As school districts nationwide transition back to in-person learning amid new research on safely reopening, declining infection rates and expanding COVID-19 vaccination access, navigating the switch from one model to the other can be a challenge all its own.

Many districts will do so via hybrid models, utilizing a mix of virtual and in-person learning to regulate class sizes and mitigate the likelihood of in-school spread. This, of course, requires educators to find ways to keep students engaged, no matter where they're learning from on a given day. This can become even more complex when combined with the unique hurdles students of color, whose communities were more likely to be impacted by the pandemic, will have to overcome in their return to classrooms.

With the terrain remaining seemingly as rugged as ever one year into the pandemic, we've gathered our recent coverage on what educators see working in their classrooms.