A long line of parents stood outside Bouchet Elementary on Monday afternoon in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, waiting to pick up their kids after school. It was their first time doing so in nearly a year, ever since Chicago Public School (CPS) buildings closed back on March 17, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was a little worried about [my kids] coming back in,” said Kalicia Lee, parent of a fifth grader at Bouchet. “But I want her to get more help.”
Like Lee, many parents at Bouchet were worried, but they were also excited and relieved to have their kids back inside the classroom, where they can better focus on their schoolwork.
“It was hard,” Lee said about remote learning. “Like I said, the kids weren’t paying no attention sitting at the computer. They’ll do better sitting in school. They get distracted at home.”
On March 1, 421 elementary schools across the CPS district welcomed back small numbers of their K-5 students for hybrid learning in a large effort to return to in-person instruction. They joined the 5,000 pre-K and special education students who have already been back to the classrooms. As of Feb. 19, 30% of K-5 students in CPS had opted into hybrid learning. CPS has yet to release attendance data from March 1.
Students in CPS’ hybrid learning plan are split into 15-person pods that attend in-person instruction together only two days out of the week: either Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday. All students are expected to continue remote learning on Wednesdays.