Minnesota Valley Lutheran to open in-person classes Monday

NEW ULM, Minn. (KEYC) — Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School begins class Monday with full in-person learning for, at least, the start of the school year.

The school says the decision was made over the months and is based on input from parents, the school board, faculty and staff and the state’s guidance.

School leaders say precautions will be taken. Inside the building, desks are separated as much as possible and cleaning stations and hand sanitizers are being placed around the building and in each room.

But if the school needs to pivot, they say they are prepared to do so.

“We’re hoping we don’t have to, but we know that we aren’t in control of that either, so we will see what happens with that,” Principal Tim Plath said. “We obviously can go to hybrid, we can go to online learning although there are things that we learned last spring with the online learning that we would do differently this year.”

Students and faculty will wear masks.The school is implementing a special rule this year to give their students a break.

“We’re going to give kids mask breaks and so after chapel in the morning, we’re going to let the kids come outside, social distance and they can take their masks off,” Plath added. “Then we are going to do the same thing after lunch, even if it’s just five or ten minutes, just to give the kids a little physical break and mental break.”

Plath added that communication will be key between students, faculty and parents as the year moves along.

Freshman students are scheduled to begin on Monday, while students in grades 10-12 will start on Tuesday.

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