Dr. Cody Blair thought last semester ended on a positive note, and the Rider principal is encouraged by what’s in store for the spring. 

More than 150 students returned to campus after a district-wide decision to have those who struggled academically leave their remote learning environment. 

Blair said there were some families that filed the medical waiver exemption, but he’s glad to have more faces in the building.

“We can just offer those students more support,” he said. “It is different and there are definitely concerns, but shows that students are more successful here face to face then remotely.” 

Blair is optimistic despite the high virus numbers getting worse, pointing out that ¨we look at the numbers every single day.”

According to the district’s COVID-19 dashboard, Rider had 22 students out sick with the virus on Monday. The district as a whole has 54 active cases. 

“It is definitely concerning because the numbers are on the rise,” Blair said about overall COVID increases around the state. ¨There hasn’t been close contact. There may be a few more students out from over the break. It is something we’re always looking at.”

Blair was pleased with how the fall semester went at Rider. The district started face-to-face learning on time and the school never had to shut down. 

“The fact we had so many kids here at school learning face-to-face every day with their teachers, coaches and directors, it was a huge positive,” he said. “Our staff and students did an awesome job adjusting to all the new procedures and keeping everyone safe so that we can have school every day.”

Blair mentioned how at the start of the year, there was uncertainty about if schools would make it through the fall. Now he’s excited to see what the spring has in store for Rider. 

“I’m very optimistic about this whole year, because you never know what next week will bring,” Blair said. “We are optimistic about things that have been put in place here. Keep doing the good stuff our students and staff does every day.”