Seattle's Youngest Students Return In March: Here's The Plan

SEATTLE — Washington's largest school district plans to resume some in-person instruction in March, welcoming preschoolers, kindergarteners and first graders back to the classroom in small groups with enhanced public health measures. Seattle follows neighboring school districts, including Bellevue, that have already moved forward with reopening plans, according to state guidelines.

The second part of Seattle Public Schools' four phases includes the option to resume in-person instruction or continue remotely for the following student groups:

• Preschool
• Kindergarten
• 1st Grade
• Special Education Intensive Service Pathways

As part of the district's plan to mitigate coronavirus transmission, kindergarten and first-grade classes will be limited to smaller groups of 15 students or less, while preschool classrooms will be limited to 10 students.

The district worked with local architects to establish "cohort zones" in each school building, which will allow for different groups of students to enter and exit the school in their own designated areas. Classrooms will have desks six feet apart, and at least 10 feet away from the teacher. At recess, students will stay with their cohort and each lunch in their classrooms to reduce interactions with other groups. Other preventative measures include upgraded air filtration systems, mandatory mask-wearing and hand sanitizer stations.

Learn about the district's efforts in the video below:

All other grades will remain in a remote learning plan for the time being. Moving to the third stage, which would begin to phase in classroom instruction for other grades, will be dependent on a new evaluation of conditions and will require approval from the Seattle School Board and bargaining with the teachers union.

Read about the district's phased reopening plans on the Seattle Public Schools website.