As most people did, we ended last school year remotely. My eldest was home on a college break in March when Coronavirus hit. Thankfully, she was home safe and sound and had been for 2 weeks, because she'd been going to school in Boston, MA which was HIT HARD. To say the least! The only difficulty was that a lot of her stuff was still at school, as she'd planned to finish up the school year there before transferring this year. She was given a day and time to come and get her stuff and then she spent March-May finishing her freshman year of college in her bedroom. While her sister finished 8th grade in her bedroom. We were one of the lucky families, for sure -- I have heard a quote that aptly describes this whole situation. "We are all in the same storm, but we are not in the same boat!" Honestly, we have had our share of tough times - lost jobs, accidents, unexpected surgery, financial hardships - so I understand going through difficult times. This time, we were somehow blessed -- my husband was considered an essential worker so he has continued to go out and work consistently. I work out of my home office for a human service agency. Initially I worried that I might not have a job during this time, but we support seniors living at home and we were able to shift some of what we do to continue to provide crucial services. We also are lucky to have good internet in our rural area, quiet spaces for each of us to do our school or work without interruptions, and two girls who get along incredibly well even under stressful situations. It got long and it got tiring but we trudged along, occasionally hopping in the car to just drive around and see something other than our house. We managed, just as we have managed this summer which was not at all the summer we had planned or hoped for. We still tried to have some fun when and where we could.
And now summer is over and school is starting. My eldest is a sophomore, a transfer student at a new school. She agonized for weeks (months?) and finally made the tough decision to cancel her housing assignment and do her classes remotely from home. Most of her friends are back at their schools, but as we hear stories about this party, or that school switching to remote after 2 weeks, or how isolated some people are feeling because of the necessary safety precautions -- she knows she made the right choice for her. Knowing that doesn't make it easier. Although she's comfortable and safe and happy at home, she's missing socializing and meeting new friends, and remote classes are tough - professors with sketchy internet, trying to do group projects on Zoom, not having real face time with people - it will be a long semester, maybe year! Week one of sophomore year is done and she looks at each class, assignment, test, as one step closer to hopefully having a more normal college experience next year and to reaching her future goals.
And my youngest - starting high school! Cannot believe it... We waited to see what the plan would be for this year, me silently hoping (for both girls, actually) that the school would decide to start totally remotely to be safe. Again, we are blessed that our situation makes remote learning not a bad option. But I get that not everyone is in the same boat in this storm -- I know families with 4 or more kids, I know families that don't have the best internet simply because of where they live in our rural area. I know people who have to work out of the home and who have younger kids that would not be able to be on their own. There are no easy, one size fits all answers in the middle of a pandemic. Our school district worked hard to try to please as many people as possible keeping student safety at the forefront (from what I understand). I appreciate that. I would not want to work in education this year - not as an administrator, not as a teacher. It is a tireless, thankless job for the most part this year -- at least, the people who are thankful are maybe not as vocal as the people who are not. In our district we have an in-person option and a remote option. For the in-person, they are splitting the students (at least at the high school - the plan was a 54 page document so I really only could get through what was relevant to us!) in half and alternating weeks either in-person one week and remote the next, or vice versa. Then they are all remote from Thanksgiving break to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. So, really my girl would only be IN school for 20 days before going remote through the holidays. But also, she's not technically "in" school... She'll be in a tent for 3 out of 4 classes a day. She REALLY wants to go and see her friends and I REALLY wanted her to stay home. She finally won. I think the plan the district has is about as safe as they can make it, provided that people follow it - doing the at home health screen, wear masks, etc. Even this "in-person" option does not make it that easy on working parents, so I empathize with people's stress and frustration. I also have friends that are teachers who have their own families and are panicked about working in-person and bringing something home to their loved ones. Again, it is not an easy year, to say the least!
I think the best thing that any of us can do right now, is to be as patient and as kind as we can be -- to everyone -- teachers, administrators, other parents, our children, and ourselves. And kindness and patience is important in person, but it is also SO important on social media. Regardless of the state of our "boat", this storm is affecting all of us in one way or another. Be kind.
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