Around 15,792 OCPS students switched from the LaunchEd@Home Model to the Face-to-Face Model at the beginning of the second quarter. About 13% of students who chose LaunchEd for the first quarter chose to leave the virtual learning world and attend Face-to-Face.
“Online just wasn’t the same and I needed the interaction,” junior Denzel Flores said.
Shifting to Face-to-Face allows students to regain a familiar sense of learning after participating in the virtual model.
“It is much easier to learn and keep up with work while being on campus. Additionally, my mental health has already improved in just this short period of time,” senior Jessica Canella said. “As a person who struggles with depression, the social isolation I have felt over the course of quarantine has been overwhelming. It is good to be back to some sense of normalcy.”
While now choosing to go back in these uncertain times, students’ expectations and comfort levels for how the school is handling the virus are ever changing. Faculty is enforcing rules and extending resources to help facilitate students coming back to campus.
“I think Boone is taking the proper precautions. One thing that makes me feel comfortable is the x’s at the lunch tables so that somebody isn’t sitting right next to you while you’re eating lunch,” freshman Jenny Honahan said.
Going back allows the students to regain their socialization involved with attending in-person. However, changing one’s environment nine weeks into the school year becomes a challenge socially, as well.
“I was mostly focused on getting from class to class on time, but I definitely feel like in the next couple weeks, I’ll be making friends,” Honahan said.
To stay informed, OCPS provides information about COVID-19 on their website with a dashboard updated with cases at each school.
The next chance for students to switch is next quarter.