PENDLETON — One of the first things math teacher Michael Bittdorf noticed after Pendleton High School reopened its doors to all students on Monday, March 29, was the lower volume.

While Bittdorf joked that he wouldn’t mind if it stayed quieter, the high school’s new atmosphere was described as strange by several students before school on Wednesday, March 31.

The state’s social distancing requirements means only half of the student body can attend school on any given day, leading to smaller class sizes and less boisterous halls. The muted tones carried over to classes as they started for the day, with most classes quiet as instruction started.

That’s not to say students aren’t excited to return to in-person school after a year of distance learning.

Sophomore Sammantha Wilks said online classes exhausted her as she spent hours in front of a computer screen attending class only to turn around and spend more time online doing homework.

Returning to school in-person has been invigorating for Wilks, who disagrees with some of her peers’ assessments of the school’s new normal.

“Some people say it’s awkward, but I don’t feel like it’s awkward,” she said. “It feels like COVID didn’t even happen.”

Although classes feel more engaging than they do online, senior Jordyn Murphy said she would have been fine with finishing out the year online considering the school year will be over in a few months.

Nevertheless, she said students are starting to plan events like homecoming to finish out the year. Pendleton High School Principal Melissa Sandven added the school is also planning to hold a more traditional graduation ceremony at the Round-Up Grounds rather than the drive-thru event for the class of 2020.

Sandven said she’s been pleased with the way in-person classes have started and has been pleasantly surprised by the way students have adapted to the school’s new protocols.

“We thought that we would have to tell the kids to put on their masks,” she said. “We thought it would be a problem. But it hasn’t been.”

To avoid congregating large throngs of students, each grade level is assigned a different entrance to arrive at and a different waiting area before classes start. School staff wait by the doors to greet students and hand them a bagged meal if they want it.

Sandven said there were still things to work on. Some teachers are teaching in person while recording themselves online for students learning from home, a task that can be difficult to balance.

Some students have opted to stay online rather than come to school in person, but an overwhelming majority of students and parents are opting for a return to traditional instruction.

Sandven said about 90% of Pendleton High School’s students are returning to in-person school, and as the school settles into its new routine, some of the teens that initially opted for online classes have changed their mind.

The Pendleton School District already had its reopening plans in place for the high school and Sunridge Middle School by the time the Oregon Department of Education announced it was further loosening its COVID-19 restrictions.

As the state loosens its social distancing rules for schools, the Pendleton School District is expanding its elementary school offerings to include all students, every day.

In a press release, the district announced it would start offering full-time school on April 12, with a daily schedule of 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

“I believe it is in the best interest of our students and families that our students spend as much of the remainder of the 20-21 school year with their teachers in school buildings,” Superintendent Chris Fritsch said in a statement.

The district listed out its reasons for making another change to its schedule, arguing that students learned better and felt safer at school while most school staff are now vaccinated against COVID-19.

April 12 will mark the first day K-5 students in Pendleton will have full-day, in-person classes since March 2020.

Although changes are being made to the elementary schedule, the district did not provide any updates on students at the middle and high school levels. Secondary students are currently attending school on alternating days under a hybrid model.

— Antonio Sierra, East Oregonian