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WHEELING -- With Wheeling Park High School's return to four days of in-person instruction, all students in Ohio County Schools will be back in the classrooms four days a week beginning Monday.
Wheeling Park Principal Meredith Dailer said this is the best thing for both students and teachers.
"The second nine weeks was certainly challenging — not being in the building," she said. "It was just not school, and we're ready to get back to normal school."
All students in Ohio County Schools are slated to be in their classrooms Monday and Tuesday, then again on Thursday and Friday.
Wednesdays will continue to be a day for remote learning while school buildings are cleaned and disinfected.
Students at middle schools and elementary schools were set to begin that schedule this week, but wintry conditions forced the cancellations of in-person schooling on Monday and Tuesday.
Administrators opted to bring the elementary and middle school students back to the building on Wednesday, and they returned Thursday and Friday.
This marked the first time this school year that all the students had been in their class for three straight days of in-person instruction, said Steenrod Elementary School Principal Michelle Dietrich.
"Sadly, we had to start with two snow days this week, but it's so good," she said. "It's wonderful they are getting back."
Since Christmas break, Dailer said both students and their teachers seemed to want to come back to their classrooms each day.
"It's certainly better for students to be on a solid routine and schedule," she said. "The last few weeks have been challenging because we had to deal with the red color map and a couple of snow days.
"We think going four days a week will be beneficial for students."
As for teachers, many are happy to be getting away from the hybrid plan of schooling and having to make both online and in-person lesson plans.
"It's much easier for them to plan and provide good instruction when they are seeing their students everyday," she said.
Dietrich said much of this past week was spent reteaching students what is expected of them. Without frequent reminders, they tend to forget what they have been taught, she said.
"But for the kiddos it's like riding a bike," she said. "They have adjusted."
The parents of students also say they are doing better, as their evenings after work aren't being spent trying to figure out difficult math equations with their child.
"Students are getting their education delivered by a teacher," Dietrich said. "The families are more relaxed, and they are able to go about their routines. Everyone is more settled."
At Bridge Street Middle School, Principal Jessica Broski-Birch said the return to in-person school does alleviate a lot of pressure on teachers and parents.
"I'm hearing from parents who tell me they are so excited their kid is back in school," she said. "They'll tell me, 'I'm not a teacher, and now I don't have to oversee learning in the evening.'"
The consistency of coming to school is needed, she said.
"It's incredibly important," Broski-Birch said. "When the student came back on Wednesday, it was the first time Groups A and B had been together since Nov. 6. We had to give them time to be together and decompress.
"They just wanted to catch up and be chatty. We had to let them do that before there could be any instruction."
She and teachers at the school did notice the students were much more tired on Wednesday than they were in the past.
"You can tell there has been a break in the routine," Broski-Birch said. "We have a number of students struggling to get back into that normal sleep routine. They are adjusting.
Middle Creek Elementary School Principal Katrina Lewis said the return to in-person education is "a great benefit to students"
"Seeing them here, being with them every day — and the consistency with being with their teachers — helps them academically and also socially," she said.
Teachers also are happy to see the students and be back in their classrooms, Lewis said.
"The teachers want to be with their students. That's what we went to school for," she said. "But safety is always a concern. We are just happy to see students everyday, and we will do best to keep everyone safe and healthy."