Butler Elementary School Prepares To Welcome Students Back For In-Person Classes 5 Days A Week
BUTLER, Pa. (KDKA) - Teachers are more than ready to get back in the classroom after nearly six months at home.
"Every year, that's never changed -- when those kids come through the door, that's the best feeling," said Lindsay Rahl.
Rahl is a kindergarten teacher at Emily Brittain in Butler. She is heading into her 12th year of teaching and has spent the last two weeks preparing for the upcoming school year.
"Kindergarten is very hands on so it just really racked my brain to think outside the box on how I can set up the classroom to make it still a family community and do what I do," Rahl said.
Inside her classroom, desks are spaced 6 feet apart with smaller class sizes. Despite the age-old saying, "sharing is caring," there won't be any sharing in the building this year.
"This year I do have pencil cases for all of them. They are getting their own supplies, their own crayons, they will obviously be able to use them in their own space at their own desks," Rahl said.
The new set up is just one of the many changes district wide. From the moment you walk through the front door, students will be met with a thermal thermometer.
"It does skin surface temperature, so if someone has a temperature, it will flash red so we can watch the kids coming in. It can take up to 30 kids' temperatures at one time, but we won't have that many coming in at the same time," said Principal Cassie Pencek.
Pencek has spent countless hours this summer working to make sure the building is ready for her students to return to the classroom five days a week.
PHOTO GALLERY: Click Arrows To See Changes At Emily Brittain
She's laid the tape down each hallway to divide the area to make each hall one-way. Plus, there is signage on every corner to remind students to wash their hands and stay 6 feet apart.
As for the lunchroom, gym class, music and art, all of these activities will now take place in each classroom to keep the students contained with minimal interaction with other classrooms.
Butler parents had two options for their students this fall: traditional in-person classes or cyber learning. Pencek told KDKA about 23 percent of her student body is participating in remote, but if they decide to come back to the school, there is already a space for them in the classroom.
In order to make the changes in the building, furniture and extra tables had to be moved out. The district provided each school with a trailer to store all the extra items for the 2020 school year.
