UMATILLA COUNTY — Almost a year after they left, Echo students are back in the classroom.

“We’re full bore hybrid,” Echo School District Superintendent Raymon Smith said. “Everyone is back in school.”

It has taken significant preparation to get them there. Two weeks ago, the small district bought 50,000 sanitizing wipes.

Students use them to wipe down their desk and chair every time they come into a classroom or leave it. It’s a lot of work, but it’s one of the many safety measures that has allowed Echo School students to go back to in-person learning. Kindergarten through fifth grade returned on Jan. 25, and sixth through 12th grade students returned on Monday, Feb. 1.

The hybrid schedule means students aren’t in the classroom full time, yet. Half visit the school on Mondays and Wednesdays and half on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while working online and completing homework on their “off” days. But for most students, it’s the first time they’ve been able to work with their teacher face to face in almost a year, and Smith said only four students have opted to remain in online-only mode.

Echo isn’t the only Umatilla County school district returning students to the classroom. Stanfield’s elementary students will return next week.

Stanfield School District Superintendent Beth Burton said it’s hard to believe that by the time secondary school students return in Stanfield, it will have been 11 months since most have seen the inside of a classroom.

Starting on Monday, Feb. 8, kindergarten through fifth grade students in Stanfield will be able to return to in-person learning from 7:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Secondary school students are expected to return on Feb. 16.

Burton said it took a lot of work to fit all students in the school with the requisite 35 square feet of space per student and desks 6 feet apart, but they made it work with the help of placing the two largest classes in the gym and library.

“We would measure rooms and take out everything we could,” she said.

Like all districts in Oregon, Stanfield will be following pages of rules for preventing the spread of viruses, including sanitation protocols, social distancing, masks and screening students for symptoms when they arrive. Students who are exposed to COVID-19 through a family member or other contacts will tune in virtually until their recommended quarantine period is up.

“I hope folks know we spent a ton of time planning,” Burton said. “We’ve really looked at the guidance, and we feel our plan meets all of that guidance. We’re really focused on safety.”

Umatilla School District Superintendent Heidi Sipe said she and other school staff are “over the moon excited” about getting ready to welcome students back into the classroom.

The district recently started the “limited in-person instruction” phase by bringing back a few students in select categories, such as special education and English language learners. Sipe said they plan to start hybrid learning for all kindergarten through second grade students the last week of February, and keep adding a few more grades each week from that point.

Students will attend classes on an A-B schedule, with half the students attending one day and half the next. Sipe said they just couldn’t find a way to fit all students in the space available at the same time with the required social distancing.

“What we were told square footage wise works awesome on paper, but when you actually put kids in the classroom you can fit about half of what it looks like on paper,” she said.

The A-B schedule will allow the district to offer bussing, however, although Sipe said walking or rides from parents are encouraged where possible.

So far, students who have come back for limited in-person instruction have done well in the classroom, she said.

“The kids take wearing a mask really seriously,” she said.

The district will be reaching out to parents over the next few days to ask if the information they filled out in August is still correct or if they would rather switch their choice of hybrid or online-only learning.