A few days before winter break, McLean seemed like a ghost town as hallways and classrooms that are usually flooded with students were nearly empty. Although some students had left early for holidays, the majority were staying home and protecting themselves from the surge of COVID-19 cases.

“Going to school during that time was pretty concerning since I felt that I was putting my family members at serious risk of exposure,” senior Nathan Nguyen said.

Heading into winter break and even after, there were many talks about switching for a short time to virtual learning.

“I was hoping to go virtual or at least hybrid because it is concerning how many people around me have Covid or are getting contact-traced,” said Arman Nikmorad, Vice President of the Student Government Association.

However, FCPS had been doing their best to keep their students in school.  The top priority is the safety of their students and staff: they ensure this by equipping the school with supplies such as cleaners, gloves, masks etc. Along with that, staff members constantly remind students the importance of wearing masks properly.

“FCPS has continued with the mitigating strategies they have had in place all school year which helped reduce cases,” principal Ellen Reilly said.

Omicron reached its peak Jan. 11 – the second day of school after winter break – with 19,836 confirmed new cases in the state of Virginia. Throughout the next few weeks, this number continued to decrease and on Jan. 24, there were 9,861 confirmed new cases. The county has also temporarily banned fans from sports events who weren’t related to the players. For some students, it came at the cost of other experiences.

“I think the biggest difference is the loss of energy,” said junior Kara Bremser, a member of the girls varsity basketball team. “When we went up against Langley, it felt dead since we’re so used to having a large student section supporting us.”

Students believe that the COVID-19 case decrease is indicative that schools are ready to relax restrictions, which they began doing in late January.

“More students are getting boosted and with FCPS banning fans, events, and after school activities, COVID cases are going to continue going down,” Nikmorad said.

Whether FCPS will decide to delay the return of fans and reopen schools fully is uncertain. If students and staff members continue to wear masks and take necessary protocols, cases will continue to drop and winter sports, as well as other after school activities, are likely to return to normal.

“I think I feel more comfortable going to school because we have passed our peak and COVID cases are going down,” Nguyen said. “The number of vaccinated individuals are beginning to increase and more people are developing immunities in their body to the new variants.”