by Zuri Earl, English teacher

We started the year anticipating having students in the classroom. Local government was operating on a green, yellow, orange, and red color system, green representing the lowest number of COVID-19 cases and red the highest. At that time, we were in red, which meant no students were allowed in school. If the level were to come down to orange, we could have small groups in the classroom. Anticipating this, we decorated classrooms, set up COVID-19 precautions, worked on in-person curriculum, and created a complicated schedule that limited students to groups of 5-6 for a period of about 2.5 hours. Unfortunately, cases remained in the red for weeks and we transitioned to having the students work from home.

This year parents have been coming to school every other Friday to pick-up homework packets in Spanish and English for their child. The school has also been supporting the children’s nutritional needs with parents picking up groceries every two weeks as well. The teachers have been sending videos to guide students through their packets every Monday/Tuesday. Teachers have also been setting up group zoom classes and personal one-on-one video calls. Having the students work from home has been complicated. Many students lack access to phones/computers or the internet. Some students rely completely on the videos, and others don’t have access to videos or calls with their teachers. There have been a couple weeks where COVID-19 cases haven’t been too high and teachers were able to work in person with certain students, but those opportunities have been few and far between.

The children have been able to learn this year thanks to our parents who have been working closely with our teachers to ensure that their children watch their videos, complete their assignments, and call their teachers. It’s been a collaborative effort to make sure that the kids are learning. They themselves have been taking initiative and finding ways to motivate themselves to finish their work at home. The year has not been easy, but everyone (faculty, teachers, parents, and students) has been doing what they can to make sure the kids learn. Thank you so much for supporting the school and these families who are making a difference in their own lives.