When Mendota High School officials announced their plan to return to school for full days in the fall, students were “nervous” and “skeptical.”

“I thought it was a very bad idea at first,” MHS senior Perris Stachlewitz said. “When I first saw the plan laid out, I was like, ‘They have us going all day. This is going to be bad. Everybody is going to get (COVID-19).’

“But our school compared to other schools has done so much more to keep everybody safe and socially distanced. It’s perfect.”

In August, Mendota delayed the start of school until after Labor Day due to a surge of COVID-19 cases in the city, but MHS superintendent Jeff Prusator told the Board of Education at Monday’s meeting the first six weeks with students attending 8:05 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. have gone smoothly.

“It has really exceeded our expectations,” Prusator said. “We feel really good that we’re one of a few high schools in the area that is in session five days a week all day long.”

So far, according to Mendota’s COVID-19 Dashboard available on the school’s website, the school has had seven cases that are all recovered — four students and three staff members — with three students and no staff currently in quarantine.

How has Mendota done it?

Plenty of space to social distance, figuring out how to serve lunch, intense cleaning procedures, adjusted class schedules and bus routes, and students and staff buying into changes have all played critical roles.

“I think it’s going pretty well,” Marlie Boelk said. “It’s been pretty successful. I think the administration did a great job.”

BIGGEST ADVANTAGE

One thing Mendota has that many area schools don’t is plenty of space for social distancing.

MHS was built to accommodate 750 students, and with 99 students choosing remote learning, only 423 students are attending in person.

“When we have 423 students in person, you can see how we have the ability to separate lockers, separate desks, control hallway traffic, etc.,” MHS principal Denise Aughenbaugh said.

MHS has removed any extra furniture in classrooms, leaving just student desks — which are spaced wall-to-wall — teacher desks and projection equipment.

The school has capitalized on its space by moving some classes — 30 in all — to different rooms, including the media center and the auditorium, to make it easier to social distance.

BIGGEST HURDLE

Aughenbaugh called lunch, “our greatest fear,” but MHS administrators figured out how to space the students, serve a hot lunch and sanitize.

There are three lunch periods in four different locations — the media center, the gym, which has a drop down divider with one side set up with tables split with Plexiglas and the other with courts for P.E., and the cafeteria, which had a dividing wall installed to make two spaces.

Lunches are served over the course of two hours, leaving 15 minutes between periods to allow custodians to disinfect with hydrostatic sprayers.

Students have the option to bring a lunch or get a hot sack lunch prepared by the cafeteria staff. A Google order form gives the staff a lunch count each day, and the cafeteria staff wraps the food in foil or packages it in baggies or cups and is served with prepackaged drinks.

CONTROLLING TRAFFIC

Several changes were made to avoid congestion during passing periods, which were extended to five minutes.

First, lockers were separated so freshmen and sophomores wouldn't have lockers next to each other, while juniors and seniors were kept separate for lockers.

Class dismissals are staggered, with freshmen and sophomores going first followed by juniors and seniors.

“They get a head start and are leaving their lockers at the time the other grades are dismissed and are approaching their lockers,” Aughenbaugh said.

MHS has also reduced hallway traffic by going to four 85-minute block class periods as opposed to eight 47-minute classes.

“As long as students are wearing masks and keep moving, it is not a close contact concern,” Aughenbaugh said. “Our teachers have been great about helping kids keep moving or sit in their socially-distanced desks before class starts. Hallways have not been a problem, because we do not allow kids to stand and congregate in groups for several minutes.”

OTHER EFFORTS

The school’s transportation director adjusted bus routes to bring students to school with shorter routes and less contact time.

Like every school, MHS conducts morning temperature checks. The school has students parking in the back lot and holding drop-off in the front of the school.

The custodians do deep cleaning nightly.

“We truly have a team effort that we are really proud of, because it represents our school and community,” Aughenbaugh said.

Aughenbaugh also credited school nurse Sheri McConville for helping MHS through the process. She helped make the in-person plan, assisted in securing infrared thermometers and PPE, and has served as a liaison with the health department and parents and staff.

McConville sees symptomatic students before they go home, contacts elementary schools if siblings need to be quarantined, oversees correspondence sent home for symptomatic, close contact and positive test exclusion and answers parents’ questions on returning to school.

BUYING IN

Prusator credited the students for following all the new rules.

“The students have really been remarkable on how they’ve worn their masks and how they’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do,” Prusator said.

Students said occasionally their peers need to be reminded to put their masks up, but overall have adjusted well.

“It’s just kind of normal now,” senior Amanda Barrett said. “Everything has changed in all places, not just school. It was a learning curve at first. We just had to get used to it.”

Despite the changes, students appreciate the opportunity to be in school.

“I’m extremely grateful we get to be here and see people,” junior Maya Martin said.