces such as buses in minutes. Our buses don’t allow for much social distancing so we will need to think about how many students we can safely transport and consider mini-routes or staggered start times. Master schedules may need to be adjusted so that students are in their classrooms with the same group of students throughout the day. In elementary, this may mean classes travel together to recess and have lunch in the classrooms for the first month or so. We may need to consider letting elementary students return while middle and high school students start the year remotely. How can we have less students in crowded hallways, large classrooms and school-wide assemblies?

Second, we must focus on the mental health and emotional well-being of students.

After living through something such as COVID-19, students will need support to re-enter the school buildings. Counselors and trainings for all staff will be critical to help students regain a sense of normalcy. Many community members will have lost employment and we must think about what basics students will need to stay whole and healthy. Students will need to talk about what has happened while unpacking their feelings to move forward. Will we need additional nurses, social workers, and counselors?

Third, we must focus on educational growth for students.

Once students return, remotely or physically, we can provide brief assessments that will tell teachers where they are in their learning. Mount Airy City Schools plans to offer summer programming and bridge courses, but we know that nothing takes the place of a teacher’s expertise to grow students and help them catch up. How can we provide enough resources to make this happen?

Fourth, we need to consider extracurricular activities.

Students come to school to learn but also to participate in athletics, band, chorus, visual arts, as well as take career and technical courses. These usually involve large groups of students. How can we safely have sports with hundreds of spectators? How can a 65-member band safely hold rehearsal? What about the configuration our CTE health science class where nursing skills are learned? These are all questions we must explore.

We are excited that the Class of 2020 has had much success and we want to ensure that success for future classes. Community input will help guide us. We, as always, will offer a menu of courses that can be online, face-to-face, for homeschool students, for private school students, or any community student. We know that our community will be better because we have gone through a difficult time and risen above it. We will need your support as we transition into this new normal and to provide a caring, supportive environment for all of our students to thrive.