First Butler County classes begin: Butler Tech starts school year as others will join in coming weeks

Thousands of area students set to begin second year amid pandemic, with or without masks.
More than 1,500 Butler Tech high school students returned to live classes Tuesday with many of them taking the option to wear masks to help protect them from the recent uptick in coronavirus variant. The county wide career school is the first in the area to start the new school year and will soon be followed this week and next by other local public and private school openings. (Provided Photo\Journal-News)

More than 1,500 Butler Tech high school students returned to live classes Tuesday with many of them taking the option to wear masks to help protect them from the recent uptick in coronavirus variant. The county wide career school is the first in the area to start the new school year and will soon be followed this week and next by other local public and private school openings. (Provided Photo\Journal-News)

Butler Tech’s high school students from around Butler County started classes Tuesday as one of the first to return to schools for the 2021-2022 school year.

Today, students in the 6,300-student Middletown Schools will begin picking up learning laptops as they prepare to begin a staggered start of classes Thursday morning and on Friday.

Across Butler and southern Warren county, other public school systems and private schools will also soon start classes as thousands of students locally begin a second, full school year under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.

Currently masks are optional for students though recent recommendations from the CDC, state and local health officials are urging schools to make masks mandatory in the wake of recent weeks of upticks in the number of cases of the coronavirus variant, which doctors said is more contagious than the original virus’ first appearance in March 2020.

But for Butler Tech’s 1,525 high school students it was excited smiles under masks for many as one of Ohio’s largest career school systems reopened for the new school year.

“The day is going really well,” said Butler Tech Spokeswoman A.J. Huff.

“It is great to see all of our sophomores, juniors and seniors on campus all at once with full classrooms and parking lots. And most importantly, it is great to see all of the smiles of the students, teachers and staff, with or without a mask,” said Huff.

Butler Tech’s four main high school buildings are the D. Russel Lee in Fairfield Twp., School of the Arts in Hamilton, Bioscience Center in West Chester Twp., and the Natural Science Center in Monroe.

The career school also operates satellite classrooms and programs at high schools in Butler County’s 10 public school systems as well as in Northwest Schools in northern Hamilton County.

Due to classroom construction and expansion at the Monroe Natural Science Center, said Huff, students from there are now taking academic courses on the Fairfield Twp. campus until work on the new learning facilities is completed.


First day for Butler County schools

Badin: Thursday, Aug. 19.

Butler Tech: Started Tuesday

Edgewood: Tuesday, Aug. 17.

Fairfield: Tuesday, Aug. 17.

Fenwick: Wednesday, Aug. 18.

Hamilton: Monday, Aug. 16: PK-12 students with last names beginning with A-K. Wednesday, Aug. 18: PK-12 students with last names beginning with L-Z.

Lakota: Wednesday, Aug. 18: Students in grades 1-2. Thursday, Aug. 19: Kindergarten phase-in days begin.

Madison: Tuesday, Aug. 17: Middle and high school students with last names beginning with A-M. Wednesday, Aug. 18: Middle and high school students with last names beginning with N-Z. Monday, August 23: Pre-K and grades 1-5 students; Kindergarten students with last names beginning with A-L. Tuesday, August 24: Kindergarten students with last names beginning with M-Z.

Middletown: Starts today.

Monroe: Thursday, Aug. 19.

New Miami: N/A

Ross: Wednesday, Aug. 18.

Talawanda: Wednesday, Aug. 18: Students in grades 2-12. Monday, Aug. 23: First day for students in grades K-1.

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