When school reopens next month, it looks like most students will be in the classrooms.

With about 85 percent of families having responded to Warren County School District surveys about how their students will return, about 75 percent have indicated a desire to return in person.

About half of the remaining 25 percent will attend the district’s Virtual Academy. They will work at their own pace, when they want, although there will be live lessons every week or every unit to make sure students are living up to expectations and to help teachers evaluate student progress.

The rest of the families are going with option 3.

That is a blended model. The students will stay home, but, using technology, they will attend classes as if they were in the brick-and-mortar school buildings.

According to Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Eric Mineweaser, at the elementary level, option 3 would probably involve an entire class of students at home.

They could be combined from any schools in the district. If five second graders from Eisenhower Elementary School, three from Sheffield Elementary School, four from Youngsville Elementary School, and 15 from Warren Area Elementary Center opted for option 3, they might make up one class and have the same teacher. District officials expect to be able to maintain the same in-person class sizes as previous years with fewer teachers at the elementary level because of the number of students choosing the other options. That will free up teachers for options 2 and 3.

That could lead to some problems if large numbers of online students return to the classrooms, but Mineweaser said district officials are aware of that possibility and are working to prepare for it. The district will start working on schedules and staffing next week.

For option 3, “there will be live lessons daily,” Mineweaser said.

But, elementary students won’t have to sit in front of a computer screen for seven hours a day. At the end of each lesson, there will probably be some down time — in the classroom it would be for review or doing homework, or just getting ready for whatever is next.

For middle and high school students, “they literally are following their schedule,” Mineweaser said. “We are taking period-by-period attendance.”

In-person students will be in the classroom, in front of the teacher. Option 3 students will be virtually in front of the same teacher. They will be able to hear each other… depending on the options the teacher selects.

“They’re going to follow their normal schedules with Microsoft Teams for their core content — English language arts, math, science, social studies, world language, and content area electives,” he said. “All of our specials are using Virtual Academy.”

The district has purchased thousands of touch-screen laptops for students and teachers in all of the options.

Apps will allow option 3 students to use their phones to attend classes, Mineweaser said.

Option 3 could become the primary option for students in the district.

Mineweaser said in the event Warren County goes to a red phase or, for whatever other reason, the district is shut down for in-person operations, students will be educated by an option 3 format unless they choose to transition to the Virtual Academy.

Similarly, option 3 education will be available for students who are quarantined and even those who are sick but decide they can’t afford to miss a class.