Back to class: a boulder line to get into the school, strict protocols and lots of enthusiasm

It is 7.40 a.m. and at 1800 rue Amenábar, in the Belgrano district, a few horns sound, but especially the patience of motorists prevails in the face of traffic to which they had already become unaccustomed. Today, face-to-face classes start in the city of Buenos Aires after almost a year, and at the doorstep of Island International School, a private school, students are arriving from all directions. They do this on foot or in their parents’ car. Entry is tedious, but it is inevitable that sometimes a line is formed which occupies almost half a block. At least today, adherence to protocols is the number one priority. There are a lot of changes, the steps to take, but no one wants to ignore some of the rules shaping this morning and, surely, all that will come in the months to come.

“I’m happy, I want to hear noise at school, the noise of the boys is missed. They are very excited. This year I will be giving private lessons because the school wants to be above the boys to support them closely, ”explains Romina Pomamte, mother of a pupil and teacher from the Islands.

Here, the security guard comes and goes, walks the block so that there is no less than a meter and a half distance between each family group. Some parents say goodbye to their children at the door and leave, but others look at the entrance of other boys who are not their children, as if they are witnessing an unusual event.

Today, the boys and girls who attend kindergartens, the pupils of the initial level, the first cycle of primary school (1st, 2nd and 3rd year) and of the lower secondary cycle (first and second year) reoccupy the schools. classroom.).

In numbers, In the city, 739 entry-level schools, 886 primary schools and 492 secondary schools opened today, totaling 370,493 students, while the total district enrollment is 785,152. Next Monday, they will resume the rest of the primary classes (4th, 5th, 6th and 7th), which will add 144,596 students. While the following 1st year, the remaining years of secondary will return (3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th), which represents 90,073 boys and girls. Students from the youth and adult programs will begin on the 8th, and students from the higher level on the 22nd. In this way, the registration total in Buenos Aires is completed.

“We call all the students, but not all at the same time. In the case of primary school, a face-to-face session returns in the morning and another face-to-face session in the afternoon.

There will be a period when the idea will be to meet again, to socialize again and in case of doubts or questions, to take stock, but nothing very far from what has always been done during the period of diagnosis ” , describes Andrés Pallaro, legal representative of the island.

Mariela González is the mother of Matías, who is 10 years old. She is excited about the return; him, not so much. “It’s necessary because boys have to be sociable, talk to each other,” says Mariela, but her son doesn’t agree: “I liked virtuality, you didn’t need to ask permission to get up and go to the bathroom, for example, ”Matías reflects.

Roxana Cabral is a teacher in this private institution. She is happy and was the first to arrive at the school gate. He said that the Sarmiento train today the orders were more demanding. “I’m very happy, but today the protocol occupies my whole head. We will see how the dynamics unfold, we will have to be vigilant. The activities, I think, that we will continue to correct virtually so that there is no exchange of papers and notebooks between teachers and students.

To receive the students, Pallaro explains that it was necessary to think of new classroom spaces to respect the distance. For example, patios, semi-covered spaces, music room, sports hall. All these spaces have been modified to be able to receive all the boys respecting the protocol.

Now, unlike last year, bubbles can be 10, 15 or 20, and these bubbles should always be together, so the pauses will also be in a bubble. We had to reorganize the entire embedding system, ”Pallaro adds.

But playtime isn’t the only thing that has changed. Only one person can go to the bathroom, they must have lunch outside or in semi-covered spaces, among countless other changes.

“For lunches, according to the City’s protocol, it is forbidden to do so in a covered space, but outside it is allowed”, explains Pallaro.

Another sore point is the school transport that takes students from their homes to school. Pallaro explains that these transports do not come from school, but are services that parents hire. “But we are asking for all the documentation that allows this transport to work. In the case of transport that takes them to the sports field, it is we who hire them and we demand that all protocols be respected on the bus ”.

It is already 8:30 am and the entry of the first batch of students of the day is over. The boys are in the classrooms listening to the classroom, a possibility that, due to the pandemic, seemed distant, but today it is coming true again. The 2021 school year has just started, for now, in person.

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