WINDSOR, ONT. -- Teachers were making last minute preparations as students will start heading back to the classroom Thursday after six months away.

“We love the first day of school,” said E.J. Lajeunesse principal Micheline Limoges. “Do we have butterflies? Of course. We always do. Maybe this year a little more so than usual.”

Administration and teachers at E.J. Lajeunesse have been diligent in the lead up to Thursday’s start.

“We’ve gone through every what if and how do we hand this and what do we do it this? Tomorrow’s going to be busy,” Limoges said.

Jessica Dafoe, a music teacher at the school said there are many protocols in place to help everyone feel at ease.

“As well as students and parents knowing that everything is in place to keep them safe and loved,” Dafoe said.

In order to minimize contact, teachers will be in the classroom with their students for 300 minutes a day. That’s five hours each day and does not include lunch hour.

“I don’t know what to expect to teach this long so I guess it’s my preparation would just be having more small activities and mindful activities,” said teacher Danielle Parent.

Dafoe said her role at the school will include boosting the mental health of both students and staff.

“I’ll be going virtually into classrooms via google meet and leading mindfulness activities to students throughout the day,” Dafoe said.

Teacher Shelley Ryan is hoping outdoor learning spaces across the school property will help break up the day.

“And you can go more than once a day as well so there’s eight different spaces at our school that we’ve created, just starting off and as they get better and as we learn we’ll probably try to create some more as well,” she said.

At Ecole St. Edmond, some teachers have already met with students virtually.

“And of course we had a chance to speak to their parents and address some of their questions,” teacher Michelle Murphy said. “They had many questions about health and safety which of course we told them is our number one priority as we bring children back to school.”

Custodian Denise Duchesne-Lynch said this included a lot of daily changes.

“Remove stuff, put stuff, add signs, take signs down,” she said. “For the most part I’m pretty confident we have everything, we’re ready to start school tomorrow.”

Students in Windsor-Essex at the Catholic, public and French boards will all start a staggered return to school Thursday.