Jericho schools open, first on LI to begin classes

Schools reopened Monday for more than 3,100 students in the Jericho system — the first on Long Island to begin classes — on a day described by one principal as an occasion for joy. 

In classrooms and hallways, a majority were maskless. At this time last year, masking was the rule. 

Masks for Jericho's students and teachers are now generally optional, as they are in other districts under relaxed state guidelines. Those testing positive for COVID-19 will still have to isolate at home for five days, but can return to classes on the sixth day if they are fever- and symptom-free, Jericho officials said. Upon returning, students and staffers must mask for five days, officials added. 

Under another rules change, students and staff are no longer required to quarantine if they come in contact with an infected person. Student field trips, previously canceled as a health precaution, will resume this year, as will pep rallies and a traditional eighth-grade class trip to Washington, D.C. 

"I talked to some eighth-grade kids this morning," said Hank Grishman, the district's superintendent. "They were all excited about the Washington trip." 

Alex Rivera, principal of the district's George Jackson Elementary School, concluded in a letter sent to parents recently, "In thinking about one word that will describe our year together, the word JOY fits perfectly." 

At Jericho High School, arriving students voiced hope Monday that the worst of the pandemic is over. 

"You know, we had a rough last year, two years, three years, everything like that, and I'm very happy that we've all come back to enjoy school," said Josh Oshalek, 17, a senior.

Of the district's 3,208 students, 97% attended classes, according to Denise Nash, director of public information. 

Jericho consistently has been first, or at least among the first districts, to reopen over the past 16 years. A long-standing contract between Jericho and its teachers union provides for 186 days of annual instruction, rather than the state's minimum of 180 days. 

An additional 65 districts in the Nassau-Suffolk region will resume classes this week, with 58 more due to start after Labor Day.

While mask mandates were in place at this time last year in Jericho and other districts, many systems by early March had dropped mandates in favor of an optional approach. 

As a result, health hazards appear to be less of a preoccupation for students and staffers than they were a year ago, though such risks remain a concern. At a school board meeting in mid-August, Jericho officials mentioned mask-optional rules, but also described a number of new programs and services coming to the district.

Those include new prekindergarten classes for 3- and 4-year-olds, a new elective course in sports journalism and upgrades in security cameras.

One new piece of instructional equipment installed at Jericho High School is an Anatomage Table, an electronic device that produces three-dimensional images of human cadavers "and can simulate living anatomy," according to the product website. The anatomical equipment will be used in a variety of science courses, enabling students to perform virtual dissections, while also familiarizing themselves with effects of injury and disease on the human body.

"Would you like to touch a muscle?" Jill Kipnis, a teacher of Anatomy & Physiology, asked a group of students who were treated to a Monday preview of the anatomy machine.

Isaac Raphel, 16, a junior, volunteered for the muscle exploration and pronounced it "extremely cool."

Jericho bought the Anatomage device this summer for $105,000 with the help of a county financial grant. Supporters believe the investment will pay off. 

"This table has the ability to really 'wow' our students and excite them in the medical field," Kipnis said.

Jericho does well in national academic rankings; its high school consistently appears on a list of the nation's best compiled by U.S. News & World Report. Locally, parents have grown accustomed to extra services provided to their children.

Amy Kan, a mother of three, recalled in a recent interview that her son Hudson, an incoming second-grader, participated for eight weeks this summer in a district book club. As part of the club's activities, a teacher read stories to children, then raised questions about those stories that Kan described as thought-provoking. 

By coincidence, Kan said, the teacher in charge of the club will now be instructing Hudson's second-grade class. 

"So it really eases my child, my son, into a very successful school year forthcoming," said the mother, who formerly worked as a teacher in another district. "I'm really looking forward to it."