For about a year and a half, Schreiber High School was operating differently than usual.  Students and staff alike had to learn new skills to be able to successfully learn from home as well as in school.  This year, things are starting to move at a more ‘normal’ pace; school is fully open and running.

For freshmen, this year is the first time they are going to see the school operating.  Their understanding of a complete school year is solely from middle school.  After learning half virtually and half in school, changing to full time and moving to a new environment can be a lot. 

“It feels good to be back full time.  At first, I was a little nervous with COVID and everything, but now being in the actual building I realized how much I missed in-person schooling rather than being virtual,” said freshman Mia Powers.

Sophomores, as well as freshmen, have never seen what Schreiber looks like in a ‘normal’ year.  For some students, it is hard because the workload is much different now that we have reverted to the pre-pandemic standard of work, rather than the type of assignments we are all used to after virtual learning.  For others, being in person makes learning so much easier to engage in.

Many teachers are also starting to give out more hard copy versions of work rather than all virtual.  This can be good to give students eyes a break from the screen all day.  Many students were having headaches last year due to constant work on a screen.  Hopefully this year, due to the fact that more work will be done on paper, students will no longer have this problem.

“Classes are much easier to learn in.  It is much easier to focus on things when I am learning them all first hand.  It is also great to see all of my friends rather than only a few,” said sophomore Holly Sternlicht.

Being able to be with all of your friends instead of only a few is definitely a great part of the return to school full time. The hallways are now full of so much more energy and there is just more going on.  One thing that did not happen last year was the club fair.  Many students didn’t really know what clubs were happening or what they were.  This year, there is an opportunity for so many more students to find things they are interested in doing and that they can have fun in.

“Being back to school full time is definitely stressful and good at the same time.  It gives me a sense of normalcy, and it also allows me to engage more with teachers and classmates,” said junior Marley Cooper.

It takes some time to get used to being in school full time for many because, for a little over a year, everyone was adjusting to something else.  The beginning of the year was a little slow for some people because everyone was so used to how things have been for the past year.  As time goes on, slowly but surely the pace is picking up.  People are adjusting back to a normal school environment.

“Being back full time is great because learning in person is much better than learning from home.  It was a little weird for the first couple of weeks, but now everything is starting to be more normal,” said senior Bradley Hamroff.

Overall, the shift from last year to this year was definitely a big one.  There are more students in the building due to the fact that there is no longer an option for virtual learning.  There is more work off of the screen, which will help students who got headaches due to constantly looking at the screen.  More is going on and there are so many more people filling the halls of the building.  Everyone can be with all of their friends, rather than only a few that were in the same last name letter group.  Step by step, everyone is finding their way back into the normal school life that was pre-pandemic.