You could clearly see smiles behind the masks (and even more actually revealed) as students returned for the first day of school for Wilton Public Schools‘ 2021-22 school year on Monday morning, Aug. 30.
Returning for five-days-a-week, fully in-person learning, Wilton students and their families are hopeful that what Wilton Superintendent Kevin Smith promised will come true: that this year will be as close to “normal” as possible.
It certainly seemed that way Monday morning, as children stepped off of buses or exited cars dropping them off curbside at each of Wilton’s four schools. Yes, everyone either wore or carried face masks, but buses were much more occupied than last year (even with seating charts and assigned seats for students), and outside the schools students weren’t as concerned about staying socially distanced. And there were no cohorts limiting the numbers of in-person students.
There were waves, excited hellos, nervous glances and enthusiastic greetings for students from teachers. And Superintendent Smith was ever-present at each of the schools, standing alongside building administrators to welcome kids back.
GOOD Morning Wilton was on hand to capture the morning in photos.
Great photos – really capture this moment in history. On the plus side, the happiness kids feel shines right through their masks. I don’t think this safety measure is scarring their development. On the flip side, it is disturbing to see so many high school students going unmasked. Seems we will need to work harder to get WHS students to mask up for a brighter future for themselves and everyone else.
It’s fair to note that right now in Connecticut, the guidance for vaccinated individuals is to mask indoors in certain settings (mandated in schools), but they can remain unmasked outdoors. This follows guidance from the CDC.
In Wilton, as of Aug. 26, 87% of 12-17-year-olds have had the first vaccine dose, and 79% are fully vaccinated. (Even more encouraging, more than 100% of 18-24-year-olds have had the first dose and 87% are fully vaccinated.)
UPDATED: To clarify the “more than 100%” citation, here are the raw stats provided by the CT Dept. of Public Health on vaccine status:
When a statistic of “more than 100%” is provided, it damages the credibility of all other information given. Is there an explanation for how one gets to a figure of more than 100% of a population is _____?
Town officials have pointed to two possible reasons for higher-than-100% stats for several age groups (including 65+): 1) there is a discrepancy between the population figures that the state has been using (18,343) since the start of the pandemic and the 2020 Census, which now shows Wilton’s population at 18,503. 2) Specific to 65+, population estimates could be off because of new residents at the newly built Sunrise Senior Living, and non-Wilton residents in the Wilton Meadows nursing home. If the nursing home address was used at the time of vaccination as opposed to a patient’s permanent address, that could contribute. Similarly, there may be individuals of college-age who received vaccinations in Wilton but who legally reside out of state where they attend university.
Here are the raw vaccination stats as provided by the CT Dept. of Public Health:
Congratulations to John Rhodes, former music Director. God has given us all special talents and John certainly found his. I still enjoy his influence from Kent State University time of friendship, and listen to Dave Brubeck. I also remember the Menard Ferguson concert. Teaching still remains a rewarding experience for me also.