Feed Your Hunger for Learning (Pictured Here is my Son in “Home EC)”
MEDICAL UPDATE: SCHOOL EDITION
Newsflash! Today DC Mayor Bowser extended our stay-at-home order until June 8. She quoted Fauci and agreed that we cannot reopen until we’ve met certain benchmarks to prevent unnecessary suffering and death. The GOOD news is that we’ve had a sustained decrease in COVID-19 cases for four consecutive days (we need 14 days to meet one criteria for phased reopening), DC’s testing capabilities are increasing, and most of our local hospitals have available ICU beds. So why are we still staying home? Because the case rate is still high, contact tracing is still not adequate, and we know that asymptomatic carriers are responsible for much of the community spread. So hold onto your hats—and your sanity, if possible—and let’s talk about SCHOOLS.
Before we get started, here’s my mental health tip of the day: FEED YOUR HUNGER FOR LEARNING. (Pictured here is my son in “HOME EC”.)
As promised, I’m bringing you some expert opinions and new voices to discuss various challenges in reopening the economy. Today we’ll hear from my dear friend and trusted educational leader, Amy McNamer.
Here is her letter:
Hello friends,
My name is Amy McNamer and I am hijacking Lucy’s daily newsletter as a guest columnist to talk about schools. Why me? Good question. I am the Executive Director of the Association for Independent Schools of Greater Washington (AISGW), an organization supporting 76 independents schools in this area, just like the name says. Lucy and I have been friends since we met at our kids’ local school (hey!), and I read her newsletter religiously. She is also my doctor and close friend - lucky me.
So schools. Here is what I know, based on my window into our local schools, as well as conversations with school leaders across the country.
Schools are institutional backbones of our society. If you are the parent of school-aged children, you know this. If you aren’t, you likely still understand that without schools open, our economy doesn’t move forward. Keeping kids in school is crucially important so that working parents can work.
Not to mention that students need to learn! Can I just say that I have been so impressed by how schools have moved to distance learning at remarkable speed and are continuing to teach our children in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic? My daughter’s school closed the building on Thursday and was up and running on ZOOM on Monday. And with adjustments over the weeks that followed, they settled into a program that recognizes the challenges of this particular time while still keeping her engaged, learning and connected to her community. Bravo.
This would not have happened without strong leadership. It goes without saying (but I will say it) that school leaders are carrying a tremendous burden right now. Let’s think about just some of the issues they have faced in the last two months: whether to close the school building and then when and how, how to prepare teachers for distance learning; the challenge of the emotional management of families in these uncertain times; teaching most effectively during the coronavirus and the added stress on faculty; how to honor graduating seniors; how to honor departing faculty; whether to hold summer camps; the eventual return to school, with all of its complexities; and – of major concern -- how to support their most vulnerable students during these stay-at-home orders, both by assuring access to the necessary technology for learning, but also in many cases, assuring access to at least one solid meal a day.
So you can see why at the top of the list for all of them is how to reopen safely in the fall. But here are some of the challenges. No one wants to bring kids back together before it is safe to do so. To get there, several things need to happen (see Lucy’s newsletter from April 18). And if bringing students together leads to a spike in COVID-19 cases, we will be back at home. School leaders are relying on doctors, scientists and public health officials to help us understand when it is safe to bring kids back.
If and when students begin to return to campus (pre-vaccine), other considerations come into play. The logistics alone will make your head spin: the number of square feet required around each child; regular disinfection; whether to stagger returns by age; whether all sports will need to be cancelled; whether and how to provide food service; how to screen campus visitors; staggering rest room visits; and can small children even do this?
Then there are the larger issues. How do we structure teaching and learning so that we can continue to reach our immune-compromised students and our international students who may not be able return to campus? How do we protect teachers and other adults, since we know that children can be silent carriers? Do schools need to prepare to teach some students in person and some remotely, at the same time? (yes). Do schools need to plan to move to distance learning entirely during a second wave of the virus? (yes). I learned a cool new word today to describe these scenarios – “hi-flex models” of planning for whatever the future holds.
But here’s the reason not to worry: we have many bright, competent, skillful school leaders thinking about nothing but these issues, planning for hi-flex (yep) scenarios, dedicating the summer months to teacher and staff training for whatever way this all ends up. Can I tell you how many webinars, ZOOM meetings, and plain old-fashioned conference calls are happening across the country on these issues as I write?
I know we all want certainty. I know that you also want Junior back in that school building on September 1 if not earlier. I want my kids back in school too. But most of all, I want our leaders to be making the best decisions for the entire community, that will keep my kids safe and educated.
Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. Let’s pause to thank all of our teachers, heads of school, principals, admin teams, custodians, food service employees and everyone who cares for our kiddos. At the end of your school day, we wish for you a fire pit, dry wood and the beverage of your choice to enjoy this spring weather (thinking of you, Jim). Cheers to all of you.