Tens of thousands of Wake, Durham students return to classrooms

Spring break is officially over for tens of thousands of students in Wake and Durham counties, many who will return to school Thursday for the first time in months.

All Wake County traditional calendar schools are bringing students of all grade levels back to classrooms Thursday for full-time, in-person learning for the first time since March 2020. Nearly 80,000 Wake County students are still enrolled in Virtual Academy and are learning at home full-time, according to the district, so teachers are still teaching virtual and in-person students at the same time.

While social distancing guidelines have been lessened from 6 feet to 3 feet, students are still required to wear masks and are asked to keep a safe distance from others whenever possible.

CDC says health screenings for kids don't work, so Wake schools do away with them

The district is urging families to keep students home if people in their household feel sick.

Wake Schools plans for a Virtual Academy option next year

In Durham, some students in grades 6-12 are making the trip to school for the first time in more than a year. The day is especially important for high school seniors, who will only see their peers and teachers for a few months before graduation.

The more than 5,000 middle and high school students who decided to return to in-person learning are separated into cohorts and will rotate between learning at home and in the classrooms.

According to Durham Public Schools, about 8,500 students decided to remain in virtual learning.

Durham Public Schools is still conducting temperature checks before students enter school each morning.