The academic year is drawing down for Monongalia County schools.
June 3 is the last day of in-school instruction for the district, but another two days of at-home learning commences after that, making this coming Tuesday the last official day.
The extra two days are serving as make-ups, mainly from the winter, Deputy Superintendent Donna Talerico said.
That’s when snow and cold prompted school officials to keep students home, rather than them braving the elements at bus stops.
“Then it’s officially summer,” Talerico said.
However, it won’t be an official break from the learning, she said.
Two enrichment camps – the “Summer Sizzler” and “Summer Avalanche” – kick in quick, the deputy superintendent said.
The “Sizzler” runs June 13-16 and the more extensive “Avalanche” hits July 5-28, Talerico said.
As always, food will be a component of both programs, said Brian Kiehl, who directs nutrition services for the district.
Snacks will be offered up during the “Sizzler,” he said. Breakfast and lunch are both on the menu for the “Avalanche,” which will have activities at every school in the district.
Visit https://boe.mono.k12.wv.us/ for full details on both programs.
Both programs were born of the COVID shutdowns from two years ago, Talerico said.
The idea was then was to gain intellectual momentum in a time frame that had anything but, she said.
Mylan Park Elementary School, in the meantime, will serve as a standalone school for any student in the district needing a lunch.
“Hunger doesn’t take a summer vacation,” Kiehl said.
Lunch will be served in the cafeteria from 11-11:30 a.m. beginning June 13 and will run through Aug. 12.
“That’s a sit-down meal in the cafeteria,” the nutrition director said. “No take-outs.”
COVID is still sitting in, too, and while it’s not to the extent it once was, officials are keeping close tabs.
A total of 39 students presented last week with positive diagnoses, along with 13 staffers.
“We’ve been pretty lucky, all things considered,” Talerico said, “but this is something we’re definitely watching.”
In the meantime, health officials statewide are watching the contagion’s continued presence in the state.
Monongalia and Preston counties are among the 24 in West Virginia showing yellow Wednesday on the state county alert map maintained by the state Department of Health and Human Resources.
The state’s 31 other counties were still in the green that day.
In the meantime, the DHHR reports 2,117 active cases statewide, including 125 in Mon and 22 in Preston. Six children are among those hospitalized statewide, with one in intensive care and another on a ventilator.
A 15-year-old girl from Raleigh County is the youngest among the most recent deaths from COVID reported to DHHR.
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