Both Maricopa middle schools closed due to COVID-19

The Maricopa Unified School District has shut down both of its middle schools for in-person learning just days after returning to the classroom.

District students had learned remotely since the new semester began Jan. 4 before returning to school on Feb. 1. The closures of Desert Wind and Maricopa Wells middle schools follow Maricopa High School’s closing last Thursday and Friday.

Maricopa Wells closed Monday and will remain closed to in-person learning until classes resume Tuesday, Feb. 16. Desert Wind closed Tuesday, Feb. 9, and will re-open Monday, Feb. 22. A statement on the district website announcing the closures said teachers will provide families with more information about how to access online instruction.

Families can get information regarding grab-and-go meals, learning lab times and transportation to learning labs at their specific school by visiting the websites for Maricopa Wells or Desert Wind. ESS and EDP students will receive details from teachers regarding the arrangements specific to their child’s classroom.

Superintendent Dr. Tracey Lopeman had recommended a Feb. 1 return to classroom learning during the Jan. 27 meeting of the governing board.

But she also foreshadowed the recent closures, calling the situation “volatile” and stating the number of student and staff coronavirus cases at several schools – the high school and middle schools, especially – could lead to quarantines that would force a short-term return to distance learning.

Lopeman had told the board that more positive cases were being reported almost every day, and quarantines of 30 to 100 to an entire school were possible in the short term.

It is harder to socially distance at the high school and middle schools, where students move through hallways in large groups between classes, Lopeman had said. They also are together in large numbers during lunch.