LEXINGTON, Ky.  Several private schools in Kentucky are opting to start the school year with in-person classes despite Gov. Andy Beshear's recommended start date of Sept. 28 for in-person learning.


What You Need To Know

  • Lexington Christian Academy welcomes back students in-person

  • School is implementing new safety measures

  • Over 1,000 students will return to school's campus

  • Beshear recommended schools delay in-person learning until Sept. 28

Starting Wednesday, more than 1000 students will return to the campus at Lexington Christian Academy (LCA), and school administrators say they have several new safety measures in place to keep students and staff safe on the first day of school and beyond.

“We have been working all spring, all summer to prepare,” said Dr. Scott Wells, head of school at Lexington Christian Academy.

Wells says the decision to start the school year with in-person learning was made easy based on the feedback his staff received from the LCA campus community.

“Overwhelmingly, our students wanted to come back. Now we have a program, called synchronous optimum, that allows families if they wish for their students to stay home and to learn virtually and roughly two 3 percent of our overall student population chose to do that,” explained Wells.

LCA staff have spent many weeks working in advance to make sure proper physical distancing and health guidelines are in place before students officially return to campus

"We have ample spacing out of desks, to ensure safety. We also have one-directional traffic flow in our hallways. that's to avoid again any kind of possible cross-contamination or facing others in a long way, if you will,” added Wells

LCA’s head of school says while he understands the reasoning behind Beshear’s recommendation to wait at least another month before starting in-person instruction, he says his staff at LCA did not take their reopening plans lightly and hopes the community understands that.

"First of all, we respect the governor and his views and that we felt as a community. We are ready. It's a safe place to be. We felt led to have in-person instruction and open the school because of our strong plan to be ready. And because of the desires of our clientele, our parents and students to be back on campus,” mentioned Wells

The last time students were in the classroom for in-person instruction at Lexington Christian Academy was March 16th.