Almost a Year into COVID-19 for the Fair Grove School District’s 2021-2022 Year

Teachers and students around Fair Grove are adjusting to the rules in the classroom to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 as changes in the virus still occur.

COVID-19 is still changing the world today and had a deep impact on the school community all of Missouri. Fair Grove Schools may be smaller than some, but COVID-19 still has a huge impact on the community of the whole town.

The whole town had to adjust to the guidelines of COVID-19. Following the guidelines as they change, the teachers of our school are still following the rules today. Teachers have to make sure their kids sit in assigned sets so they can track if a kid was around a positive COVID-19 case.

Middle school teacher Samantha Orr stated, “I have had a handful of students absent due to exposure at home or outside of school; however, I believe only one of two students tested positive and had few symptoms.”

If a kid is sent home, there are still many ways they can still do work at home. Orr explained, “Overall, there have been changes to the way I taught last year. I have made notes available online for any student to have access to through Google Classroom. Students can find assignments posted in Google Classroom as well as Lumen.”

Orr doesn’t just post assignments online. “Due to Covid, I have learned to communicate way more with parents with day to day activities and homework in class,” revealed Orr. “I have made notes available for parents or provided videos for them to help their students. Students of different ages learn in many different ways. Some can’t learn just by watching videos. If their parents know what the students are learning they can bring so much help.”

This year has been also been different for elementary kids. “We don’t have to wear masks now, which is very important for the little ones, because they are still learning how to say words and pronounce them so it is very beneficial that they see your mouth when you are talking to them,” Mandy Riddle, elementary teacher, announced.

As COVID-19 conditions change, so does the learning environment at Fair Grove Schools.

(Editor’s note: This article does not reflect any recent changes to Fair Grove due to the announcement by Missouri’s Attorney General or any decisions by Fair Grove’s School District as it was written before such events.)