Some Chicago Public Schools students returned Monday to their classrooms for the first time in 10 months as the school district resumed in-person learning despite fervent pushback from many educators.

For the first time in 10 months, some Chicago Public Schools students are set to return to their school buildings Monday. What parents can expect — and what critics of the plan have to say.

Since Chicago Public Schools were closed to in-person learning in March, the move to remote learning has been difficult for many families. But for the CPS families who speak Spanish at home, there is an additional barrier. 

Less than 60% of Chicago Public Schools teachers returned as expected for in-person learning prep this week. School district officials said those who don't show up beginning Monday will not be eligible for pay.

CPS CEO Janice Jackson said 49.7% of teachers returned Monday, one week before in-person learning is set to resume for some 17,000 students. Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates weighs in on “Chicago Tonight.”

More than 5,800 Chicago Public Schools employees were due back in their classrooms Monday to prepare for students’ return next week. But not all of them showed up.

A cross section of aldermen — including some of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s closest allies  — urged her on Sunday to rethink her plan to reopen the Chicago Public Schools for in-person learning, 24 hours before the first teachers must report to school buildings for work.

Representatives of a Portage Park high school on Tuesday unanimously approved a measure saying students and staff will not be allowed into the building following winter break “until it is safe to return to in-person learning.”

Chicago Public Schools on Tuesday announced that 5,833 of its 7,002 pre-K and cluster program staff members will be heading back to schools when in-person learning resumes for those students on Jan. 11.

“We extend our sincere gratitude to leaders in Washington — and especially our Chicago delegation — who have prioritized the needs of public school students throughout the country,” CPS CEO Janice Jackson said in a statement.

Whether you loved it or hated it, a school picture day was something everyone had growing up. But that isn’t the case for some Chicago-area students during the pandemic. How one local couple is recreating the tradition.

The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board issued a 2-1 vote denying the teachers union’s request for an injunction to halt Chicago Public Schools’ plan to reopen schools for in-person learning early next year.

CPS CEO Janice Jackson and school leaders say 77,343 students plan to return to schools beginning in January and February 2021. That’s about about 37% of eligible pre-K through eighth grade students.

How neighbors in some Chicago communities are stepping up to help students with remote learning when their parents can’t work from home.

The coronavirus presented huge challenges for the fall semester for U.S. colleges that opened the academic year with in-person learning, including some that took a battering from outbreaks.

The Archdiocese of Chicago has announced schools will have the option to transition to remote learning after Thanksgiving, but says it’s not yet clear how many schools will choose to do that.