NYC Middle Schools Will Reopen Feb. 25 For In-Person Classes

NEW YORK CITY — Another “first day” of in-person classes is coming up for the city’s public middle school students.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said middle schools will reopen Feb. 25. His Monday morning announcement primes students in sixth through eighth grade to return to their classrooms.

“Our children are ready, our parents are ready for kids to be back in school, so we’re really excited about this,” he said.

Middle school students, along with their older high school counterparts, have been fully remote since November when the city’s coronavirus levels hit a 3 percent positivity threshold for automatic districtwide closures.

COVID-19 virus rates in the city remain far above that level — as of Monday, the average positivity rate is 8.28 percent — but de Blasio and education officials have frequently said the city’s schools remain remarkably safe.

De Blasio said teachers and other staff will return to buildings on Feb. 24, followed by students the next day.

Roughly 470 middle schools are slated to reopen, with a large number offering five-day-a-week classroom instruction, said Chancellor Richard Carranza.

“Of the 471 middle schools, we fully expect that half will be able to open their doors on the 25th, offering five-day-a-week instruction to their students,” he said.

Other schools will work toward the goal of five-day instruction, Carranza said. Vulnerable groups of students such as those with disabilities, in temporary housing and multilingual learners will have priority, he said.

De Blasio said assuming the city reaches its goal of 5 million coronavirus vaccinations that schools will fully reopen in September.

“We have to be able to welcome back every family, every student that wants to learn in-person by September,” he said. “That’s the bottom line.”