West Shore welcomes seven new teachers to campus.

Students from all corners of the county begin the day by sleeping an hour later than usual. It’s a welcome change to last year’s hectic mornings filled with the panic and stress of getting to school on time. For these students, “classrooms” are located a couple of feet away from their beds, so they no longer have to rush out of their doors. They gather their notebooks and turn on their computers in order to venture into the new and uncharted world of E-Learning. In order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, a new online system of instruction has emerged, where students engage and learn in...

Following a shortened school year, months of canceled summer plans and limited social contact, the format of school has changed drastically. Now, roughly 50 percent of students log onto a computer every morning to attend class, no human contact required. “Things are going to be harder this year, for sure,” said adolescent therapist Amanda Mattick, who has a counseling practice in Melbourne. “Humans are naturally social creatures, and so to lack that contact, it really does make a big difference. People are going to feel that disconnect, and that could lead to some really serious issues...

Despite ongoing concerns about gathering during a pandemic, high-school sports are finally back. “It's going to be a lot different than usual,” Cross-Country Coach Bryan Cheek said. The past six months have been anything but usual because of the Covid-19 virus. In fact, it wasn't until Aug. 14 that the Florida High School Athletic Association voted 11-5 to even have fall sports. The FHSAA postponed all fall sports until Aug. 24 and official competitions won't begin until Monday. The state series will continue as planned, but schools will be permitted to opt out or refuse participation...

“This is just a room. Without you, it has no class,” English teacher Lisa Rehm posted on her Google Classroom after returning to pack up an empty classroom when schools were ordered closed last spring. “Ms. Rehm, when you look at the room, don’t feel sad,” one of Rehm’s seventh-graders said on Google Classroom. “See all of the hope that is in the room, and now all of that hope is with your students.” The end of the 2019-2020 school year was surreal for teachers, as they faced the task of teaching remotely, isolated from the students they had previously seen and instructed...