Nettleton School District has been through a lot these past two years with the pandemic affecting the way of learning. Now Nettleton is back on track with virtual learning finally being a thing of the past for the majority of students.  The school faculty and students have a few things to say about their experiences the last two years and how Nettleton is going to improve this current year.

According to the Career and Technical Principal Mr. Sims and science teacher, Mrs. Page, they both agreed that there are many changes compared to the previous year. In terms of mental health, students have access to social and emotional learning programs. Virtual students had the opportunity to stay virtual if they chose. However, when it comes to life on campus Mr. Sims said “the students will get to do more activities and the school will have more people on campus.” So students can expect even more field trips this year!  Mrs. Page added that teachers are trying to get back to normal. “[We] are setting high expectations [for] turning in work on time, [and] doing things how we did before.”

Students also weighed in on the changes to this year. According to Diego Moreno Martinez and Julio Mellado Andrade they both prefer attending in-school learning but have different opinions on the new attendance policy. Diego said “I feel like it is more difficult because you can’t really have an excused absence.” Many students seem to agree. Julio had a different perspective. “I feel like [attendance] should matter, but I do feel like the school should give us a little bit more time. Sometimes things just come up in life and you have to miss.”