Students return to Southwick Regional School

May 4, 2021 | Peter Currier
peter@thewestfieldnewsgroup.com

SOUTHWICK – The slow but steady reopening of Massachusetts continued last week with students in grades six and seven returning to the classroom for in-person learning April 26.

Southwick Regional School (SRS) Principal Joseph Turmel said April 30 that he was pleased with how the first week with more students had gone. He praised all students in their resilience and ability to adapt to the many changes to the school year brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our teachers have been fantastic in welcoming the students back and our policies and procedures we put in place worked out extremely well,” said Turmel.

He said that the number of students who chose to return to in-person learning exceeded everyone’s expectations. Between April 26-28, 35 additional students put in requests to come back to in-person learning. As of April 30, Turmel said that SRS is operating at just over 80 percent capacity out of a normal capacity of about 750 students.

The next deadline set by Gov. Charlie D. Baker is May 17, when students in grades 9 to 12 will need to return to the classroom. Turmel said that he does not expect many students, if any at all, to return for in-person learning for the May 17 deadline. He noted that SRS does not have any more room to add additional students while still complying with social distancing guidelines for schools.

He said that students are closer to being three to four feet apart than six feet apart because of how many students have already returned.

“This Monday (April 26) was hopefully our last transition of the year,” said Turmel.

He said he hopes that SRS students and faculty can enjoy having six to eight weeks of in-person learning with the school being as full as it has been since March 2020, when the pandemic forced the closure of schools across the country.

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