Some Jackson Public Schools students will be returning to the classroom on Tuesday for the first time in months. The entire district was learning from home last semester because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo courtesy JPS

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Some Jackson Public Schools students will be returning to the classroom on Tuesday for the first time in months.

The entire district was learning from home last semester because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

WAPT-TV reports the district’s Smart Restart plan for the spring semester will allow students to transition from virtual to in-person and hybrid learning. Virtual students have already started their semester.

“It has taught us that we have to be flexible and resilient. Everyone was a first-year teacher because we were all learning it together,” said Dr. Sara Harper, principal of McWillie Elementary School.

Elementary students who return to traditional in-person learning will attend school Monday through Friday. Middle and high school students will be on a hybrid schedule.

Teachers and students returning to in-person learning will use an online app to help track attendance, temperature checks and contact tracing. The data provided will help inform administrators to make decisions about quarantines if students and staff become exposed to the virus.