Aaron Sebelin rarely sleeps the night before the first day of school, even going back to his days as a student in the Jim Thorpe Area School District. The Lehighton Area Elementary Center principal tossed and turned a few extra times Monday night as the district prepared to welcome back students Tuesday for an unprecedented 2020-21 school year.

“I’ll sleep a lot better tonight after seeing how today went,” Sebelin said after the last bus departed Tuesday. “The kids acclimated so well to everything. We couldn’t have asked for more from them.”

Lehighton Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver was equally optimistic about the 179 remaining school days after the opening campaign.

“Nothing crashed,” Cleaver said, with half of a laugh and half of a sigh of relief. “We had enough space for everyone.”

Elementary and middle school students are back five days a week in Lehighton, with parents having the option to keep students home learning virtually, while the high school is on a hybrid schedule based on last name.

“I think the thing I took away from today was how excited the kids were to see other kids and their teachers,” Cleaver said. “There was the nervousness and anxiety that you would expect, but the kids were great. The one thing we kept saying is that kids will adapt and they showed us that today.”

The district continues to ask for patience both from its students and parents. One of the areas that requires the most patience, even in a non-COVID-19 year, is transportation.

“There were little delays here and there, but that is always there on the first day of school,” Cleaver said. “You’re triple checking that kids are getting on the right bus and that things are exactly how they are supposed to be. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. Times will get quicker.”

Likely due to COVID-19 concerns, fewer students are riding the bus in Lehighton this year. That forces adaptation in the drop off and pick up process.

“More parents than usual are dropping and picking their children up at school,” Sebelin said. “We’re going to work on that flow becoming smoother as we get used to things.”

Based on state Department of Health guidelines, students of all ages are asked to wear masks even when sitting in the classroom. One of the only times masks can be removed is during lunch and designated mask breaks.

“We were unsure what to expect when it came to the masks, but the kids were outstanding,” Sebelin said. “In our pre-K program, we have three and four-year-olds who couldn’t have been better about wearing the masks and keeping them on. I think the fact that they have been wearing them out and about for the past six months has really helped in that regard.”

The Lehighton Area Virtual Academy, which is the district’s own cyber option, will not begin until Monday due to a delay in shipment of technology from the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit. Equipment will be distributed Thursday, with Friday being used as a test day to make sure everyone can log into the system.

“This week especially is a trial and error week, particularly when it comes to the online component,” Cleaver said. “There were some things that worked and some we may have to try in a different way. By next week we’ll have LAVA up and running as well. I think we’ll have everyone settled and we’ll have set the expectations so we can move forward full steam.”