LA GRANGE, Ky. — It’s been a little over a month since some elementary students in Oldham County returned to the classroom and a few weeks for middle and high school students. That new school day now entails masks and spaced out desks. Superintendent Greg Schultz said it has been going pretty well so far.

Students in Oldham County must decide how they wish to continue to learn

“We have had some positive cases, as expected when school started and we had some quarantines as expected when school started, but the numbers have not been over burdensome yet,” Shultz said.

At the elementary level, students who are back in person are there five days a week. At the middle and high school level, the district is working off an A-B schedule meaning students go every other day. While many choose the in-person option, some families opted for the Virtual Learning Academy.

“At the elementary level, it is a little different. There is a teacher on the backside of that and it looks like NTI on steroids with daily meetings and activities really focusing on numeracy and literacy. At the middle and high school, we are using Edgenuity as the backbone of the program with advisors in the background. It’s a little more self-paced. It takes a little more dedication from the middle and high school student to stay on track. It’s really rigorous,” Schultz said.

Those who opted for the Virtual Learning Academy have to stick with it for the whole trimester, so the district can make plans without having to change things every week.

“We are staffed for both virtual and in person, but there are a lot of logistics that go along with that including bus routes and how classrooms are organized,” Schultz said.

Right now, the district has around 9,000 students learning in person and about 3,000 learning at home this trimester. In a little over a month, those in the Virtual Learning Academy who want to go in person now or vise versa will be able to make that switch. While Schultz said he is not sure how many students will change, the district is thinking through ways to keep students safe if there is an influx of students coming back to the classrooms.

“We just know that if it is a certain amount, we may have to look at doing some things differently like a possible A-B schedule at the elementary level if the numbers come back too much. We feel like on the middle and high school level, the A-B schedule already allows for that incoming traffic as need be. We also don’t know how many people will go from face-to-face to VLA.”

Anyone who wants their student to switch from virtual learning to in-person learning for next semester or vise versa can fill out the enrollment form now. The new trimester starts Nov. 23.