Anxiety, hopes rise on first day of school in Freeport

Mask-clad students streamed into school buildings Wednesday on Long Island’s biggest reopening day, as 44 districts, including Freeport, welcomed children back to full-time, in-person instruction — a far different scene than a year ago, when the pandemic forced many schools to open with remote and hybrid learning models.

At Bayview Avenue School of Arts & Sciences in Freeport, first-grader Amyrah Cenat, 6, kept glancing back at her mother, Stephanie, as she waited in line to have her temperature scanned.

Amyrah, wearing a pink backpack with a glittered unicorn on the front, smiled and waved a few times.

"She wanted to make sure that I was still there watching her go in," said Stephanie Cenat as she walked away in light rain. "It was a little bit emotional."

Unlike a traditional year where parents could walk their children to their classroom and meet their teacher, the parents, carrying umbrellas and wearing superhero backpacks, stopped at the building entrance. Students took their backpacks and some waved goodbye.

Under regular circumstances, the first day back to school is marked with conflicting emotions. Now, during a pandemic, parents described a mix of heightened excitement and apprehension as they watched their children go inside.

One mom recounted her kindergartner waking the family up at 3 a.m. because he was so excited. Many said they had a talk with their kids to calm them down.

"She's nervous because of everything she's seeing on the news," Charlena Rawls said of her daughter Tiyanna, 8, who returned to school for the first time in person since the pandemic started.

Freeport Superintendent Kishore Kuncham estimated 20% of elementary schoolchildren and 25% of secondary-level students in the 6,600-student district opted for online learning for the entirety of last school year, when the district operated on a hybrid schedule.

This fall, remote learning is no longer offered, though Rawls said she would have liked to keep that option. Students are required to wear a mask indoors and be at least 3 feet apart.

"I'm a little apprehensive," Rawls said, adding she’s prepared to switch back to working from home if schools were to shut down again. "I'll be home with her [if things don't work out]."

More Long Island districts will begin classes in the coming days, with staggered opening dates stretching to Sept. 10. Jericho was the first to open, last Thursday.

The rise of the highly contagious delta variant, which has been linked to nearly all new COVID-19 cases at some of the Island’s largest hospitals, added another layer of concern for worrying parents.

Vaccinations are encouraged in the Freeport district but not mandated. The 535-student population at Bayview, a kindergarten through fourth-grade school, is too young to be eligible for the shots.

"Then I'm not sure if the teachers are vaccinated," said Sha-nay Henderson, a second-grade teacher in Queens whose son, Daniel, is a third-grader at Bayview. "I’m a little anxious. But still, I'm happy. I'm happy that he's going back to school."

Inside the building, teachers like Erica Ruge were waiting with "rejuvenated" energy.

"It's almost like an excited anxiety," said Ruge, a math specialist who taught virtually last school year. "It's a big day for their families. It's a big day for us to see them. It's a big day for them to see their friends. That's why I think it's even more exciting than just a regular first day. This is a new beginning."

Kuncham shared the teachers’ enthusiasm, though he tempered it with caution.

"The next two, three months would be a testing time for all of us," the superintendent said. "We're all prepared to switch to remote or hybrid in a second. … But I really hope we don't get there."

As he toured from school to school Wednesday morning, Kuncham said he was glad to see so many smiling faces.

"You can see the smiles through their eyes," he said. "It's exciting to have everyone back. They belong here."