As
Lindsey Haring signed her kids up for the SLO Youth Baseball league this February, all she could think about was how desperately they needed to get outside and see their friends. After nearly a year of being holed up at home together amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Haring's children—second and fourth graders at
C. L. Smith Elementary School—returned to their classrooms this month for limited in-person instruction. Haring said she could see the difference in her second grader almost immediately. Virtual learning isn't easy for younger kids, she said, and his whole attitude brightened after just a few days of in-person class.