As the pandemic impacted 2020-21 school year wraps up, area school leaders have begun preparations for the next school year.

Most administrators are planning for students to be back in school full time starting in mid-to-late August and Blue Ridge Schools Superintendent Dr. Hilary Stanifer indicates their attention is planning for how COVID will impact next school year.

According to Dr. Stanifer, whether students have to mask or not will likely not be up to her and whatever the recommendations will be as it relates to those issues, she will follow them. She just hopes to have kids in-person as much as possible.

Dr. Stanifer began her tenure in Blue Ridge very early on in the pandemic and believes she started to transition from crisis manager to leader this school year. She is looking forward to building on that.

Blue Ridge will have a busy summer. The district is planning on having a summer school program very quickly after the final day of class. There will also be an elementary introductory program and some programming available for students to work on at their own pace.