CHARLOTTE, NC - Some students in Mecklenburg County are going to be back in the classroom in just a few weeks. Students in the Meck Pre-K program will return for in-person instruction.

What You Need To Know

  • Meck Pre-K is re-opening classrooms for in-person instruction in September

  • Class sizes will be smaller, temperature checks will happen twice a day, and teachers will be in masks to help reduce the spread of coronavirus

  • Local pediatricians say younger children are seemingly less likely to spread COVID-19

There are some changes in the classroom to keep students and teachers safe from COVID-19.

Trinisha Dean, the executive director of Meck Pre-K, says there will be nine students per class. She says there will only be 801 students accepted into the program, instead of the 1,600 she had originally planned for.

Dean says there will also be temperature checks twice a day for students.

“Our centers are Fort Knox. They’re not letting anyone on-site. So families are dropping off children at the front door where there are temperature checks. We’re asking the parents to still be masked when dropping them off,” Dean says.

Dean says her team has been in constant communication with the Health Department and other county and state officials, which is why they’re confident the facilities can open.

Summer Elliott helps oversee the Meck Pre-K program, and says she’s ready to get students back in the classroom to help kickstart their education.

“We’re very excited, mainly because it’s nine kids. So it’s easier to get them to understand to keep themselves safe from the COVID, also to train them on how to do everything properly to be in a classroom. But also the fun of teaching them. And teaching them group time activities, and reading a book and acting it out and being that human connection that they really and truly need,” Elliott says.

Meck Pre-K is still accepting applications for the new school year. For more information click here.