FORT WORTH, Texas — The second first day of school in a pandemic is now in the books for the Hernandez-Cruz family of Crowley Independent School District.

"At first, he was a bit nervous, but thankfully everything went well," Valeria Cruz said about her third grader Jesus Hernandez. 

As a mother, Cruz is relieved that Crowley ISD has required masks to be worn inside all school buildings and buses until further notice from the beginning of the school year. 

"I've noticed that there are a lot of safety health measures, and that makes me feel a bit more at ease," Cruz told Spectrum News 1 Texas in Spanish.

She had been preparing her son to wear his mask in the classroom regardless.

"You wear it, so you don't get sick," he explained as he got home from school after his first day of the 2021-22 academic school year.

Knowing that delta variant COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the Dallas-Fort Worth area became a concern.

"Because they're not vaccinated like adults are, and the risk of getting COVID-19 could be higher," Cruz said.

Her worry remains that a second wave of COVID could cause schools to shut down, as she said her son learns better in person. 

The family struggled with virtual classes in 2020.

"He fell behind and had a hard time learning, so I think in-person learning is best for him because they can explain what he needs to do better. His academic development is better in person overall," she said.

Cruz said parents like her also found it challenging to keep working when children had to stay home.

"In my case as a working mother, it was hard because sometimes I struggled to find someone who could take care of him or be there to guide him through his virtual classes," Cruz said.

Despite health being the number one priority, she hopes schools remain open for the entire school year for the sake of children having a chance at grade school memories and life as normal as can be in a pandemic. 

"Due to the pandemic, our kids have already missed out on a lot when it comes to school memories, their childhood and being with classmates," Cruz said.