The second semester has been going for about three weeks now. Within those three weeks, we have already had COVID cases. As of Jan. 10, 2022, Aliso Niguel High School had 2891 enrolled students on campus and 42 confirmed COVID cases. A few days later, Jan. 12, the enrollment was lowered to 2885, and the number of cases increased to 53. A day later on Jan. 13, there were 91 confirmed cases. After the first two weeks of school, the district website detailing the amount of COVID cases resets. In the third week, we currently have 128 confirmed cases, and 2886 students on campus. As of January 27, there are 2882 students on campus and 82 current confirmed cases. 

For many students and teachers across the country and at Aliso Niguel, the recent spike in Covid-19 cases because of the new highly contagious omicron variant has put a significant amount of stress on them. The quarantine period for students is now five full days after the day that symptoms first began in accordance with CDC guidelines. For those who show no symptoms, the five days begin after the day of a positive Covid-19 test.

During the first week back from winter break, Rodney Moradi(12) noted, “half my classes were empty, now they’re starting to fill up again but omicron spreads easily so I’m expecting to see a lot of people having to miss school.” 

While the quarantine period has recently been reduced to five days, it is still enough days for students to miss important lessons, instruction and tests. This forces them to not only make up for missing work at times with little to no comprehension of the assignment while also doing their best staying up to date with their new assignments.  

For instance, Tysen Miller (11) explained when he returned to school after his quarantine period “I had a lot of work to do when I got back to school and I was failing all my classes; it very much stressed me out.”

Similarly, Lisa Ishida (11) said she “fell behind in school work and it severely affected my grades. It was especially scary because it was the beginning of the semester.”

Especially because it is still early on in the semester and grades are susceptible to significant changes, missing school for such an extended period of time is sure to cause worry in many students who are made to quarantine. For this reason, many are hesitant to report themselves as being infected with the virus since it could have detrimental effects on their grades. 

Melody Le (10) said she did her best to keep in contact with her teachers by emailing back and forth. However, she also mentioned “l did miss a lot of information so when I came back to school I was really confused on some stuff.”

When asked what she recommends to students who are having to quarantine, Mrs. Harlan, who teaches Algebra II and Calculus at Aliso Niguel replied “My advice would be to try and do what is available for you to do while away and highlight or mark anything you have questions on as you are working through things on your own”. She explains that this allows you to ask “clear and specific” questions when you return to school. Furthermore, she added that “free resources like Khan Academy have lessons for you to watch from the comfort of your home.”   

It’s hard to tell at this point how much longer Covid-19 will continue to affect school life here at Aliso Niguel and on a national level. For now, students and staff will have to carry on with following safety protocol provided by the CDC to limit the spread as much as possible.