It's been close to a year since our world changed abruptly due to the COVID-19 virus. This time last year we thought that this would be a short-term situation and that it would all be over in a matter of weeks. Little did we know at the time how long term the situation would become. I was interviewed recently by KMOT and was asked to reflect on our experiences over the last year. This caused me to look back at my emails, notes, agendas, and planning documents. It became an opportunity for me to reflect on the past year and all of the challenges, logistics, and frustrations we faced.
On March 9, 2020, we asked educators to talk to children about COVID-19 in their classrooms and help reduce their fears and anxiety. We began instituting a mandatory handwashing schedule at both the elementary and high school. Cleaning and disinfecting were ramped up by teachers and custodial staff. Food service changed, we no longer allowed self-served foods and this greatly reduced our lunch offerings. Attendance incentive programs were suspended at both schools. We placed travel restrictions in place for students and staff until April 3rd (little did we know that this would remain in effect for the rest of the year). We started to educate ourselves and others on the importance of handwashing, cleanliness, and staying home when sick (which was hard to get used to for many). We began talking about masks and face coverings (yikes). If you traveled out of the state at the time you had to quarantine for 14 days. This was only the beginning...
Thinking back, I could feel a cloud that hung over the week of March 9th – March 13th last year. Cancelations and state shutdowns were occurring across the country and there was talk within the superintendent circles that North Dakota may shut down as well. I can remember the somber feeling at the regional basketball tournament at the time. Our team had just advanced to state, but all in attendance were uncertain of the future. Schools were eventually closed by Governor Burgum on March 15th (today). It was a Sunday evening, this left us scrambling to get a plan together. We went to work the next morning with teachers and began planning the next two weeks. Immediately we were thinking about the students and how we could educate them. We quickly realized that we needed platforms to help us deliver instruction remotely. We began researching Google Classroom and Zoom. Those two platforms became the delivery models that we continue to use to this day. We worked quickly to develop content that could be accessed easily by students and parents. At this point, we didn’t have a directive from the state, we felt we needed to provide our families with something at home. We worked quickly and were able to provide course content remotely a week later. We held our first Facebook Live on March 19th to update families – close to 700 people connected to hear our plan. Facebook and the Live feature became our social media platform to share and gather information with our school community. We held around 7-10 Facebook Lives over the next year.
Logistics was a challenge from the beginning. I am so THANKFUL for our people, I was feeling overwhelmed with the immensity and our team pulled together to problem solve. Within a few days, we were able to provide breakfast and lunch deliveries and pickup sites, we took our show on the road 😊. Our food service staff did a tremendous job making this happen.
We were very concerned about student mental health. Our kids were isolated and their school year had just come to an abrupt end. There was so much uncertainty for them, would their activities continue, would we have prom, would we have graduation? Our counselors began calling their regular visitors to begin connecting remotely. Our therapist modified her schedule as well to meet her student’s needs.
Equity was a major problem at the beginning of the pandemic. Many students lacked high quality internet. We worked hard to provide free internet to those that could not afford it, the internet companies were great to work with! Remote learning was not appropriate for many students with special needs and the pandemic exposed equity issues that existed in our district. Some students lacked the support at home to log in or complete their work at home.
We needed to get technology deployed to families that did not have a device. We issued around 200 total Chromebooks for families throughout the spring of 2020. Our teachers needed training, we were not ready for a full remote learning transition. Fortunately, we had local experts (our educators) that were able to get all staff up to speed and comfortable with technology. We worked quickly to get our content uploaded to our remote learning platform. Students were able to access content by March 23rd from our school website (a week later). Educators prepared lessons that were tied to the remaining essential standards. We began having conversations about how long should students spend on a device, what was appropriate? How would we mark attendance? How should we grade them? What about security issues related to Zoom?
Eventually, we were required to create a distance learning plan that was to be implemented by April 1st. We began to realize that we may end the year in this distance format. We started talking about the "new normal” which later became a cliché. As we progressed in this new environment, we learned along the way through trial and error. Week by week we got better together, and these experiences prepared us for the 2020-2021 school year.
It’s hard not to get emotional when I reflect on these
experiences, I am so proud of our district. We have been able to be in session
all school year face to face. I could not have done this alone, and I am so grateful
for our educators, support staff, parents, and students at Rugby Public Schools.
We have navigated what might be the most challenging experience we will likely
face in education in our careers. We have done it with a positive and “whatever
it takes” attitude. We still have a way to go with this pandemic, but I am
confident that we can handle whatever gets in our way. Little did we know how real
the last line of our vision statement would become: Our vision is to create a
safe and caring environment in which all learners are engaged with authentic,
innovative, standards-referenced learning centered on collaboration,
communication, creativity, and critical thinking. Every learner will be
empowered to pursue personal excellence and make a positive impact in an ever-changing
world.
Thank you!
Mike
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