Oktibbeha/Starkville School District along with Winston Academy adjusting to COVID19

WINSTON ACADEMY/OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) — The good ole saying – take it day-by-day, has been the motto for both Oktibbeha/Starkville School District and Winston Academy because of COVID19.

Both school districts have been placed in uncharted territory this school year in particular.

Winston Academy Headmaster Paul Hayles said the transition has gone quite well so far.

“We’ve been able to stay with our traditional,” said Hayles. “We had one family choose at the start of the year to do virtual, distance-learning if you will. We did that for a little while but with the success of no issues they chose to come back and we’ve had 100 percent attendance since then as far as the choice of doing traditional.”

Hayles said when a student does experience symptoms, they must react fast.

“We’ve have had a couple times,” said Hayles, “kids come in and say ‘Mr. Hayles my throat hurts today'”. And we have to honor it, it’s one of the things on the questionnaire so therefore that child goes home. And once that child is picked up or the child is released to go home, we go in and disinfect and clean everything.”

As for the Oktibbeha/Starkville School District, students were given three options of learning: traditional, virtual and hybrid.

But the hybrid model has now been left off the menu.

Superintendent Eddie Peasant said several students have now leaned towards the traditional way of learning.

“Each day our families are finding what works and what doesn’t work,” said Peasant. “And because, you know when they found what’s not working or is not working for some of them, many of them have decided that the traditional setting might be a better option for them.”

Peasant said teamwork between faculty and students is making this transition a bit easier.

“It takes all of us to make this work,” he said. “One of the things that we try to do is, schedule some of our schools, they have brought in groups of students from virtual to traditional weekly on a Monday and so having the transition happened a specified time has been better for teachers.”