2020 brought with it countless hurdles that managed to fundamentally change the everyday lives of people across the globe. With COVID-19’s sudden appearance in the U.S. earlier this year, many felt uncertainty for the future. The pandemic managed to catch society off guard leading to chaotic scrambles to adapt to the foreign situation. Education quickly became a concern as sending students to school no longer seemed advisable with the rising virus, and the sudden change of events led to an undeniably unorganized spring semester of 2020. 

However, as the calendar year comes to a close students have begun to return to school in person across the U.S. despite the rising covid rates. Most schools luckily offer the choice to families as to whether or not they would like to send their students back during a pandemic. For those that elect to stay at home, schools have provided plenty of online resources to help them keep up with their studies and continue to learn from the safety of their kitchen tables. 

Months have passed since students first made their way back into NC this past October. As the year comes to a close do these students and their families still feel confident in their choice to return, or do they believe the school could do more in order to aid in the prevention of COVID-19? 

“North Cobb seems to have a decently put together system in place. With the way the staircases are one direction only and how they’re limiting the amount of cash being handled, I believe NCHS is prepared. However, if you are not comfortable and do not want to come back, you simply do not have to. If you’re satisfied being virtual, by all means, stay home,” senior Elizabeth Eckles said.

North Cobb has taped down the floors of hallways as well as made the numerous staircases throughout the school one-directional in order to help distance students as they pass each other between classes. They have also hung posters that remind students to wear masks while in the building. While some students believe this serves as enough on behalf of the school for preventing the spread of the diseases, others can not help but disagree.

“I feel sort of uneasy, not going to lie. There are distancing rules but I feel like they’ve been lax and that kids are slowly just kind of acting like nothing is happening. I think stricter distancing rules and finding a better way for kids to move around the school because the hallways are still a little crowded would go a long way,” junior Gabriela Mitchell said.

Whether or not NC plans to change their safety protocols or keep them going into the next semester to account for the rising number of COVID-19 cases throughout Cobb County has yet to appear, but families can still expect to make the choice between online and in-person schooling for their students.