With local COVID-19 positivity rates falling and vaccines becoming available, Dubuque Community Schools leaders are hopeful they soon can bring students back to the classroom full time. Since the start of the school year, Dubuqueâs public school students who attend classes on campus have been alternating between remote and in-person learning days. But recent trends have Superintendent Stan Rheingans optimistic that will change sooner rather than later. âWeâre going to see that day not too far on the horizon,â he said. Area school leaders said that, given the unknowns that they faced going into a fall marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the year so far has gone better than expected. However, it has not come without challenges.