How could a school the size of Blair reopen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone will have to wear masks in school.

How's that going to work for lunch?

You might be able to get HS students to wear masks effectively other times, but what about elementary students? Pre-K?

ES kids can be in classrooms most of the day. Completely different scenario than HS. Much less mixing. Lunch room can be kept by clas...even recess with some changes. Mrs Smiths class in on the basketball courts today. Mr Bs class is on the jungle gyms. Mr Laks class is on the soccer fields. Ideal no..but much better than no education.

But Larla in Mrs. Smith's second grade class has a big brother Larlo in a fifth grade class and Lerlo in Mr. Bs second grade class has a little sister Lerla in K and classmates of both Larlo and Lerla have siblings in Mr. Laks second grade class, one of which wears their mask all the time, but moves it out of the way to pick their nose.

Meanwhile, while most parents may work from home in the Walter Johnson neighborhood, maybe one has a parent who is a doctor/nurse/EMT. Maybe somebody has a big brother who goes to Takoma Park or a sister who goes to Eastern. Maybe the cafeteria lady is married to a busdriver who drives people all over the county, including the Blair area.

I'm sure that every parent will be conscientious and make sure their child has a mask. Moreover, kids have surely improved since my kids were young and will never forget or lose their masks. They'll patiently wash their hands thoroughly for 20 seconds and won't touch their faces.

If we could keep kids six feet apart and have parents react promptly and responsibly, spreading lice would never be an issue.

I disagree that no education is worse than no life, and I think it's a false argument. Distance learning may not be optimal, but it can be effective. The fact that we haven't managed it at the end of a school year with no preparation doesn't mean it can't be done. There are places where geographic isolation requires distance learning and other families who choose distance learning as a homeschool option. I am sure that if MCPS focuses its efforts (and puts its ego aside), we can have a functional educational approach in place by fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think it's likely that we're going to see very different solutions for elementary vs. high school.

There's evidence, but not yet proof, that kids under 10 aren't spreading the virus, or doing so in smaller numbers. So, it may be that there's a decision that masks start at a certain age.

It's also more realistic to set up routines so that elementary students are only exposed to others in their own class. Whether that's specials being done virtually (e.g. teacher projected on whiteboard), eating in the classroom, staggered arrivals and dismissals, assigned seats on the bus so kids are next to others in their class etc . . .

On the other hand, from an economic point of view, reopening elementary schools is key. Right now, if schools are closed, 12.5 percent of the workforce can't work. So, getting those parents back to work means getting care for their kids.

On the other hand, I think we're more likely to see some kind of blended solution for high schoolers. I can imagine, for example, going to a block schedule (4 classes that last a semester, rather than 8 that last all year, or even 2 classes that last a quarter). So, a student might have 4 classes, 2 of which meet on campus, and come to school every other day.

But we're months away from reopening, and hopefully we'll have a lot more information by the end of that period, about whether and how kids spread the virus, and what kind of interventions have the most power to slow down spread.

From an education point of view, having school is key. And I don't mean distance learning. It needs to be a high priority for schools to start again in the fall.

From a public-health point of view, there is surely no benefit to high school kids going to school every other day instead of every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone will have to wear masks in school.

How's that going to work for lunch?

You might be able to get HS students to wear masks effectively other times, but what about elementary students? Pre-K?

ES kids can be in classrooms most of the day. Completely different scenario than HS. Much less mixing. Lunch room can be kept by clas...even recess with some changes. Mrs Smiths class in on the basketball courts today. Mr Bs class is on the jungle gyms. Mr Laks class is on the soccer fields. Ideal no..but much better than no education.

But Larla in Mrs. Smith's second grade class has a big brother Larlo in a fifth grade class and Lerlo in Mr. Bs second grade class has a little sister Lerla in K and classmates of both Larlo and Lerla have siblings in Mr. Laks second grade class, one of which wears their mask all the time, but moves it out of the way to pick their nose.

Meanwhile, while most parents may work from home in the Walter Johnson neighborhood, maybe one has a parent who is a doctor/nurse/EMT. Maybe somebody has a big brother who goes to Takoma Park or a sister who goes to Eastern. Maybe the cafeteria lady is married to a busdriver who drives people all over the county, including the Blair area.

I'm sure that every parent will be conscientious and make sure their child has a mask. Moreover, kids have surely improved since my kids were young and will never forget or lose their masks. They'll patiently wash their hands thoroughly for 20 seconds and won't touch their faces.

If we could keep kids six feet apart and have parents react promptly and responsibly, spreading lice would never be an issue.

I disagree that no education is worse than no life, and I think it's a false argument. Distance learning may not be optimal, but it can be effective. The fact that we haven't managed it at the end of a school year with no preparation doesn't mean it can't be done. There are places where geographic isolation requires distance learning and other families who choose distance learning as a homeschool option. I am sure that if MCPS focuses its efforts (and puts its ego aside), we can have a functional educational approach in place by fall.

What you describe is true but there are still many many less connections than occur in HS where kids are mixing with different kids for every class and in the hallways between every class in addition to what you describe.

[Anonymous]

There are ways they could open, but I agree it will be logistically similar to not opening. For example, my soon to be middle school aged child will have 7 classes each day (I'm 90% sure of this but it doesn't really matter what the # is).

If there are 1500 kids in the school, they can split them up into 300 per day, or 150 in two shifts per day. So a kid could go from 7:30am - 12pm or 1pm until 5:30pm and get 30 minutes per subject, doing the rest online. They could socially distance at this number, and not be there for a meal.

It doesn't look the same, and no, the quality isn't the same, but it could be done if they patrolled social distancing (which they could with this smaller #) and did deep cleans daily.

They could also move to a study group model, creating cohorts of 10-15 kids that all had the same classes and having them meet each week or twice per week with certain teachers.

It will be different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools will not reopen in the fall people. It ain’t gonna happen. So chill.

When will schools open? When there’s a vaccine? Say if that takes years or never?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I think it's likely that we're going to see very different solutions for elementary vs. high school.

There's evidence, but not yet proof, that kids under 10 aren't spreading the virus, or doing so in smaller numbers. So, it may be that there's a decision that masks start at a certain age.

It's also more realistic to set up routines so that elementary students are only exposed to others in their own class. Whether that's specials being done virtually (e.g. teacher projected on whiteboard), eating in the classroom, staggered arrivals and dismissals, assigned seats on the bus so kids are next to others in their class etc . . .

On the other hand, from an economic point of view, reopening elementary schools is key. Right now, if schools are closed, 12.5 percent of the workforce can't work. So, getting those parents back to work means getting care for their kids.

On the other hand, I think we're more likely to see some kind of blended solution for high schoolers. I can imagine, for example, going to a block schedule (4 classes that last a semester, rather than 8 that last all year, or even 2 classes that last a quarter). So, a student might have 4 classes, 2 of which meet on campus, and come to school every other day.

But we're months away from reopening, and hopefully we'll have a lot more information by the end of that period, about whether and how kids spread the virus, and what kind of interventions have the most power to slow down spread.

From an education point of view, having school is key. And I don't mean distance learning. It needs to be a high priority for schools to start again in the fall.

From a public-health point of view, there is surely no benefit to high school kids going to school every other day instead of every day.

From a public health standpoint, half as many kids in the school on a given day means more social distancing in the classroom. It means kids aren't sharing seats on school buses. It means more space in the hallway, especially if combined with other strategies to stagger transitions.

I'm not saying this is what MCPS will do or even should do. But there's no question that from a public health standpoint, reducing the number of people, while keeping the building size the same, would slow down the spread of the virus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

From a public health standpoint, half as many kids in the school on a given day means more social distancing in the classroom. It means kids aren't sharing seats on school buses. It means more space in the hallway, especially if combined with other strategies to stagger transitions.

I'm not saying this is what MCPS will do or even should do. But there's no question that from a public health standpoint, reducing the number of people, while keeping the building size the same, would slow down the spread of the virus.

So a group of 1,000 kids at the school on a given day, instead of a group of 2,000 kids.

I'm guessing that the marginal effect on virus spread is tiny, if it even exists at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given the enormous size - and location in a county hotspot - I’m trying to wrap my head around how Blair (and schools like it) could reopen this fall. Has anyone heard discussion of strategies or is it all speculation at this point?

The only thing I have heard was about all magnets in general, parents were concerned about super long bus rides that would expose kids to the viral load and the concern about making magnets more centrally locate and not extreme as they are. That came to me on a grape vine and no supporting evidence. Not sure if there is any value or credibility to this and who and what this represents.

[Anonymous]

The only real way to spread out kids is to go to a shift model. Alternating days or mornings/evenings could cut numbers in half. In secondary, some courses could be switched to a lecture (online modules) & discussion group (assessments and labs in school) model. Seniors can take reduced #courses. Students could enroll in fully online college courses. It’s going to take a lot of different ideas to reduce student and staff load in the buildings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only real way to spread out kids is to go to a shift model. Alternating days or mornings/evenings could cut numbers in half. In secondary, some courses could be switched to a lecture (online modules) & discussion group (assessments and labs in school) model. Seniors can take reduced #courses. Students could enroll in fully online college courses. It’s going to take a lot of different ideas to reduce student and staff load in the buildings.

It would also cut education in half.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone will have to wear masks in school.

How's that going to work for lunch?

You might be able to get HS students to wear masks effectively other times, but what about elementary students? Pre-K?

I think it's likely that we're going to see very different solutions for elementary vs. high school.

There's evidence, but not yet proof, that kids under 10 aren't spreading the virus, or doing so in smaller numbers. So, it may be that there's a decision that masks start at a certain age.

It's also more realistic to set up routines so that elementary students are only exposed to others in their own class. Whether that's specials being done virtually (e.g. teacher projected on whiteboard), eating in the classroom, staggered arrivals and dismissals, assigned seats on the bus so kids are next to others in their class etc . . .

On the other hand, from an economic point of view, reopening elementary schools is key. Right now, if schools are closed, 12.5 percent of the workforce can't work. So, getting those parents back to work means getting care for their kids.

On the other hand, I think we're more likely to see some kind of blended solution for high schoolers. I can imagine, for example, going to a block schedule (4 classes that last a semester, rather than 8 that last all year, or even 2 classes that last a quarter). So, a student might have 4 classes, 2 of which meet on campus, and come to school every other day.

But we're months away from reopening, and hopefully we'll have a lot more information by the end of that period, about whether and how kids spread the virus, and what kind of interventions have the most power to slow down spread.

Man, most teachers did not sign up for putting their lives at risk to teach school. It'll be interesting to see how they react, especially those who are older and close to retirement eligiblity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone will have to wear masks in school.

How's that going to work for lunch?

You might be able to get HS students to wear masks effectively other times, but what about elementary students? Pre-K?

I think it's likely that we're going to see very different solutions for elementary vs. high school.

There's evidence, but not yet proof, that kids under 10 aren't spreading the virus, or doing so in smaller numbers. So, it may be that there's a decision that masks start at a certain age.

It's also more realistic to set up routines so that elementary students are only exposed to others in their own class. Whether that's specials being done virtually (e.g. teacher projected on whiteboard), eating in the classroom, staggered arrivals and dismissals, assigned seats on the bus so kids are next to others in their class etc . . .

On the other hand, from an economic point of view, reopening elementary schools is key. Right now, if schools are closed, 12.5 percent of the workforce can't work. So, getting those parents back to work means getting care for their kids.

On the other hand, I think we're more likely to see some kind of blended solution for high schoolers. I can imagine, for example, going to a block schedule (4 classes that last a semester, rather than 8 that last all year, or even 2 classes that last a quarter). So, a student might have 4 classes, 2 of which meet on campus, and come to school every other day.

But we're months away from reopening, and hopefully we'll have a lot more information by the end of that period, about whether and how kids spread the virus, and what kind of interventions have the most power to slow down spread.

Man, most teachers did not sign up for putting their lives at risk to teach school. It'll be interesting to see how they react, especially those who are older and close to retirement eligiblity.

They won't show up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Presumably, Silver Spring won't still be a hot spot in the Fall. The numbers for 20906, for example, while high are only slowly going up (ie: 10-25 new cases per day for past week).

That's because we're shut down. If things are going up a little with things shut down, I certainly wouldn't expect them to go down when we stop social distancing.

My kids went to Blair. I can tell you that while you can't feasibly keep kids 6 feet apart in the classroom, that's still a lot better than the spacing in the cafeteria, on buses, or in the halls between class periods.

We're not really shut down. Plenty of people are out and about, in fact increasingly so, and I'm not talking about the people working in essential industries.

Yup. More than half of the Montgomery county cases and deaths are nursing home patients.

Not factual at all. Maybe you can’t do math.

Today’s 5/3 MoCo count:

Total cases: 5,150
Total nursing home cases: 1,099
Staff: 382
Residents: 717

Now do mo co deaths.

You want to talk about nursing home deaths at a time when everything else was closed. Nursing homes couldn't close and didn't. They were open, everything else was closed. They got hit the hardest. Nothing else was open.
Except meat packing plants. They were open. They got hit hard.
Places that were open, got hit hard.
Get it?

[Anonymous]

How would am/pm shifts work with bussing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone will have to wear masks in school.

How's that going to work for lunch?

You might be able to get HS students to wear masks effectively other times, but what about elementary students? Pre-K?

I think it's likely that we're going to see very different solutions for elementary vs. high school.

There's evidence, but not yet proof, that kids under 10 aren't spreading the virus, or doing so in smaller numbers. So, it may be that there's a decision that masks start at a certain age.

It's also more realistic to set up routines so that elementary students are only exposed to others in their own class. Whether that's specials being done virtually (e.g. teacher projected on whiteboard), eating in the classroom, staggered arrivals and dismissals, assigned seats on the bus so kids are next to others in their class etc . . .

On the other hand, from an economic point of view, reopening elementary schools is key. Right now, if schools are closed, 12.5 percent of the workforce can't work. So, getting those parents back to work means getting care for their kids.

On the other hand, I think we're more likely to see some kind of blended solution for high schoolers. I can imagine, for example, going to a block schedule (4 classes that last a semester, rather than 8 that last all year, or even 2 classes that last a quarter). So, a student might have 4 classes, 2 of which meet on campus, and come to school every other day.

But we're months away from reopening, and hopefully we'll have a lot more information by the end of that period, about whether and how kids spread the virus, and what kind of interventions have the most power to slow down spread.

Man, most teachers did not sign up for putting their lives at risk to teach school. It'll be interesting to see how they react, especially those who are older and close to retirement eligiblity.

Neither did grocery store employees or meat processors.