Back to School in the Time of COVID…

            School openings in fall, 2020, were different from any that had come before.  Few parents were waving good bye from the front door or piling their kids into the family car for the trip to school.  There were no images of school buses crowded with excited kids; no groups of children laughing together outside school doors; no teachers and administrators shouting “hello” and “welcome back” as students streamed into buildings that sparkled from their fall cleaning.  There were no playful scuffles among students claiming a preferred seat in homeroom; no cacophony of excited greetings echoing through the corridors. 

     Although some schools opted to open fully or partially, most opened in remote learning with some exceptions for small groups of special education students with disabilities.  All had to have protocols for multiple safety issues?  Did spacing have to be six feet between students or could it be three?  If a student in one class caught COVID, would the whole school have to close?  Were masks mandatory at all times?  Where would students eat lunch?  

      Students had questions, too?  Would they be able to interact with their friends after school?  What would happen to after school clubs?  Would there be sports, band, or Halloween dances?  Would they need to be on Zoom six hours a day?  Would remote learning be somehow “better” than it had been?

     With so many questions, a recap of the past six months might put things in perspective.

     By the time the school year ended in June, most pre-K-12 students in the U.S., along with their parents, had been in remote learning since March when the World Health Organization officially declared a pandemic.  President Trump called for a two-week national shutdown.  Within days, he reversed himself, encouraged states to open for business, and promised that the virus would be   over by Easter. 

     During this time, doctors and scientists urged us to stay physically distanced, wash our hands frequently, and wear masks in public.  The President countered that wearing a mask was an individual choice, and that he chose not to wear one.  Mixed messaging took its toll.

     People were frightened, confused, and overwhelmed.  Medical professionals heroically worked overtime to exhaustion.  Other essential workers - for example, in supermarkets and on sanitation trucks - bravely reported to work every day.  

     Easter came and went.  Most states were still shut down.  Some were partially open.  Some schools tried to open and quickly closed again.  By the middle of April, as cases across the country continued to escalate and COVID raged and spread, schools closed coast-to-coast for the remainder of the academic year.  Teachers and administrators scrambled to adapt curriculum and remote lessons for the rest of the year, organize Zoom classrooms, and set up electronic procedures for delivering information and communication between schools and homes.

      In millions of these homes, unprepared parents were drafted full-time into teaching, responsible for facilitating computer-based learning for their children.  Some parents obtained permission from their employers to work from home.  Others, unfortunately, were furloughed from jobs in businesses that had lost their customers and closed due to COVID. 

     It was a tense and stressful time.  Yet despite personal and professional instability and financial insecurity, what parents and teachers wanted most for the children and students in their care were health safety, emotional well-being, and academic progress. 

       Throughout the summer COVID cases rose to an average weekly high of 70,000 in July and dipped to more than 40,000 by the end of August.  And still confused, still frightened, with no end to the pandemic in sight, school districts evaluated the options for getting children back to school: 1) fully in-person, 2) fully remote, or 3) a hybrid – some combination of in-school and remote learning. 

     In my small East Coast town, it was all hands on deck.  Under our Superintendent’s leadership, faculty and staff, administrators, parents, and community members were welcome to serve on one of the many re-entry committees.  We met people we had not known.  We bonded.  It was a positive, uplifting experience because we had a common purpose: to keep our kids physically healthy, emotionally strong, socially and academically engaged, happy, and thriving. 

     The drums were beating for in-person learning.  The pressure was relentless.  Our school district was prepared to implement any of the three options discussed above, but, with some exceptions, decided against fully in-person learning for the start of the school year.  We were not alone.  The majority of schools in the U.S. came to the same conclusion.  

     The reasons are clear.  As in our district, hope, best efforts, and good intentions are not enough.  The risks are too high, some classroom spaces are too small, and some school buildings are too old.  In other words, health and safety cannot be guaranteed.

     Disappointment?  Of course, and mounting anxiety.  Parents are less worried about academic regression and more concerned about the impact of social deprivation on their kids.  Those students old enough to identify and verbalize their feelings are telling parents and teachers, too, how much they miss seeing their friends in person, going to football games, or just hanging out together at someone’s home.  Some students openly discuss feeling lonely and isolated or battling bouts of depression.  

     We are worried, but we know more now than we did last March.  Teachers have found a rhythm for themselves and their students, and work hard to make course work creative and relevant – even on Zoom.  They understand that students (and parents, too) need a break from the computer screen and have structured the school day and assignments accordingly.  Parents are less judgmental about themselves, both calmer and more confident about their role as stand-in teachers.   

     Every adult is focused on what they can do during the school day and after school to encourage and facilitate social interaction among students.  Ideas are plentiful.  School psychologists, social workers, and guidance counselors will be asked not only to provide their professional expertise and resources, but to show parents and educators alike how to make social emotional learning an integral part of students’ life experience.

     Life is still uncertain.  We hear whispers of vaccines, but we do not know when or how.  We yearn to return to some degree of normalcy, but we cannot will that longing into reality. 

     Some things are within our control.  We know that our kids and their social and emotional well-being are the priority and our purpose.  We will learn what to do, and we will act.  We adults are in a better place today than we were last March.  Our kids are, too.