ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — After the upcoming winter break concludes, thousands of Orange County students will return to face to face learning.

About 18,000 students between elementary, middle, and high schools will return to face-to-face learning in January.

Boone High Junior Jacorey Thomas will be one of those students.

“I’m a face to face type of person,” said Thomas, who did distance learning in the fall. “I like to learn, and I have to be there to learn.”

This past fall Thomas enjoyed playing football on campus, but off campus as a student wasn’t as fun

“It’s kind of hard online,” Thomas starts to explain. “Its hard, it’s hard to focus, and a lot of distractions at home.”

When the winter break concludes, Thomas will be one of nearly 20,000 students the district is now making preparations for. 

“It is not a given, that every student will automatically be with the same teacher, Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Barbara Jenkins said. “If there’s still enough students doing LauncEd at home then that teacher may still remain at home.” 

For Thomas, going back to face-to-face learning is an experience and routine he wants to get back.

“I like to go to school,” Thomas said, wearing a mask, “It’s kind of hard to not be in school with all my friends, you want to be in school, you want to be active, because after a while you are tied of being at home.”

According to Jenkins she is supportive of more students coming back to campus, because the educational difficulties for some have been evident.

“We have seen struggles at all three levels,” Jenkins said. “It all boils down to parents ability to help children on LaunchEd at home if children are trying to work independently then there is going to be some struggle.

 Jenkins also said about 2,000 students will become eligible for a school bus as well. She’s hopeful those students can be dropped off and picked up by parents because the school buses also social distance.