One principal in Brooklyn has pinned pink heart balloons to the school’s front door to welcome about 50 pre-K children who are expected to arrive for classes. Another principal in Washington Heights is expecting only five children to attend.

New York City’s roughly 1,400 school buildings have sat largely empty for six months, since its school system, the nation’s largest, abruptly shuttered classrooms in mid-March to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

On Monday, for the first time since then, schools will reopen for up to 90,000 pre-K students and children with advanced disabilities. The rest of the city’s 1.1 million students will start the school year online and will have the option of returning to classrooms over the next few weeks.

Though Monday’s reopening falls far short of what Mayor Bill de Blasio originally promised …continued .
[Source: New York Times]