(Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)
Feb. 24, 2021 By Allie Griffin
New York City’s public schools will welcome back middle schoolers for in-person learning tomorrow.
Public schools that serve grades six through eight will hold in-person classes beginning Thursday. The schools have been closed since November when COVID-19 cases spiked.
“I am very excited that tomorrow our New York City public schools, our middle schools, will be reopening…,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said today. “This is a really important moment — bringing back our middle school kids, getting them in the classroom, giving them the opportunity to learn from talented, committed, passionate educators.”
About half of the city’s public middle schools will reopen in-person classes five days a week for all students who have signed up for blended learning, NYC Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said earlier this month.
The other half will alternate students from in-person on some days and online instruction on other days.
Meanwhile, public high schools remain closed and several are being used as vaccination sites. Elementary schools welcomed back younger students to classrooms in December.
De Blasio has been adamant on the importance of in-person learning for young students. The city prioritized COVID-19 vaccination appointments at city vaccine hubs for in-person school employees last week to help facilitate the reopening of middle schools.
Roughly 30,000 educators have received either their first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination at city-run vaccine sites, de Blasio said this morning.
