How schools are planning to reopen in fall - The Washington Post

How schools are planning to reopen in fall - The Washington Post

Under pressure to reopen this fall, school leaders plot unprecedented changes

From the White House podium to harried homes, pressure is building to reopen the nation’s schools. But the next iteration of American education will look far different from the classrooms students and teachers abruptly departed last month.

Many overwhelmed school systems remain focused on running remote education that was set up on the fly. Others, though, are deep into planning for what they see coming: an in-between scenario in which schools are open but children are spread out in places where they are normally packed together.

The new landscape could include one-way hallways, kids and teachers in masks, and lunch inside classrooms instead of cafeterias. Buses may run half empty, and students may have their temperatures read before entering the building. And in districts all over the country, officials are considering bringing half the students to school on certain days, with the rest learning from home. Then they would swap.

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Many educators, too, are eager to get students back, having concluded that remote education is far less effective and may leave lasting academic damage. They also fear for the safety and well-being of students who rely on schools for food, health care, social services and emotional stability.

Millions of public school students will suffer from school closures, education leaders have concluded

The people who most want to return to school may be the students themselves.

“I want to go back so bad,” said Zoe Davis, a 16-year-old sophomore at Chalmette High School in Chalmette, La. Unlike some others, she has a computer and Internet access, and has been keeping up with her classes at home. But she said learning over Zoom is far from ideal, and she misses bonding with classmates over school activities, like the dance team.

“I’m like, ‘Wow, school is a major part of my life and why I am who I am,’ ” she said. CONTINUE READING: How schools are planning to reopen in fall - The Washington Post