ONTARIO, N.Y. — Students in a couple of local school districts returned to class on Wednesday. Penfield and the Wayne Central School District welcomed them as they arrived.

Seniors at Wayne Central High School celebrated seeing everyone for school again with a tailgate party in the parking lot before walking into the building. The district is going back to in-person classes five days a week. It's something students and staff are looking forward to since last year they followed a hybrid schedule.

Three feet of social distancing compared to six feet is making things a little easier for schools to follow COVID-19 protocols while being all together. Mask-wearing for everyone inside school buildings will carry over into this year, but students say they have no issue with that.

"It will be a lot better," said senior Mackenzie Wallace. "We'll be able to be reunited and 'Wayne Strong' as we say. We're able to be the Eagles. We're able to be the Eagles as a team instead of separate. You get to do everything else just wear a mask."

"Our students did really well with the masks last year," said Wayne Superintendent Joe Siracuse. "It's just what we got to do to get back to five days a week. So we're going to do whatever it takes to get to five days a week and masks are going to be a part of that process."

Wayne Central is also excited to have extracurricular activities back with students once again getting involved in sports and clubs.