When Schools Re-Open
The above photos are not from any re-opened U.S. schools. They were taken a few days ago in Denmark. The first European country to re-open its schools. The following New York Times article written by Patrick Kingsley appeared April 17, 2020.
The cluster of red brick buildings in a remote part of southern Denmark looks unremarkable from the outside, but this week, its classrooms housed some of the rarest people during the pandemic in today’s Europe.
Schoolchildren.
On Wednesday, 350 pupils returned to classes at the Logumkloster District School for the first time in a month, as Denmark became the first country in the Western world to reopen its elementary schools since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. It has turned the Danish education system into a laboratory for whether and how schools can function in an age of contagion.
“It is a new world,” said Tanja Linnet, the school’s head teacher, as pupils arrived early on Thursday morning. “We used to make plans for if there was a terrorist attack here — but never this kind of attack.”
Other European countries have also gently eased restrictions on certain businesses and sporting activities in recent days.
But by allowing hundreds of children to congregate once again at thousands of schools across Denmark, the government has taken the boldest step toward something resembling normal life, in a measure that will be watched carefully around the world.
“That’s the dilemma of the whole world,” said Finn Christensen, the school’s deputy head. “When to open up?”
Denmark’s approach contrasts with that of Spain, where most children have not CONTINUE READING: When Schools Re-Open | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice
