Post by countthestars on Jul 28, 2020 10:33:11 GMT -5
Who else has to make a school decision soon? Or have you already? We are in Massachusetts and COVID is somewhat well managed here right now, which is 1000% a good thing, but because if it, our school is likely going hybrid opening (remote learning M, cohort A goes T/Th, cohort B goes W/F). You can choose to go 100% remote or withdraw and homeschool. Masks all around, 3ft between kids, 6ft between teachers/students.
I’m not sure what to do. DS is currently back at daycare 2 days/week. I am leaning towards remote, but last year was such a shit show that it terrifies me. We ask just bought a company and I’ve been in the office multiple days per week (which is over an hour commute...) so that doesn’t help.
Post by hbomdiggity on Jul 28, 2020 10:50:10 GMT -5
I pulled the trigger yesterday, enrolling DS (kinder) in a private school planning on 5 day in person instruction. Classes don’t start for another month, though, so I’m holding my breath.
ETA: that didn’t last long. OR gov is currently announcing new metrics which effectively mean no in-person instruction in my county.
We chose remote for the first quarter. We had to choose between all in person or all on-line. However, there is still a ton of community spread here though and no matter what you selected everyone will start on-line through at least Labor Day but probably until October.
I don't have school aged kids, but my co-worker's son is starting K and they just got their options yesterday which are the same as OP - remote learning M, cohort A goes T/Th, cohort B goes W/F, or 100% virtual. Also, they are eliminating lunch and recess so classes are only from 8:35-11:35 each day, with some virtual meetings running into the afternoon on virtual days. It honestly sounds like a nightmare and I'm not sure what I would choose. Ideally I'd probably do the part time in person option and look into a nanny/sub, or pod with other kids to juggle it all.
ETA - The only thing that was hopeful about the plan was that you had to commit to it only until 10/16 which I guess by then they are hoping things will improve and can offer more in person options?
ETA2 - I also feel like in our area cases have gone way down and it feels safer with less community spread, I can't imagine being faced with the decision in a hot spot area.
They're announcing our plan on the 30th. I believe it will be 5 half days for my son's grade. I don't know what the virtual option will look like, but we'll be doing in person.
Ugh. DS is starting 1st grade. The option is currently partial in person (all virtual M, separate cohorts in person Tu/Wed or Th/Fr) or we can do 100% remote. The separate cohorts will allow for classes of 12-13 student, which will leave room for students to be >3ft apart. Masks will not be required for grade 1, but encouraged.
100% remote doesn't sound great. I was not impressed with the spring remote curriculum, but I'm hoping with more notice, it will be more robust. DS did not do well with learning at home. I'm leaning towards partial in person with the expectation that the classes/schools will be closing regularly. Work has announced we'll be working from home until at least the end of 2020, so I'm hoping I'll be able to make it work.
Our numbers are decent here, but the governor plans to address education more tomorrow. The plan for partial in person will change depending on certain metrics in the state and specific counties, so this could all change by Aug 31.
DD is supposed to do PreK at daycare. They are open 5 days a week & the plan was to send her full time. I'm unsure what to do with her. If I'm going to have DS home with me at least 3 days a week, I'd prefer not to pay $$ for daycare. (DS is the more needy child, having DD home isn't that much more work.) But it's PreK and she's more than ready & thrives there, so I do want her to have some in person instruction, if possible.
I never thought it would happen, but I started to consider our local catholic school because their enrollment numbers are low (allowing space in classrooms), they plan to be in person 5 days a week, & both kids could go to the same school, for about what I would have paid for daycare. Additionally, their remote learning was better last spring. But this goes against everything I've said about using our local school & also not wanting to support the catholic church... so I'm conflicted.
Post by Dznyprnces on Jul 28, 2020 11:17:03 GMT -5
Our options were 100% remote or hybrid schedules (through at least first quarter, then will re-evaluate). We picked hybrid schedule. I feel mostly good about it, except they get out at 12:30. I teach preschool so I can’t exactly leave my classroom to go pick them up. We are still working on that part. We are group a, which is in person Monday/Tuesday and every other Wednesday, the rest of the week they are at home online.
We chose in person full time. I teach at the school - if I have to go in, they do too. I feel as safe as I can with our school’s protocol but I am constantly second guessing this. I’m not sure we are even going to open anyway.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Post by Velar Fricative on Jul 28, 2020 11:20:12 GMT -5
We have until August 7th to choose 100% virtual. NYC's cases are low and have remained so (fingers crossed this lasts), so we are definitely sending the kids as many days as they're allowed to go.
DD1 (going into 2nd grade) will be going in 3 days a week at best but I have to be prepared for 1-2 days a week if few families opt out. DD2 (going into 3K) is the unknown here. She will attend public-funded 3K at her current private daycare but the city hasn't said whether they will permit 5-day attendance at independently-operated preschools like her school. They can certainly swing it because they already restrict headcount anyway, but whether the city will allow them to bring everyone back full-time is the question.
DH is a teacher so I have no idea what his schedule will be yet. If he has to go in for 5 days, then if DD2 can go in 5 days and DD1 has to stay home a few days a week, I can totally swing that with work. The struggle in the spring was keeping DD2 distracted but not feeling neglected, so I am really hoping she can go 5 days. My ILs have also expressed that they're willing to help and while we worry about their health (ages 68 and 69), if they are willing and as long as cases remain low, we may utilize them for childcare at least when absolutely necessary.
DH is a 5th/6th grade teacher for Boston Public and while BPS hasn't announced official reopening plans yet, his particular school has decided they will be 100% remote at least through Indigenous Peoples Day and then will reevaluate. He's been making calls all day to chat with parents and most are onboard it seems (I'm guessing the age level factors in here).
Our district is remote per Governors orders starting in two weeks as our county is on the Governor’s (CA) watch list.This is for public and private schools. We have a kid in both so they will be home. Our private school has said they won’t consider on campus till January - my son is in the lower school which is mostly local kids but the upper division is 50% international students so they can’t really switch back and forth from distance to on campus.
Our public school has said they will re-evaluate at the quarter IF we are off the governors watchlist at that time. Both our public district and private school said they will not apply for a waiver to bypass governors orders. I am happy with that though many parents are pushing for it because we have nearly 0 cases in our town. However, most teachers don’t live in our town and it seems prudent to keep the kids at home, though my oldest definitely will struggle mentally. I think schools that start in person or even in a hybrid mode will see skyrocketing numbers. Testing and tracing should be rampant and our leaders have failed us in this regard. If we spent the spring working on getting more testing and tracing we would not be in this situation.
We also have a 14 month old that we have decided to keep out of daycare (which is opening in two weeks).
We're also in NYC. We hoped for hybrid for now but I am open to switching is cases rise and/or remote is actually a better offering. It might be since there is not shuffling between learning modalities. I am very anxious to hear more details from the school about what it will actually be. They sent out a survey and I had like 10 questions off the top of my head. Will it be block schedules with Math and ELA as the focus or will they try to offer a bit of each content class? So far is all very vague. We don't even have a commitment for the first day of school yet.
Post by gerberdaisy on Jul 28, 2020 11:34:34 GMT -5
We haven't announced yet, will be this week (NYS). All the other schools around us are announcing, most are hybrid m/t or th/f, with an option of 100% remote. Many are also doing all HS at home.
We'll send DD back as much as allowed. DS also is starting daycare next week, 2 days/week. They forced our hand on either going back or losing our spot, there was one FT and one t/th, so went with t/th. He hasn't started yet and I'm already regretting not sending him back full time.
For elementary, we have the option of 5 days in school (days are an hour shorter, kids are not guaranteed their home school based on enrollment numbers), hybrid (in person 2 days, online 3 days), or all virtual. I am nervous but choosing the 5 day option for my rising 3rd grader. She gets special ed services that did not translate online.
For middle school, the only options are hybrid or all virtual due to space constraints at the schools. Days are an hour shorter, and they have completely eliminated lunch. So if my son goes and rides the bus, he'll be gone roughly 8 hours without a meal. I know that hybrid kids, on their days at home, will just be watching a live stream of the teacher with the kids in the classroom. It is unclear if the all-virtual kids will be their own cohort and taught a curriculum geared toward online learning, or if they will also just live stream a teacher who is teaching some kids live in the classroom.
For both my kid's sake and the teacher's sake, I will choose all virtual if they will be using a different online-based curriculum. I think it is unrealistic to expect teachers to engage kids both in the classroom and online at the same time. I also anticipate that it would be really boring for the at-home kids.
If the all-virtual kids are just following along with live classes every day, I think we'll choose hybrid so that he can be more engaged at least a couple days/week.
As of today, our secondary schools are still planning to run extra curriculars. My son wants to play a fall sport, but I am also really undecided about that. In normal times it would be a great way to meet new friends in his first year of middle school. But doesn't seem like a good idea this year.
Our numbers have risen somewhat but are stable since our area reopened a month ago. Who knows what that will look like in another month, so this may all be moot.
Our options are: A) 100% virtual learning B) 100% in person C) Enroll in public school virtual learning but pay daycare to guide her through the virtual learning during the day.
We went with 100% in person learning for our DD who is headed into K. Our public school system has a very detailed and organized plan, communication has been very good, we’ve talked to our pediatrician who uses the same school system, and it’s what we think will work best for her. That said, cases in our area have stabilized and this will be our only exposure really. Our neighborhood has been taking this very seriously and we will be using the neighborhood school, so that helps calm my fears. I’m still a ball of anxiety, but I feel like this is one of those scenarios where there is no correct decision.
Our school board met last night and people are going crazy over the proposed plans. They proposed having K-2 in person, and grade 6, and grade 9! The rest virtual to start. Kids and teachers in school are to be masked. People are freaking out. It's not final yet. Announcement of final plan supposed to come late next week.
I will be really happy with anything that is NOT heavily emphasizing "full time in person" with a virtual choice, b/c I might choose virtual and I don't want my kids to be in a very small percentage of kids not going in person. I think most would choose in-person here if given the option despite that our cases have been going up a lot. I don't want to be the social pariah, but I'm really not comfortable with in-person for all my kids for a variety of reasons. I think I probably WOULD send my 6th grader to her first year of middle school in person....but we'll see. Under proposed plan, they would be using the entire middle school for just the 6th graders.
I am hoping our preschool will do a 5K, half-day option. I would do that to give my K kid an in-person experience, but it's a small group, and half-day, so I feel better about it than all-day masked at the big public school with lunch and everything. They don't know if there will be enough interest.
Also, no idea what this means for our 18 month old. Working from home is only working out because the kids play so well together. We are looking at sending her back to daycare once schools starts, but also are considering other care options that might have a lower exposure risk. I don’t want to send her back at all, but I realize that we need to weight all the options and see.
We are doing full-time in person school. The other option was for my husband to quit his job o stay home and do “remote” schooling which would require my 6yo to be in front of a computer screen for 6.5 hours a day with one 45-minute break for lunch.
Masks are mandatory, and it looks like the building will only be at around 50% capacity (though class sizes aren’t going to be that much smaller—they’ll probably have 17 kids instead of 20).
Post by thebreakfastclub on Jul 28, 2020 11:54:50 GMT -5
We passed on the 100% remote learning option. Depending on the status of the county, school could start as a hybrid 3 days/2 days schedule or it could start remote. The city district just announced 100% remote through October wk 1, so I can only guess my school will follow suit. They will announce Aug 10.
On the bright side, my son's daycare is offering to facilitate remote learning and provide full-day care. My son has been back at daycare since Memorial Day, so I am glad there is an option for him to stay there and have the teachers work with him on his studies. I think I'd probably pick him up earlier, at 4pm, to give him a chance to relax and then we can review his work immediately after dinner, to ensure he's staying on top of things. I am also looking for a reading tutor once a week to supplement.
I am relieved for the daycare accommodating school age kids since we both work full time.
Post by sillygoosegirl on Jul 28, 2020 12:02:06 GMT -5
We've 100% made the decision not to do in person school this year. The district is supposed to release the details of it's Comprehensive Distance Learning plan today. 99% sure we will homeschool rather than doing CDL, but I'm waiting to see the details of the plan first.
I'm feeling a lot of guilt over the funding implications of a bunch of kids getting pulled for homeschooling... but on the flip side, what they've released so far about the plan has been so horrible, and what the rest of the parents seem to want sounds so horrible, I really can't see participating. I really hope our state legislators address this in their special session and redistribute that money so that massively fewer pupils for schools to teach this year can become a help to public schools rather than a hindrance.
We go back in 2 weeks. The current options are a 3/2 model where kids go M/T and every other Wednesday or Th/F and every other Wednesday, all remote (deadline for this was last week) or pull and home school.
Omaha is weird where we have the main OPS system, but within city limits there are 4 other school districts. Initially all the other school districts announced all kids, all days as their only option and then later added a 100% remote option. Well this week they’re starting to make weird announcements like every kid will go one day during the first week but with no information about subsequent weeks. I’ve heard a rumor from a reliable source that one of these other districts is going to announce today that they’re going 100% remote through September.
So suffice to say, no one is anticipating that we’ll be in school for longer than it takes to distribute iPads. Or they’re going to call it this week.
Post by scribellesam on Jul 28, 2020 12:22:22 GMT -5
Our county (SoCal) will be 100% virtual indefinitely, as decreed by the governor. If we ever make it off his watchlist, it’s possible they will implement a hybrid schedule but I’m not going to hold my breath that it will happen before January at the earliest.
Post by InBetweenDays on Jul 28, 2020 12:23:30 GMT -5
Seattle Public Schools Superintendent has recommended 100% remote learning to start. The school board is voting on this on August 12th, and I would be VERY surprised if they voted against it. So DD (9th grade) will be starting high school and DS (6th grade) will be starting middle school remotely. I'm disappointed, but our case numbers are not where they need to be and I just don't see a safe way to do in-person learning with a district of our size. Unless something drastically changes in our cases in the next month, I think any in-person learning would lead to efforts being put towards managing outbreaks (and the disruption that will inevitably come with that) rather than efforts being put towards educating. I'm hoping the district can now focus on how to implement a robust and equitable distance learning program.
Our governor is all about personal responsibility, so she never fully shut things down and refuses a mask mandate...but that small government thing apparently doesn’t apply to school. She has mandated that schools must open at least 50% in person. Apparently there are waivers, but according to our superintendent, they’re for “days, not weeks or months.” The board meeting was last night and was extremely frustrating, as it was apparent that they feel 100% virtual is our best option to start. We’re at around 8% positive test rate and nearing our record numbers from April. PK-8 schools are going to start an “AB Hybrid” for the first two weeks and then go to 100% in person if they can. HS will be hybrid through 1st Q.
We are going to take the virtual option. Details are still very vague, but it will be led by a district instructor and will have a max of 2 hours of screen time a day, according to my understanding. AB hybrid would be a logistical nightmare for me to keep track of, and I think would make my 4th grader incredibly anxious (is it a school day or isn’t it? Am I in the right place? Did I miss something? etc). Since I’m not working right now (was planning to go back this year) and have always had an interest in homeschooling, keeping my kids home makes sense. I hope my kids not being in the classroom makes it safer for the kids and teachers who are in the classroom.
We have bought some school stuff from Target and ALDI to make our school area a little more fun, and I’m just hoping for the best.
Last week they presented 2 options, 1-whim of the school, so everything from 100% remote to 100% on-site, with options in between, 2-100% remote, sign up for the semester.
The superintendent has recommended the first 9 weeks be virtual for all, no matter your choice.
Last night was the video/audio comments and it was really fucking scary. Like, I cannot believe these people had children and are spreading such lies, including one woman who identified herself as a doctor and said "kids don't get that sick." WHATTHEFUCK!
BUT.... the 2nd question/answer meeting was supposed to be at noon. The Virginia DOE had a conference call this morning and whatever they disclosed in that meeting, caused the noon meeting to be cancelled.
The VA Governor is going on at 2pm and I'm betting we're going back phases and schools won't have a choice except to be virtual. Our cases are rising and my area is one of the hot spots in the state now.
None of our local districts have announced anything yet. I think they have to submit plans to the state (NY) by the end of this week, so I'm hoping we know something next week....
I’m also in MA but we won’t know our plan until August 10. Now that school in MA can be delayed to start until September 16 I’m guessing we won’t REALLY know anything until early September (as in, case numbers will change so plans will change).
If cases are the same as now and the schools have appropriate measures (masks, improving ventilation, pods, etc) I’ll be fine sending them back. But I have zero idea what will actually happen.
We're in NY, so no 100% solid plans yet. However, I attended an elementary task force meeting last week where our curriculum sup told us that they were planning to bring K-5 back full time in person, or give a 100% remote option if parents choose it. For in person, they were going to split the classes in half, utilize all space (think roped off "classrooms" in the gym, etc...) and have the teachers go back and forth between the two halves of their class. DD's class the last two years has had 16-17 kids, so by the time they split the classes, and anyone who wants to opts out, you'd be looking at pretty small pods. She told us it wasn't set in stone, but encouraged us to tell our friends who weren't on the task force. So we did. And today the superintendent sent out a letter indicating they are trying to bring K-2 back full time, 3-5 would be in the hybrid model with the upper grades. This doesn't really affect me, my only student is going into 2nd, but I'm really surprised at the change since last week. Why would the tell us they were going to bring all elementary back and then go back on it? Seems like a strategic error - you don't want to be taking more things away right now, but what do I know? It also makes me question everything else that was said in that meeting. So, who knows?
For what it's worth, I was pretty pleased with the full time option. I feel like if we're going to incur the risk of sending her back, the more she can be there, the more worth the risk. I also like that if we decided not to send her back, we had the remote option. If things go forth the way they were described in the meeting, I'm 90% sure we'd do the in-person option.
It's a little harder to decide for my 3yo preschooler. On the one hand, preschool is not absolutely essential. On the other, I do need to work, and preschool helps free me up to do that. I think we're going to send him back, too, but I feel more guilt about that decision than sending my daughter.