Teachers at Clippard Elementary could be found throughout the campus making their final back-to-school preparations Tuesday after a morning of information, staff meetings and a video from Cape Girardeau Public Schools superintendent Neil Glass.

As the local educators braced for their students' return to in-person learning Monday, the occasionally palpable feelings of anxiousness did not stop staff from finding ways to stay positive and bring fun into their pandemic-modified classrooms.

Instead of students filling the halls between class periods, teachers with carts of educational materials will rotate amongst classrooms during the coming school year to help minimize large crowds.

In one classroom Tuesday, art teacher Caitlin Koch and music teacher Debbie Kyle could be found next to their carts as they decorated their face shields with art supplies. Meanwhile, other teachers prepared to house students in their home classrooms for an entire school day.

K-2 special education teacher Anika Nelson utilized dividers to continue to allow her students to work at tables instead of desks and implemented a sticker system to help designate sanitized areas.

Fourth-grade teacher Allison Bradshaw decorates her students desks with personalized vinyl lettering after designing a seating chart for her classroom Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020, at Clippard Elementary in Cape Girardeau. During the upcoming semester, students cannot drink from communal water sources and volunteer-made water bottle holders have been attached to every desk in the school.BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@semissourian.com

In a nearby classroom, fourth-grade teacher Allison Bradshaw carefully arranged a seating chart for 21 students while leaving as much room for distancing as possible.

The seating chart is one of a variety of changes for Bradshaw this year: communal school supplies are no longer an option, mask usage will be required, recesses will be altered, and there will be no large gatherings for all-school assemblies or school-wide celebration.

Despite all the changes, the school's spirit remains intact. With careful planning, cautious optimism and a positive spirit, local educators are excited to begin teaching again after spending more months away than usual.