With the rising cases of COVID-19 in the Burlington county area, Rancocas Valley continues to take precautions to ensure safety for students and staff, which have been controversial within the school and caused teachers to adapt quickly. 

The RV Administration continues to assess the constantly changing virus and act accordingly, and they communicate new changes in the school, largely through email, to reach the community. 

“RVRHS will be reducing large capacity areas to help minimize transmission rates and contact tracing,” Vice Principal Mr. Bowker wrote in an email on Sunday January 9. He then outlined various changes to tutorial and lunch blocks and that will be in effect until January 31, and will likely be extended into February.

Students arriving before 7:20 a.m. are required to report to the old auditorium unless they eat breakfast. In that case, they are permitted to eat in the cafeteria until they finish. From 7:20-8:02 a.m., students will either attend tutorial or stay in their first block class until class begins at 8:03. 

“I liked going to different classes during tutorial, whether it was to get help from a teacher or just to sit in a quiet room,” senior Olivia Smith said. “So now that I have go straight to my first block class, I’m not that excited about that.”

During blocks 3 and 4 for lunch, freshmen and sophomores will eat lunch in the cafeteria while juniors and seniors will eat lunch in the old auditorium. Seniors using the lunch out option are still permitted to leave the building during their lunch block.

“I don’t mind lunch in the old auditorium because there are less people, especially younger students,” junior Nate Monroe said. “I feel like the policy is great since there are less people in one place.” 

With the continuous changes to the structure of the school day, teachers are adjusting and learning to provide their students with support through these difficult times. 

“The way things are, at least structurally, is probably the best it can be,” Director of Instrumental Music Mr. Britton said. “Where it can be better is more at my level…I’ve understood better the role that music has played in my students’ lives, but I think it’s forced teachers to become more creative in our lesson planning and our use of technology and how we can connect with students in a slightly different way as well.”

The sudden surge of cases resulting from Covid-19 and the Omicron variant led to the RVs administration’s haste implementation of policies to help protect students and faculty. Despite its inconvenience to the traditional school routine, the new safety measures will aid in reducing the spread of the virus.