How a Red Hook School Learns Through a Pandemic
On May 1st New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced an executive order to keep schools and college facilities closed statewide, for the rest of the academic year in response to the coronavirus. Since the initial statewide lockdown on March 13th, schools all over New York have had to administer distant learning models. Students and teachers have since moved their in-class experiences to google classroom, zoom calls, and emails.
District 15, has a history of sparse socioeconomic diversity composing of neighborhoods like Red Hook, Fort Green, and Cobble Hill. Red Hook generally relies on local funding and performs lower academically than their peers in the district. In February of 2017, the state had launched an initiative to integrate districts for an even distribution of funding.
So how does a school in Red Hook transition to online class models during a pandemic?
Summit Academy Charter School ensures access for all. The school has been able to ensure that students can continue their education in the safety of their homes.
Since the announcement of the lockdown the school has reportedly been able to organize the distribution of computers, tablets, phones, as well as hot spots. “We took that following Monday and Tuesday to talk about how we were going to ensure the professional development of teachers for online learning,” says Edgar Mera who is the first-year assistant principal of the school. “Later that week we didn’t administer classes instead we distributed resources that the students needed and if they weren’t able to come to school we went to their house.”
In these unprecedented times, the coronavirus has undoubtedly affected the way students learn. A survey shows that the majority of scholars believe that they learn better in the classroom.
One scholar on remote learning says, “I don’t like it as much because it was easier to do work on paper instead of online, and it was easier to contact the teacher if we needed help.” Another scholar’s temperament to remote learning says, “I feel like learning remotely is generally easier as I understand how to use the internet well.”
A concerned party is parents who want their child to succeed academically. In another survey, parents have reported that their child has consistent internet access allowing them to complete their classwork. However, 40% of parents feel that their child has either not adapted or has yet to adapt to remote learning.
Upperclassmen at Summit study a curriculum that prepares them for state-required regents exams. Since school closures, the New York State Education Department has issued new examination and graduation requirements and states that the 1200 minute lab experience does not have to be completed for the student to be exempt from the Regents exam.
Caroline Kim teaches living environment, life science, and AP environmental science at Summit. Since the transition, she has been finding virtual replacements for the labs she previously proctored at the school. She makes the notion that students feel overwhelmed in class.
“All students in my class have said that they feel overwhelmed and it’s a matter of how they cope with the stress. I think self-discipline is coming into play now and emotional intelligence factors into their academic success,” says Kim.
Tremaine Price is another administrator who teaches a variety of subjects such as sociology, musical theatre, and introduction to theatre to grades 9–12. His transition included collecting a lot of material from school as his theatre classes predominantly had printed scripts and his sociology class had physical copies of textbooks.
Speaking on how the virus affected his classes Price says, “Figuring out how a performing arts teacher who really relies on the work that he does in a classroom, that results in an end of the year performance…how does that look now? So it was figuring out how to develop them more personally and artistically without a show.”
As for his sociology students, he says, “It is getting them to think about the world around them given the reality we are in and how sociology plays a role in a lot of those things.”
In terms of academic performance, Price says that it has been a two-fold experience. “There have been students consistent with attendance, work, with participation. However, it has been a challenge to actively engage a student that you can’t see and it’s not the same as being in the same physical space with a student. Some students have risen to the occasion, others have unfortunately checked out.”
Summit scholars reported that they generally feel overwhelmed with classes but can make use of tutoring and other services.
Mera talks about hopes of the future as the pandemic continues to pan out saying, “For now, we have to ensure the safety of our scholars and then focus on academics. We hope to make sure that things go back to normal. It’s a social and emotional thing, and the relationship we have with our scholars plays an important role.”
