A New Normal

In an unprecedented school year, students of HF have a different mentality heading into this confusing and uncertain future. With a hybrid learning operation, one-way hallways and staircases, and facemasks, no one knows what the future holds in our community, state, country and even world. However you can always find the silver lining in an otherwise bad situation. Students have taken a new approach to this year; mainly on the mental side of things.

As previously mentioned, there are some drastic changes throughout the building for the start of the year. Students are split into green and yellow cohorts based on their first initial of their last name. Students with last names starting with letters A-L will attend school Tuesday and Thursday of every week. Students with last names starting with M-Z attend school Wednesdays and Fridays of every week. Each group will rotate Mondays as well. 

The days that students aren’t in school, they participate in remote learning which consists of attending online Google Meets following their everyday schedule. While students are in school, life continues to be different. 

Due to there only being a portion of students in school on any given day, there are inevitably less students in the hallways. In those aforementioned hallways, there is tape lining the floors to direct one-way traffic. Students also are required to wear masks at all times. These guidelines are all in place to help keep everyone safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

This year has been a challenge for everyone. Through the first 4 days, students and staff have been adapting to the new normal in school. Harborfields Class of 2022’s Will Serafin said this year has been, “Different but very interesting to try and figure out how to navigate.” When asked about how moral heading into the school year, he said it’s been, “Better than normal because after being in quarantine for months now, it’s nice to be able to get back to school with some friends.”

Much of the same has been swirling through the Harborfields High School hallways. We can always find a silver lining in a difficult situation, and this is the ultimate test of that. This has certainly come to be the year of the unexpected, the year of the unknown, and the year of technological innovation, and it should be a fun time to try to navigate and become successful at.