Back to School, but not Back to Normal
An Elementary School Copes with the Pandemic Paradigm
Greta Hobson, ready to begin instruction for the day, sits at the front of her classroom, opening up her computer to begin the Zoom meeting. With a cup of coffee in hand, Hobson braces for the difficult task of trying to manage 30 ten-years-olds switching their cameras on and off and struggling to mute themselves.
As she begins instruction, several students drop out of the call, with no warning or explanation. One of her students, crouched in the corner of a hotel room with his family, computer in his lap, tries to focus on Mrs. Hobson’s instruction.
As she attempts to keep her students engaged with daily zoom meetings, Hobson also prepares her classroom for the return to in-person learning. Facing her desks are fifteen more desks lined up in rows, each desk six-feet apart and equipped with a plexiglass sneeze guard.
Hobson is a 5th-grade teacher at Las Lomas Elementary School in La Habra, California. According to ABC News, Orange County was cleared for schools to reopen as when the county remained off California’s COVID-19 watch list for over 15 days. As a result, the La Habra City School District decided to open their doors for students to return.
“To put it bluntly, it sucked and it’s crap.”
For Hobson, returning to school couldn’t come soon enough. Online learning proved to be extremely difficult. “To put it bluntly, it sucked and it’s crap,” she said. “It’s very easy for kids to ignore you.” Hobson found it especially difficult to maintain her students’ during zoom lectures. Often times, when Hobson asked a question to her students, some would drop off the call, claiming they had a bad connection.
Hobson also explained how she never expected teaching to be like this. “In class, we would have those small moments that made me thankful for being a teacher,” she said. “They would color me a picture and leave it on my desk, and those are the moments you live for as a teacher, and now we don’t have any of that.”
Online learning, however, is also very hard on the students. According to Las Lomas Elementary Principal Pam Cunningham, “One of the biggest issues is getting kids to participate and be engaged in their learning.” Cunningham explains that there is so much going on in many of the children’s home lives that it can be hard for them to maintain focus on learning. “For a lot of the kids in our community, school is a safe place that allows them to get away from everything going on at home, this is why the district wants them to come back.”
Because of the issues with online learning and the district being cleared to open by the state, reopening seemed like the best option, even if not’s going to be the same under pandemic health guidelines. “This isn’t going to be a typical year. Just because we are coming back doesn’t mean we’ll be doing all the things we typically do, but it’s better than nothing,” says Hobson.
“This isn’t going to be a typical year. Just because we are coming back doesn’t mean we’ll be doing all the things we typically do, but it’s better than nothing.”
Both Las Lomas and La Habra City School District have been conducting safety meetings to brief teachers and staff on the procedures put in place to protect themselves and students as they return to school.
Principal Cunningham describes the procedures for Las Lomas as follows: Grade levels are divided into AM and PM cohorts in order to cut class sizes in half. The AM group will have instruction from 8:10 am to 10:55 am. At 12:05, the afternoon cohort will begin instruction and stay until 2:50. Between these cohorts, instructional assistants will spray down desks with a sanitizing solution and wipe down all surfaces. Bathrooms will be sanitized every hour by custodial staff.
Furthermore, as their parents drive up to the school, children’s temperatures will be checked before they are able to exit the vehicle. After temperature screening, students are to head straight to their classrooms through their designated entry area, assigned by grade. Masks are expected to be worn the entire time.Hand sanitizing stations have been installed in every classroom, and children are expected to sanitize their hands upon entry and when exiting the classroom.
There will be no outdoor recess and no eating on campus. Students will remain at their desks, seated six feet apart for all of the class time. All bathrooms will be used only one student at a time, and all drinking fountains are closed and padlocked.
As part of teacher negotiations with the district, teachers will not be responsible for sanitizing their classrooms. Instead, they will be tasked with taking their students to the drop-off area assigned for their grade.
Students will attend in-person learning Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
According to the La Habra City School District website, students will return on staggered dates. Preschool and Kindergarten on October 19th, first and second grade on October 26, third and fourth on November 9th, and finally fifth and sixth grade on November 16th.
Instruction does not end once the students leave the classroom. According to principal Cunningham, students are required to complete 240 minutes of instruction each day, which the in-person classes do not completely satisfy. In addition to in-person learning, students are expected to complete another hour of at-home learning, in the form of assignments, projects, or daily check-ins depending on the teacher.
About returning to school, Hobson says, “I know it’s a huge debate, but as long as I know the school is doing its best to keep us safe, I feel safe coming back.” Like most teachers at Las Lomas, Hobson feels her school has provided her with all the necessary preparation to welcome her students back to campus.The school has equipped her with a bag of masks, several bottles of hand sanitizer, a face shield, and set up the plexiglass shields in her classroom.
Although the district has provided more than enough safety training, the logistics of hybrid teaching are left up in the air.
“The safety is there, but guidance as to how the day will look and the expectations of teaching are lacking. Philosophies of teaching will have to be different than before the pandemic” says Hobson.
Not only is it important for teachers to feel safe returning to school, but parents and their children must feel prepared as well.
Community liaison Cecilia Hernandez is responsible for maintaining relationships between the parents and the school community. In a typical year, she would aid parents in teacher-parent communication, translating, and providing parents with important resources. In the midst of the school’s return to in-person learning, she is responsible for fielding the many concerns of Las Lomas’s parents.
“I have been able to share the many measures we are taking as a school to keep our students safe. We have also included a slideshow on our school website that addresses these concerns,” says Hernandez.
As of this week, Las Lomas has officially welcomed back their Preschool and Kindergarten students, and despite the changes, things have gone relatively well.
“The kids are very good at wearing their masks, and things are running rather smoothly,” says Hernandez.
As the school gets closer to welcoming more of their students on campus, safety procedures are being fined tuned, and according to Hobson, most of her teacher colleagues are ready to see their students. “I am excited to see their faces, even with a mask on,” Hobson says.
“I am excited to see their faces, even with a mask on.”
