For the first time since the pandemic, students at a middle school in Camden County are learning remotely at home, and it may be weeks before they can fully return to the classroom.

Dehumidifiers were humming inside hallways and classrooms on Tuesday at Winslow Township Middle School after a pipe burst in the building. The school has been shut down since Thursday. 

Jayden Scott powered on his laptop Tuesday morning and attended classes virtually from home.

"It was weird because it just gave me flashbacks of COVID, but I didn't really mind it because I like being in the comfort of my home," said Scott, who is in the seventh grade at Winslow Township Middle School.

Classes resumed with remote learning after the interim superintendent said a pipe burst in a ceiling over a hallway last Wednesday, and more than half of the school was flooded with one to two inches of water.

"The water that came down from the ceiling, luckily, no students were in the building, and we weren't changing classes, that would have been a real problem if the students were in the building," said Mark Pease, interim superintendent.

The middle school handed out Chromebooks on Monday, and the more than 760 seventh and eighth graders have been divided into two groups. Beginning Friday, they will alternate between remote instruction and in-person learning in a part of the building that was not damaged.

"The parents have done a phenomenal job understanding the circumstances and have been very flexible," Pease said.

Many parents, especially those who work, have had to scramble to change schedules and make different arrangements. Monique McCurvin said, luckily, it's only temporary.

"My schedule, my husband's schedule, and having someone here to assist with that, we are in a good spot, but I do feel for other parents who have to do that adjustment," said McCurvin, whose son is in eighth grade at the middle school.

The district said it's still unclear what caused the pipe to burst. Carpets and tiles need to be replaced, and restoration crews estimate it will take roughly 30 days before the building can fully reopen.

"I just hope the school gets better and we can go back to school as soon as possible," Scott said.

Pease is reminding parents they can come by the school again on Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. to pick up a Chromebook if they haven't done so yet.