Allegedly there are several options for the fall none of which include being back full time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My child’s Principal let slip that school would start online.

Your child's Principal can't "let it slip" because your child's Principal doesn't know.

DP. They must be telling them something. There’s been a lot of chatter among teachers about broad hints given by principals. There’s also the fact that schools aren’t requesting the return of Chromebooks —even for students who are going to the next grade band or moving clusters.

Chromebooks is telling. Our school has "pick up your stuff" on Monday, and they are asking library books to be returned, but not Chromebooks..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My child’s Principal let slip that school would start online.

Your child's Principal can't "let it slip" because your child's Principal doesn't know.

DP. They must be telling them something. There’s been a lot of chatter among teachers about broad hints given by principals. There’s also the fact that schools aren’t requesting the return of Chromebooks —even for students who are going to the next grade band or moving clusters.

Chromebooks is telling. Our school has "pick up your stuff" on Monday, and they are asking library books to be returned, but not Chromebooks..

No, it doesn't say anything. Actually it makes sense not to collect them. People would need them in case there is hybrid. Also our school and individual teacher told kids to bring books when we are back in school.

[Anonymous]

https://wtop.com/education/2020/06/teenagers-are-showing-signs-of-anxiety-disconnection-without-in-person-learning/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://wtop.com/education/2020/06/teenagers-are-showing-signs-of-anxiety-disconnection-without-in-person-learning/

Guess who doesn’t feel depressed and disconnected? People dead of COVID. Their families sure are hurting though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://wtop.com/education/2020/06/teenagers-are-showing-signs-of-anxiety-disconnection-without-in-person-learning/

Guess who doesn’t feel depressed and disconnected? People dead of COVID. Their families sure are hurting though.

Sure, but the number of teenagers and younger kids being hurt by closed schools is several magnitudes higher than those impacted by Covid. And we have no evidence that opening schools would significantly increase Covid deaths. Sure, we can prevent SOME deaths by keeping schools closed, not just Covid deaths, but also flu deaths, meningitis deaths, school shooting deaths, commuting deaths... But usually we keep schools running despite these risks. It is all a matter of costs vs benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My child’s Principal let slip that school would start online.

Your child's Principal can't "let it slip" because your child's Principal doesn't know.

DP. They must be telling them something. There’s been a lot of chatter among teachers about broad hints given by principals. There’s also the fact that schools aren’t requesting the return of Chromebooks —even for students who are going to the next grade band or moving clusters.

Chromebooks is telling. Our school has "pick up your stuff" on Monday, and they are asking library books to be returned, but not Chromebooks..

I'm the first PP with the chatty Principal.

I overheard her telling the kids during this morning's Zoom multi-class grade meeting: she had dropped in to give the students a pep talk.

My child's teacher also told the kids to keep their Chromebooks for the summer, and to return their books (still waiting for a date).

In all common sense, it means that MCPS is preparing for distance learning in the fall. It does not mean a decision has been made, and it does not imply education will be 100% online. But they're definitely trending that way, what with case numbers rising in states that opened up, etc...

[Anonymous]

Of course they are preparing for distance learning. It’s clear that at best, it will only be partially in person. That’s also why they aren’t having kids return Chromebooks. But I think that kids are likely to go back at least 2 days a week, which is a start—though they need much more. We

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://wtop.com/education/2020/06/teenagers-are-showing-signs-of-anxiety-disconnection-without-in-person-learning/

Guess who doesn’t feel depressed and disconnected? People dead of COVID. Their families sure are hurting though.

Sure, but the number of teenagers and younger kids being hurt by closed schools is several magnitudes higher than those impacted by Covid. And we have no evidence that opening schools would significantly increase Covid deaths. Sure, we can prevent SOME deaths by keeping schools closed, not just Covid deaths, but also flu deaths, meningitis deaths, school shooting deaths, commuting deaths... But usually we keep schools running despite these risks. It is all a matter of costs vs benefits.

Very well said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://wtop.com/education/2020/06/teenagers-are-showing-signs-of-anxiety-disconnection-without-in-person-learning/

Guess who doesn’t feel depressed and disconnected? People dead of COVID. Their families sure are hurting though.

The public-health costs of closing school are huge. The public-health benefits of closing school are uncertain and likely small. Kids need to be in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://wtop.com/education/2020/06/teenagers-are-showing-signs-of-anxiety-disconnection-without-in-person-learning/

Guess who doesn’t feel depressed and disconnected? People dead of COVID. Their families sure are hurting though.

Sure, but the number of teenagers and younger kids being hurt by closed schools is several magnitudes higher than those impacted by Covid. And we have no evidence that opening schools would significantly increase Covid deaths. Sure, we can prevent SOME deaths by keeping schools closed, not just Covid deaths, but also flu deaths, meningitis deaths, school shooting deaths, commuting deaths... But usually we keep schools running despite these risks. It is all a matter of costs vs benefits.

Very well said.

Kids are impacted when their grandparents die. And black and brown students are likely to be impacted not just emotionally but financially when a grandparent dies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://wtop.com/education/2020/06/teenagers-are-showing-signs-of-anxiety-disconnection-without-in-person-learning/

Guess who doesn’t feel depressed and disconnected? People dead of COVID. Their families sure are hurting though.

Sure, but the number of teenagers and younger kids being hurt by closed schools is several magnitudes higher than those impacted by Covid. And we have no evidence that opening schools would significantly increase Covid deaths. Sure, we can prevent SOME deaths by keeping schools closed, not just Covid deaths, but also flu deaths, meningitis deaths, school shooting deaths, commuting deaths... But usually we keep schools running despite these risks. It is all a matter of costs vs benefits.

Very well said.

Kids are impacted when their grandparents die. And black and brown students are likely to be impacted not just emotionally but financially when a grandparent dies.

Nobody is denying this.

Also, kids are impacted when they're not in school. Kids are impacted when they're not with other kids in school. Kids are impacted when they lose learning because they're not in school. Kids are impacted when they don't go to and from school. Kids are impacted when they're left home alone because they're not in school. Kids are impacted when they're taken along to dangerous work situations because they're not in school. Kids are impacted when their families experience financial insecurity because their parents have insecure working conditions because they're not in school. Kids are impacted when they're in abusive situations that are unrecognized because they're not in school. Should i go on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://wtop.com/education/2020/06/teenagers-are-showing-signs-of-anxiety-disconnection-without-in-person-learning/

Guess who doesn’t feel depressed and disconnected? People dead of COVID. Their families sure are hurting though.

The public-health costs of closing school are huge. The public-health benefits of closing school are uncertain and likely small. Kids need to be in school.

To make this claim, one has to assume that the value of the benefits [eg lives and trauma saved] is small. ???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My child’s Principal let slip that school would start online.

Your child's Principal can't "let it slip" because your child's Principal doesn't know.

DP. They must be telling them something. There’s been a lot of chatter among teachers about broad hints given by principals. There’s also the fact that schools aren’t requesting the return of Chromebooks —even for students who are going to the next grade band or moving clusters.

Ok Nancy drews. Chromebooks is not telling. Even if school were 95% in person (which it won't be) you would still need it for the other 5% of distance learning. Or if a second wave came (hopefully not) or if a employee or student became infected and the class had to quarantine, they would have to give all the chromebooks back again.

Keeping chromebooks is the most expected decision ever. It's only "telling" to anyone who thought school was restarting 100% normal like precovid- which is crazy.

Chromebooks is telling. Our school has "pick up your stuff" on Monday, and they are asking library books to be returned, but not Chromebooks..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://wtop.com/education/2020/06/teenagers-are-showing-signs-of-anxiety-disconnection-without-in-person-learning/

Guess who doesn’t feel depressed and disconnected? People dead of COVID. Their families sure are hurting though.

The public-health costs of closing school are huge. The public-health benefits of closing school are uncertain and likely small. Kids need to be in school.

To make this claim, one has to assume that the value of the benefits [eg lives and trauma saved] is small. ???

No, one doesn't. To make this claim, one has to assume that public health involves more aspects than exclusively coronavirus. I'm comfortable making that assumption.

[Anonymous]

Saw this today:

We don’t have much information yet about what the fall will look like in MCPS, but I think there will be some online learning and some in-person learning.

MCPS has decided to use a single platform (myMCPS) in the fall rather than two (myMCPS and Google Classroom).
MCPS considers “continuation of learning” in marking period 4 a temporary response to the national crisis, and doesn’t continue when 2019-2020 school year ends. Distance learning in the fall will be more robust than what we experienced in MP4. MCPS aiming for more synchronous instruction, more teacher-led instruction, less centralized content, and more traditional assessments, grading and reporting.
MCPS still pressing forward with curricula rollout, with no desire to fall back to curriculum 2.0. There will be more vendor-supported teacher training this summer.
Testing: Apparently the College Board has decided not to try to conduct a 3-hour online SAT. MCPS is investigating whether it can hold an SAT day for students in the Class of 2021 (whose SAT day in the spring had to be cancelled).
State-required assessments that were cancelled in the spring might take place in the fall.
Challenges for reopening school buildings: limit size of groups, maintain social distancing, close communal areas (such as cafeterias), have staff (and probably many or most students) wear masks, restrict building visitors, more frequent hand sanitizing and building cleaning. Classrooms typically have room for 30 students; limiting to 10-12 requires substantial revision of classroom use. Schools are designed for group collaboration and socializing, so not using the cafeteria and having students eat at desks is also a major adjustment. Schools buses typically hold up to 60 children, but might be limited to half of that, or even as few as 10, which might require more staggered schedules, arrivals, and dismissals. MCPS must also account for students, family members and school staff who are at high risk from COVID-19 and may not feel comfortable with the increased risk of exposure in school buildings, so there may need to be options. There are many other considerations.

Rodney Peele
VP for Educational Issues