(This is Janet's account of the past year of teaching in the time of Covid. The photo is a drawing by a PDS student that appeared in the school newspaper and is on their website. Thanks, Janet for this and for persevering. )
Princeton Day School closed for spring break on March 6, 2020. We had warnings that the school might not reopen after the break, so students were told to clear out their lockers and take home anything they would need if we had to go remote.
And in fact, we did. We were remote until September 2020. It was a very difficult time for all. We started out working with Google Meets. Getting attendance in the morning was a nightmare. If the students did show up to homeroom, they usually turned off their cameras. I would tell them I knew what they were doing… turning on Google Meets, turning off their camera, and going back to sleep. A couple of them admitted that I was correct.
There is no doubt that even though this is a private school that endeavored to keep up to date with New Jersey and CDC regulations while making every effort to create a learning experience, a lot of learning was lost. It was a tremendously difficult and frustrating time for both teachers and students.
Summer programs are PDS's big money maker. They offer all types of programs, in class academics, outdoor activities, outdoor sports. They are always overbooked. Well, not the summer of 2020. Teachers were asked to come up with programs that could be offered virtually. I worked with my library colleague, Sheila on a couple of books clubs for younger kids. Not the greatest experience I have ever had. But! We did it.
School opened in September 2020, right after Labor Day, as usual. Because the pandemic seemed to be lessening and following CDC regulations, PDS opened to hybrid learning. Those that wanted to attend school, came. Those that wanted to stay remote, did. No more Google Meets. Now we had Zoom. Not only did we have Zoom, each room had a DTEN, a very large screen. Each morning we opened up our homeroom Zoom and were able to see our advisees at home, while they could see all of us in the classroom.
PDS, as I said, is a private school. To work within this pandemic and its restrictions, they dotted every "i" and crossed every "t." The school divisions were in "bubbles." In the middle school where I work, each grade had its own entrance. Grades could only mix on the playground for recess. Lunches were outside in different places. If they had to be inside, they were in homerooms. Each classroom has a DTEN, as I said, no desk for the teacher, and tables that were bisected with plexiglass, enabling four students to sit at each table. Masks were required except when eating and no one was allowed to talk while eating (which I pointed out was rude manners to begin with). Social distancing was enforced. Middle school students were not allowed upstairs in the upper school, or in the lower school. We library people had to do double duty as the lower school had no librarian. One of the assistants was present in the lower school classroom, while a librarian taught the class remotely. I teamed up with Nadia, the library assistant, and together we taught one Pre-K class and three K classes. Well, actually, I didn't teach, Roary did. Roary is the library lion. He is also a puppet. I just did his voice. I often had to go to lower school library to deliver books or to help out. I could not take the short way through the upper school. I either had to walk outside or go under (the Middle School is one level below the Upper School). No one was allowed in the library to browse the books and I desperately missed all the student contact I had in years gone by. Four teachers taught classes in the library. My part of the circulation desk had plexiglass running along the exterior of the desk. I still had to keep my mask on if anyone was in the room.
Every three weeks or so, students who no longer wanted to be remote, would return to school. By the end of the school year, there were not a lot of remote students. I had two advisees who returned toward the end of the year. Remote learning will not be allowed this upcoming school year.
It was exhausting. We had to be constantly on guard to make sure masks were on and social distancing was observed. We had to spray every table after every class. It was so sad to watch kids who love to interact with each other, love to play contact games with each other, love to fool around be constantly told to stop. Some teachers were very emphatic with the kids, I found myself apologizing to them. They all tried very hard to comply with all the new rules.
To add on to everything, George Floyd was murdered. The head of school advised us to all look at "Black at (name of school)" on Instagram. The stories were heartbreaking. PDS and Lawrenceville stories were filled with racism and just plain meanness. Our head took it to heart and called in a consultant. We spent the entire year in bi-monthly department Zoom meetings. A teacher was named DEI (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion) Coordinator. He, in turn, asked all of us to be on different task forces to explore and analyzed behavior at the school. It was a very full year.
I usually do work in the library during the summer, but this summer the Middle and Lower school libraries are being renovated to add a STEAM center to each. The "A" stands for Arts.
I know how lucky we all are at PDS. We are in a private school that has the money to make the school safe. It hurts to see schools struggling, losing students, not able to cope. I so wish it could be different.
Not sure what this year will bring, but having survived last school year, I am ready for anything. I hope.
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