Lee County teachers return to classrooms; how they’ll prepare for students

Lee County teachers return to their classrooms Tuesday for a school year unlike any other.

They haven’t walked the halls since March, and when teachers step back into their schools, they’re going to begin preparing for a very unique situation.

The principal of South Fort Myers High School, Ed Matthews, said over that over the next couple of weeks, teachers will have to get acclimated to a new normal, which includes placing classes of core subjects next to each other to limit foot traffic, removing excess furniture from classrooms to promote social distancing, and placing a stronger emphasis on technology.

“We’re seeing more and more the value of doing virtual,” Matthews said. “What’s good about it, what are things we can improve on. Just being able to use technology in general. I think some of us, just off of old practices, maybe we just haven’t used technology to its fullest. Now we are able to see that we can have the traditional high school setting and be able to add some things on to it that would really get more and more parents, as well as students, involved in school.”

South Fort Myers High is looking to limit class sizes to about 20 students.

Matthews said they’ll try to keep the 6-foot social distance rule in classroom settings as best they can, and safety is a top priority.