Nearly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, middle school and high school students in the Douglas County School District are scheduled to return to full in-person learning this month, it was announced Wednesday.

Middle and high schoolers will return to in-person learning five days a week on March 22, immediately after spring break. March 22 is also the first day of the district’s fourth quarter.

DCSD students are on a hybrid schedule with in-person classes only two days per week and all-remote work on Fridays.

DCSD preschool and elementary school students returned to full in-person learning in January.

Middle and high school students who chose the eLearning model at the beginning of the school year will remain on that through the end of the 2020-21 school year in May.

The DCSD Board of Education voted unanimously to return students to full in-person learning during the board meeting Tuesday night.

“DCSD’s student-facing staff have had access to opportunities to receive COVID-19 vaccinations,” the board said in a statement. “Additionally, current health and safety protocols will remain in place.”

Colorado is working to complete phase 1B.2 of its COVID-19 vaccine distribution, which includes workers in child care and pre-K through 12th-grade schools.

DCSD schools will continue to require mask-wearing and quarantine protocols after exposure. In addition, schools have increased ventilation, alternate use of indoor and outdoor spaces and physical distancing when possible.

DCSD joins several other Colorado school districts with this announcement, including Littleton Public Schools and the Poudre School District, which are returning middle and high schoolers to full in-person learning in March.

The Boulder Valley School District and St. Vrain Valley School District are returning to in-person learning four days a week after spring break.

According to the Department of Public Health and Education, Douglas County is under Level Yellow COVID-19 restrictions as of Thursday. Level Yellow recommends in-person learning for pre-school through 12th-grade students.