BATON ROUGE – On Monday, K-5 students in East Baton Rouge Parish will be going to school five days a week for the first time this school year.

This is part of the school systems plan to phase in students' return to the classroom. Since mid-September, the younger students were on a hybrid learning model.

Now many parents are welcoming this schedule change.

“It’s a better experience in the classroom rather than looking at a computer screen and engaging with his teachers and classmates that way,” said Brian Parker, who has three kids each in the 2nd, 6th, and 9th grade. 

Only his second-grader will be going to school full time. Sixth-12th graders will remain hybrid until Oct. 19.

“It’s been something we’ve adapted to and gotten used to but it will be nice to be able to focus fully on work and have [my son] be fully engaged with the teachers and the classmates,” said Parker.

Most surrounding school systems are already back to a full in-person schedule. EBR schools chose to ease into it more.

“I think they've put in the appropriate measures to keep the kids safe from what I've seen, so I feel more comfortable with a slower pace return to school. I'm hopeful that they'll be able to stay in-person once they resume fully,” said Parker.