WWPS gets ready for high school reopening
By Terry Murry on Friday, February 26th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – After almost a year away from their classrooms, high school students will begin returning to campuses soon. A significant decline in COVID-19 cases in recent months has prompted the county’s Department of Community Health to place the district in the green stage of reopening.
Ninth grade students will begin school following the AM/PM Hybrid schedule on Monday, March 8. Sophomores, juniors and seniors will head back to class on the same schedule on Wednesday, March 10.
“The phased approach will allow our ninth grade students to have two days on campus without upper-grade-level students to get orientated to their new schools,” Superintendent Wade Smith said.
A third-party inspection of all the secondary school sites has been completed and determined that the district had the safety protocols and processes in place to safely begin the hybrid schedule.
Because the district is now in the green reopening stage, it has been accepted in the Washington Learn to Return COVID testing program. It provides free access to both rapid and more in-depth testing for the novel coronavirus and includes regular voluntary testing for school staff. The testing program is for all grade levels and will be rolled out in early March.
