Back in August, I lamented the decision by local and state school administrators to make public school "remote" for even the youngest and most vulnerable learners, especially in our low-COVID, rural area. I wrote this letter to Iver on that first, sad day in the fall when he Zoomed into his first day of Kindergarten from his heroic home of LL childcare and I couldn't stop crying. I still maintain that closing (or failing to reopen) elementary public schools was absolutely the wrong decision, and caused (and continues to cause) more harm than good as the evidence bears out in terms of COVID-19 disease spread in such settings. Many private schools across the country (and our kids' childcare centers) have found a way to open/stay open (safely, with universal masking, symptom- and temperature-checking, etc.), widening the educational and privilege gap, while the West Coast states (liberal in many ways) have been ultra-conservative in this arena, to the detriment of a generation of kids (and at the expense of the mental health of so many of them, along with their parents). March 17th, 2020 was the day that California basically shut down. Nearly one year to the day (I hear there is a word Coronaversary), school finally re-opened for our family.
Iver's small charter school has decided on a "Hybrid" model with one cohort (A) attending part-time for four hours (8:30-12:30) on Monday/Tuesday (and Zooming on Wed-Thurs) and another cohort (B) attending on Wed-Thursday (Zooming on M-Tues). (There are a few students whose families have decided to stick with distance learning for the remainder of this school year). All students "Zoom" into assembly briefly on Fridays. As there are no before- or after-care programs, Iver still has to go to childcare for the "rest" of the time due to our work schedules, and the childcare's staff have amazingly found a way to do the drop-offs and pick-ups, including carseat shuffling, to help us out with the inconvenient school start- and end-times (thes teachers truly are amazing, heroic people, and have been our village and safety net in these turbulent times. Thankfully, the schools are separated by less than a mile).
Iver woke up early which we thought was some understandable school-related anxiety (rather than time-change effect), as he can be quite nervous about big changes. However, he seemed excited to go to "in-person" kindergarten school, with classmates and a teacher he's only met over Zoom but which introduced him gradually to this slight educational shift in venue from his previous childcare.
He made a "first day" sign.
We had to complete a daily COVID-19 health check.
When I picked him up from childcare this afternoon (demanding a play-by-play of his day, which he then had to re-tell to Kelvin once we were home), he told me that his day was "pretty good." He was apparently a bit cold in the "outdoor time" from 9-10 a.m., despite layers (he wore his favorite crocs, but admitted that socks would have been good), and felt the playground felt small, but enjoyed seeing the kids, his teacher, the snacks, and riding in a different adult's car to/from school. I don't think there was much actual educational programming today, but perhaps that will come with time/familiarity with the new routine, and it's just kindergarten, which should be play-based anyway. I heard that he may need to bring his Chromebook to in-person school tomorrow, which is a bit mystifying-- I was so looking forward to him being freed and able to unplug from the forced screen time. I also am still feeling that his "assignment" sheet of tasks still puts too much pressure on working parents (as I thought that, by his attending some in person, we could forgo some of this busy-work/home-work), but we will wait and see how this all plays out. I am trying to just be happy he has the option to have *some* school and salvage part of this educational year (and, with hope, actually learn some of the Spanish into which he's supposed to have been immersed for the past 7 months).
He was not a fan of "boxed school lunch," which we decided to give a try, to save us some time in the mornings on packing as it was offered as a free school perk (it was some pasta alfredo and salad). We'll have to decide whether to just let him deal with some new offerings or work around his current tastes, which are well-known to us but kind of particular (he ended up eating a bagel and cream cheese at childcare at 2 p.m.). It's also, interestingly, a nut-free school (he's in the past had a peanut allergy, which we haven't challenged in while), a philosophy or policy with which I'm not sure I fully agree, but it was good to know (as Niall, a potential future sibling student, adores PB sandwiches. I don't know if Sunbutter is a palatable and thus a viable substitute for either of them).
All in all, his first day wasn't particularly stellar or out-of-this-world remarkable. There are still a lot of challenges for kids and working families for part-time, part-day school. I wish he were back for five days and for more than four hours at at a time in the same location rather than being schlepped around. I know not all schoolchildren are back (and not all families feel that it's safe or comfortable even though we are convinced that it is). But it's not nothing. And to have some in-person school at all means that we've turned a corner in the disruptive way this virus (or the way our country and citizens handled it) has destroyed so many things in this last year (or at least we have learned what essential things must go on despite the small theoretical risks). Perhaps the fall will be back to normal (-ish?). Our kids (and we parents) really need it! Praise God, Praise Everything for shots in arms, and kids in school!
