
OPS high school students returned to five day in-person learning schedules on Wednesday.
Omaha Public Schools students at every grade level can now attend school in-person five days a week.
High school students on Wednesday transitioned to in-person learning five days a week. They join the district’s elementary and middle school students, who returned on Feb. 3.
Northwest High School Principal Thomas Lee said there was a positive energy in his building on Wednesday. Students are back where they want and need to be, he said.
“I feel that our teachers are very receptive, even though there was some anxiety previously,” Lee said. “I think everybody has realized this is going to be OK.”
The high school students returned to a regular schedule on the same day Douglas County Health Director Adi Pour announced that the health department will begin vaccinating educators in the county next week.
The Omaha Education Association, which represents OPS teachers and staff, wanted staffers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine before students returned to in-person five days a week.
Because the doses available for educators will be limited at first, Pour said, school superintendents will work with their human resources departments to prioritize educators based on age and underlying health conditions and will give those lists to the health department.
The department will vaccinate educators according to the percentage of students enrolled in the district. For instance, she said, if the Omaha school district enrolls 50% of students, 50% of the doses allocated for teachers would be used for OPS teachers.
Although the school day is far from normal, it’s the first time since the pandemic started that OPS students will have the option to attend school in-person five days a week.
The vaccines and return to daily in-person lessons come almost a year after rumblings first began about possible school closures due to COVID-19.
Omaha-area school district officials were being told 356 days ago they would need to cancel large gatherings and possibly close schools if COVID-19 began to spread in the community.
Dr. James Lawler of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security addressed a gathering of area school officials at the OPS headquarters on Feb. 27.
After that meeting, OPS officials began preparing for the schools to shut down. On March 12, OPS announced that classes would not be returning after spring break.
In August, all OPS students started the school year by doing remote learning. Then in October, the district resumed in-person lessons in what the district called the Family 3/2 model. Under the model, OPS students were divided into two groups, each of which attended school in person part of the week.
Some OPS students will continue to do remote learning. At Northwest, 1,004 students are attending in-person and 646 students are doing remote learning. Lee said the remote learning number will change as more students request to return to in-person lessons.
On Wednesday morning, Lee said 15 students changed their status from a remote learner to in-person, and requests kept coming.
Our best Omaha staff photos of February 2021

Kearney's Richard Harbols dives in the boys Nebraska state dive competition on Thursday.

Lincoln Southeast's Katerina Hoffman competes in the NSAA state diving championship on Thursday.

North Platte's Jonathan Brouillette is reflected in the swimming pool as he competes in the NSAA boys state diving championship on Thursday.

An ice jam forms on the Platte River west of the Highway 77 bridge near Fremont on Monday. Observers in eastern Nebraska will be looking out for signs of flooding as the weather warms up. “We’re just waiting to see how the snow will melt over the next couple of days,” said hydrologist David Pearson of the National Weather Service office in Valley. “We’ll be watching closely.”

Omaha Skutt's Adam Kruse, left, and Gothenberg's Abe Mendez, right, wrestle during a Class B 138 pound match.

Millard South's Joel Adams celebrates after defeating North Platte's Darian Diaz during the Class A 138 pound championship match.

A few snowflakes fell in Omaha on Wednesday.

Creighton's Greg McDermott congratulates Denzel Mahoney on a made 3-pointer against Villanova.

Gretna's John Weed, facing, and Millard South's Antrell Taylor compete in the first round of the 160 pound, Class A state wrestling tournament in Omaha on Wednesday.

Frost collects on a sheet of ice in a parking lot in South Omaha on Tuesday. Omaha set a record low on Tuesday, dipping to 23 degrees below zero.

PJ Smith, an administrator at Grand Island Northwest, helps set up mats on Tuesday for the state wrestling tournament at the CHI Health Center. The tournament starts today and runs through Saturday. Read more in Sports.

Dr. Michael Howard listens to the heart of Bella, a Boston terrier puppy at Best Care Pet Hospital In Omaha on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. Bella was anesthetized before power was cut to the south Omaha neighborhood where they are located because of extreme temperatures in the region. Omaha's low Dr. Howard was prepping to spay Bella by window light before the power did come back on. They had performed one surgery with no power already that morning.

Neymar walks around in a sweater after a power outage at Best Care Pet Hospital at 3030 L Street on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. Extreme temperatures forces rolling blackouts in the area.

Sunlight filters through the steam as cars head east on Leavenworth Street towards 16th Street as the low in the area was close to 20 degrees below zero on Tuesday, February 16, 2021.

Steam rises out of the Missouri River around the Interstate 480 bridge as viewed from Tom Hanafan River's Edge Park in Council Bluffs early Tuesday, Feb. 16. Lows in the Omaha metro area were around 23 degrees below zero. The steam caused icy roads and the temporary closure of the bridge.

Owner Gary Wrenn moves catfish filets from the cornmeal dredge to the fryers at Cajun Kitchen on 30th and Maple Streets in Omaha on Monday.

Firefighters work to put out a fire in an apartment building at 10th and William Street in Omaha on Monday.

Omaha's Matt Miller (27) moves behind the net, near Colorado College's Matthew Gleason (15), Brian Hawkinson (29) and Matt Vernon (30) in the Colorado College vs. Omaha hockey game at the Baxter Arena in Omaha on Friday. The Mavericks won the game 7-1.

Erin Gramke gives Sigurd Sorenson his second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the VA Medical Center in Omaha on Thursday. Sorenson, 84, served in the Army.

Rev. Ralph Lassiter sits inside Kohl's Pharmacy during the observation period after his second COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday. Rev. Lassiter wants to set a good example for his community by receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and stressing its' safety.

The Bellevue West bench celebrates a three-pointer in the Waukee vs. Bellevue West boys basketball game on Tuesday. Bellevue West won the game 74-60.

Hand-painted bonbons for a Valentine's Day special are flavored with, from left, raspberry, passion fruit, vanilla bean salted caramel and milk chocolate, from Sugar Makery BitterSweet in Council Bluffs.

A Gibson Les Paul is one of more than 70 guitars in the exhibit.

A crane lifts a small plane that had its landing gear collapse while landing at Eppley Airfield on Friday. Two people were on board the plane; neither was injured.

Creighton's Damien Jefferson is called for a foul against Georgetown's Jamorko Pickett at CHI HealthCenter on Wednesday, February 03, 2021.

Avante Dickerson talks to members of the media after he announced he was signing to play football at the University of Oregon at Omaha Westside High School on Wednesday, February 3, 2021.

Rime ice forms on the trees at the Chalco Hills Recreation Area on Tuesday, February 02, 2021.

Two people jog around Prairie Queen Recreation Area as a freezing fog covers the region on Tuesday, February 02, 2021.

Frost hangs onto a fence in Omaha on Tuesday, February 02, 2021.
emily.nitcher@owh.com, 402-444-1192, twitter.com/emily_nitcher