Welcome back! Local students begin returning to school
Students return to Shanghai Qibao High School on Monday.
The slogan reads "Prevent and control the pandemic, and return to school safely."
High schools in Shanghai welcomed back their second- and third-year students on Monday after nearly three months away.
At Shanghai Qibao High School in Minhang District, students wearing masks went through screening machines to have their temperature checked.
Authorities advised students not to use public transportation to avoid possible cross-infection, so many walked or rode bicycles to school, while others were driven by parents.
Some students ride bikes to school.
A student gets off a private car to attend the school.
Traffic police were deployed to guide traffic in front of the school to ensure student safety.
Shanghai No. 10 High School is encouraging parents and faculty to pick up students and school employees who live along their way to school but have difficulty commuting.
Police guide traffic in front of Shanghai Qibao High School in Minhang District.
Xiangming High School's Huangpu campus arranged 11 daily shuttle buses for students who have difficulty commuting and two weekend buses for boarding students on the Minhang campus.
The school said drivers have made several field trips to optimize routes. The earliest bus departs at 5:20am, and there are teachers on each bus to help students.
Both campuses have completed several rounds of disinfection, and gardeners have weeded the lawns and trimmed the trees to welcome students back.
Eight nucleic acid testing sites have been set up on the two campuses, and faculty have been trained to test students every day.
According to the Shanghai Education Commission, students need to take one antigen test at home before heading to school and one PCR test at school. They also need to have their temperatures checked twice daily.
Luwan Senior High School in downtown Huangpu District has added beds to its dorms to accommodate students who have applied for boarding.
The school pairs students with their classmates only to reduce the risk of cross-infection between different classes.
Faculty of schools have been trained for conducting nucleic acid testing.
Schools have also prepared gifts for students.
At Shanghai Jing Ye High School in Huangpu District, students were greeted by the principal and teachers.
Human-shaped boards were erected on the playground with words encouraging students to prepare for the approaching college entrance examination. Videos were played on digital screens around campus with greetings from teachers, security guards and custodians.
The college entrance exam, known as gaokao, has been postponed for a month to July 7-9 in Shanghai because of the COVID-19 resurgence.
Gift packs for students at Shanghai Jing Ye High School
Every student received a package of face masks, disinfectant and other pandemic prevention materials, as well as Dragon Boat Festival specialty zongzi (traditional Chinese rice dumpling), garlic, crispy instant noodles and a bottle of soda.
Students' first class was an online meeting with alumni and first-year students to share their experiences learning under pressure.
The school prepared desserts for students whose parents get off work late and cannot pick them up on time, and teachers are available on campus to help with homework.
More than 1.5 million students at local kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools had been taking online classes since March 12.
High school students are the first to return to school.
Next week, students graduating from middle school will return to their campuses. Other students will continue taking online classes until the end of the semester.
