The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on students, their families, educators, and the school’s mental health workforce. The significant and known short- and long-term harm to the students, in particular, that is attributed to closed schools include, but are not limited to, emotional, social, behavioral health and academic achievement. The American Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) have recognized that education, including school attendance, is essential for successful and healthy development for all children and adolescents. According to a recent JAMA Pediatrics report, young children can potentially drive the COVID-19 spread within the general population. Behavioral habits of young children and close quarters in schools and daycare settings raise concern for COVID-19 amplification for communities as public health restrictions are eased. Reopening, and maintaining the doors open, of all schools during a pandemic is new territory for everyone, and the children and their parents are likely to experience even more stress and anxiety as the school year begins and continues than ever before. Guiding the parents during the transition to returning their children to school is necessary for a smooth school year. Possible steps school administrators and the mental health workforce …
