Middle and high school students will be back in the classroom Thursday in Pleasanton, public school district officials said Wednesday.
The change comes as the state on Tuesday loosened COVID-19 restrictions on Alameda County, though schools are now allowed to open even under the most severe COVID-19 restrictions.
Alameda County on Tuesday moved to the red tier of the state's guidance for reopening the economy.
"This is exciting news for our Pleasanton community and students, as it allows us to move forward with plans to welcome middle and high school students back to the classroom for in-person learning," Superintendent David Haglund said in a letter Tuesday to the community.
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Pleasanton will be the first school district in Alameda County to welcome all grades back to campus.
Pleasanton students who want to stay at home and learn can do that through the end of this year.
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Students who decide to come to campus will be in one of two groups. One group will attend in-person instruction on Mondays and Tuesdays and attend remotely the rest of the week.
The second group will attend in-person instruction Thursdays and Fridays and attend remotely on the other days of the week.
Teachers will be teaching at-home and in-class students at the same time from the classroom. Wednesday, students will just need to check in with their access period teacher, but students can seek help from their regular teachers, too.
Pleasanton Pre-K through second grade students returned to in-person instruction last Thursday and grades three through five returned to the classroom on Monday.
School district officials are asking the community to be patient as students return to campus.
"This is going to be new for all of us," district spokesman Patrick Gannon said.
He cautioned everyone returning to campus to wear masks, wash their hands often and maintain their distance from others at least for now.
Gannon added that many teachers in the district have had the opportunity to get at least one dose of the vaccine. This weekend, employees of district will have another chance to be vaccinated.
