On a sunny day last week, 72 freshmen stepped on Menlo-Atherton High School's campus for the first time seven months after the school year began.

Officials at the Atherton school decided it would be nice to give new students, who have been attending classes from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the chance to meet in person for community building activities. Effective March 10, students who opted to be part of a freshmen cohort will be on campus two Wednesdays, from 2:30 to 4 p.m.

"It came out of brainstorming: 'How can we get freshmen to feel welcomed and feel a sense of community in person, and do something where they can make a mark?'" said Principal Simone Rick-Kennel.

Activities for the groups of 12 students include scavenger hunts, along with art and landscaping projects, said Rick-Kennel. Students get to choose their service projects, so it may be anything from painting clay pots to putting up temporary fencing to aid in social distancing around campus.

The district's classrooms have been closed for in-person learning since March 2020, except for small groups of at-risk students. In-person learning is scheduled to return twice a week starting April 5 for students who've opted in.

"We're looking forward to students returning," she said. "It gives us an opportunity to be ready for the fall. There's just a lot of logistics and work to be done; at some point we're going to get there."

M-A plans to host five to 10 freshman cohorts (who will each meet twice) during three cycles.

Rowan Pecson, an M-A freshman, couldn't take part in the cohorts since he is already part of a cross country team cohort. If the county reaches the yellow tier, he will be able to take part in two cohorts at the same time.

"I kind of am feeling like I'm not living the whole freshmen experience," he said. "I haven't been able to meet a bunch of new people."

He doesn't plan to join classmates for the reopening this spring.

"I've gotten into a really nice routine over distance learning," he said. "I don't see so many pros in going back to school for now."

Classrooms reopening

District students have the option to return to classrooms in the spring. The opt-in form was due March 11 and about a third, 3,000 of the district's roughly 9,300 students, signed up to return, said district spokeswoman Ana Maria Pulido.

The students on campus will be divided into four groups (A, B, C and D), according to the district's reopening plan, which was submitted to San Mateo County on March 1. For example, on April 5 and 6, Group A may attend class on campus. On April 8 and 9, it's Group B's turn.

After the first two weeks of testing the system on 25% of the student body, the school will combine the four groups into two new groups, bringing the campus up to 50% capacity.

Starting on April 19, as long as the county stays in the orange tier, up to half of the student body will be invited to be on campus at any time. The number of students invited to campus is based on the capacity of the classroom and social distancing requirement of 6 feet.