The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an emergency response to close businesses, shut down schools, and mandate lockdowns to mitigate the spread of the virus creating an unprecedented worldwide disruption in the family and educational environment. The problem to be addressed in this study is the unknown subjective lived experience of vulnerable adolescents showing academic risk prior to the pandemic and now returning to in-person school. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological, hermeneutic study was to develop an understanding of the lived experiences of at-risk adolescent students in the process of returning to school for in-person learning following the 1 to 1 ½ year lockdown mandates. Data was collected through individual interviews with adolescents ages 13-17 who were academically at-risk prior to the pandemic. The data was coded and analyzed through thematic analysis to find common patterns in the thoughts and experiences of those adolescent participants as they prepared to readjust to the classroom setting. The two research questions that guided the study sought to answer the question of how these participants described their experience of being in transition from lockdown to returning to in-person classrooms, and secondly, how they describe their experiences through transitioning ecological systems. It was evident from the interviews that at-risk students had a difficult time managing the transition to virtual school, and experienced a lack of support and learning environment conducive to their learning style. Secondly, the at-risk students also experienced distress and concerns about returning to school following the disruption and isolation from their peer groups. The final results indicate that despite the difficulties, they were able to identify strengths and changes in mindset to cope through the transition and feel a greater sense of personal strength. Future research could focus on a comparison of at-risk students to non-risk students for a better understanding of academic gaps. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]