Happy Tuesday! Today was the first day of school for my kiddos! Our school district is returning to school in a hybrid model. They gave parents the option of going back to school or starting the year off completely virtually in a newly formed digital academy. According to our superintendent, about 20% of the kids in our large district are going virtual. Bill and I decided that our kids needed to go back and have that socialization that in person school offers.
A few weeks ago they announced that our schools would be going back in a hybrid model. Basically they took the kids who were returning to school and divided them into two cohorts-- A and B. If you are in cohort A you go to school in person on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then you do virtual school Wednesdays and Fridays. If you are cohort B, you go to school Wednesday and Fridays and you do virtual Tuesdays and Thursdays. The entire district is virtual on Mondays. Personally, I was okay with the schedule until this past weekend when they held virtual open houses. I really started to rethink my decision making as some of the things they put into place were sterile and just not what I want my children to experience. (And actually I was texting/chatting to 3 different mom friends of mine who aren't connected except with me and we ALL had the same feelings after watching the back to school videos.)
Despite my misgivings and trepidations, today was the day for them to return to school. I got Rebecca off to school. I can't believe she is in 8th grade and will be in high school next year! She said she had a good day; she really seems to like her classes. She is taking 3 high school level classes-- Spanish, Algebra I, and Talented and Gifted English. She said the only thing she didn't like was that she doesn't have lunch with any of her friend group so that was awkward as she said she ate by herself. I think she will find a few new friends to eat with as social as she is.
After I got Rebecca off to school it was back home to get Ben and Jacob off to school. Jacob is going into 5th grade! This will be his last year at the elementary school. He said that he had a really good day!
Benjamin is going into 3rd grade and he said he loved his class. His teacher said that Ben was really attentive and seemed to be on top of everything today.
Do you have kids going back to school? Are the schools in your area hybrid, all in or all virtual?
This is a weird year. Our local school system is either hybrid or total on-line classes. People who opted for hybrid can change to totally online but the ones who opted for online are committed to it until January.
ReplyDeleteI agree it is a weird year. Here you can switch at the end of the nine week quarters, but you can only switch one time for the year.
DeleteI have no kids in school. But, I would not send mine to school under the circumstances.
ReplyDeleteIf we lived in a larger city then I would be keeping them home. However, our cases while still high are not as high as other areas. Also I HAD to take into account the mental health of the kids.
DeleteOur district was supposed to be hybrid, but now it is 100% online, until November 1 at the earliest. I am convinced it was a cost decision, not a health decision. Kindergartners, English learners, some IEP students, and McKinney Vento students are allowed on campus for in-person instruction. No or low internet connected students are also allowed, but they will still be online, in various areas in the building. I can't think of anything more desolate, frankly. Our district has officially seen a drop of 60 students so far due to homeschooling (screen free) or private schools. I think that will increase. Our county was given the go ahead for in-person instruction by the state, but our district claimed they couldn't meet the criteria necessary to instruct students in person. My kids will do even periods on M/Th, odd periods on T/F. Wednesdays, the teachers are supposed to be available to the students for questions. Most classes will be pre-recorded at the district's request, which, as far as I am concerned, goes to show how little the administration thinks of its teachers. Again, at this point, I think it's a cost cutting measure. Oh, and they are furloughing a good number of staff as well--I'm very angry. I think this is the harbinger of the end of decent public education.
ReplyDeleteQuite frankly that sounds awful. So sorry you and your kids have to deal with that. Our school system is the only on in our county doing hybrid. Everyone else is doing every day in school or the parents were given the option of virtual. Our city though has a huge elementary system (7 elementary schools that feed into one middle and one high school) whereas the other districts have 1 elementary, 1 junior high and 1 high school).
DeleteLocal GS, a junior, is doing online- he could have gone to school but did not like the way it was set up either. GD in Atlanta is being homeschooled- she's a first grader. My Dd did not feel it was safe for her to attend school and she does not think a 6 year old needs all that screen time if doing it online. She's a very social child too so DD will probably find some safe activities for her- like a 4 -5 person dance or art class. Not to brag but they are both very advanced and will do fine. I think online learning is probably hardest on average-below kids.
ReplyDeleteI agree that online learning is hard for those children that struggle with academics.
DeleteYour kids look happy and excited to return to school!
ReplyDeleteFlynn homeschools, so nothing has changed for us, but I do know our local district is doing much the same as your district. Have a happy, healthy school year, my friend!
Thanks Billie Jo! I hope you and Flynn have a great year as well! :)
Deletesomeof this will be the attitude we all bring to our childrens expereine, and you seeem to be workign with them on positive. I just do not know wha tthe aternative is.
ReplyDeleteI tell the kids we can either be bitter about the situation or we can make it work for us. We are trying to make it work. Am I 100% happy about it? No but the kids don't need to know that. They need to see that I support our teachers and that I value their teachers and schools.
DeleteThank goodness my son had graduated in 2017 and we don't have to go through all this! That said our school district (dutchess county NY) has a very similar hybrid model. Those whose last names begin with A-M go to school on Monday and Tuesday and those with L-Z go on Thursday and Friday. Wednesday all students are virtual. All students are starting the first month virtually and then they will start implementing the hybrid part with parents having the option to keep their children virtual if they so choose.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that our district started this way from the first day of school and didn't get the kids used to virtual and then back to school. I am not sure how they divided the kids up but I do know that it was not by last names. I am just glad that they made sure that if you had kids in different buildings (in our case we have the boys in one of the elementaries and Rebecca is in the middle school) that those kids went the same day.
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