After 10 months of online learning, many Anchorage elementary students are finally returning to classrooms - Anchorage Daily News

Rhiana Gay will stand in the kindergarten classroom of Creekside Park Elementary School on Friday, January 15, 2021. Ms. Guy’s students will return to learn in person on Tuesday, January 19. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

At the Creekside Park Elementary School in Anchorage on Friday, kindergarten teacher Rhiana Gay made the finishing touches to the layout of the classroom, placing a clip to fix the mask on the edge of the desk in preparation for the first day of the school year Class.

Most elementary school students from kindergarten to second grade, as well as special education students in sixth grade to self-sufficient classrooms, are scheduled to attend school in person at 9:30 am on Wednesday morning.

Since March, the Anchorage classrooms have been closed for face-to-face learning, and when they were about to start reopening, they were facing serious health risks and took many preventive measures.

The school has been planning for months.

Creekside Park is one of dozens of elementary schools in the Anchorage School District, where teachers and administrators have completed preparations and fine-tuned COVID-19 mitigation strategies to reopen classrooms this week.

On Friday, the second grade teacher Kristin Soult (Kristin Soult) got down from Gay and moved the table around the school’s usual art room, with a distance of at least 3 feet or more between each place .

She said Suter needed more social distancing because she hoped that about 20 students would return.

So far this semester, the school district sheriff Deena Bishop has announced three times that he plans to return students to the classroom in stages, and then

These plans are due to the spread of the coronavirus in Anchorage.

For months, parents, teachers, administrators, and school board members have debated the merits of the case and weighed the risks of opening a school when COVID-19 is spreading in the community. What some people worry most is that closing schools will harm students.

Among them are the most vulnerable students, while others worry that opening a school may cause the virus to spread further throughout the community.

Many teachers emphasized plans to open face-to-face schools during the global pandemic, and their unions are taking measures such as notifying school districts of unsafe working conditions.

Due to risks, some families choose not to allow students to return home

.

Facing the eventual return to the classroom, Gay said that she felt "scared, happy, nervous and well prepared" at the same time.

Principals and teachers are committed to creating personalization

Every school. They completed the planned one-way route to maintain social distancing from the children so that the children walked into the corridors and created personalized classroom materials tote bags for each student, so they did not have to share frequently touched objects such as marker Pens and crayons.

"We are ready," said David Christal, the principal of Creekside Park.

Christal said that in the morning before school, he would draw hundreds of dots on the snow outside the school, with each dot being six feet apart, to mark where children can line up to enter the building.

He said that the preparation of the classroom is a bit tricky because teachers cannot always determine how many students will be returned, because some families are choosing to use the district's virtual program and making a final decision.

He said that if their children go to school, some families may lose daycare workers because of the risk of COVID-19. Creekside Park is a Title I school, which means that many families have low socioeconomic capabilities.

He said: "Many of our parents sometimes do two jobs." "The loss of a daycare service provider will be a big blow to him, so this is a difficult decision for many of our families. "

He said that Krystal’s school has seen many students attend in person in the past few months because it piloted a small tuition program for some students in October, which included about 20 students and 4 teachers.

He said that because the students did not return to class as expected in November, and there were about 9 teachers in the school who volunteered to tutor 80 children, the tutoring work was expanded. He said it almost served as a test run for face-to-face schools.

"How will the children walk in the corridor? Well, we have seen them walking in the corridor," Krystal said. "...Are we worried about masks? No, because we have completed the counseling program and it's good to see children wearing masks."

He said that the success of the plan eliminated many of his worries and eased his teachers' views on the mitigation process and the spread of COVID-19.

"We were able to keep the COVID out," said Crystal Whitney, a first-year teacher who volunteered as a tutor. "...This shows me that as long as you are safe and the children follow the expectations, and the teachers follow the mitigation process, you can shut it out and the children can learn."

All of Whitney's preparations revolved around the question: "How to keep children safe while still being able to educate them?" she said.

She has planned a way for the children to be active throughout the school because they will not be able to get up and leave the classroom or move around the school as usual. She must also consider how to help them gain the physical and social connections they desire, while also teaching them to distance themselves from society.

Therefore, she will encourage children to give themselves "bearing hugs" and squeeze their arms to imitate the feelings of friends. She said that when children need to move, they will jump and rest, and do some small dances on the video.

Whitney said: "Most of your teaching is based on your relationships with people and the funny and stupid things that happen in the classroom."

She said that in online courses, those spontaneous learning times are more difficult to create because children are often muted and must take turns to speak.

Whitney said: "I think that when we get home and the children come here, they will look and feel different, while still feeling what school it should be-that community, a good place to learn and grow. ," said. "This is what they need now. They need this connection to be able to see their peers and others."

Nevertheless, many teachers are still worried about the health hazards of attending schools in person, and the conditions of different schools when operating under such strict health precautions.

In Gay’s kindergarten class, she will focus on students’ social and emotional well-being during the first week of class. She hopes that they will practice the new routine, wear masks and wash their hands.

She said: "When there is a routine, the child will shine."

However, the situation will be very different.

She said: "I really have to change the layout of the classroom."

Comfortable tents are usually safe, quiet spaces where children can relax and spend time alone. The public writing station is gone. The nursing bear that the child could hug when he was upset also disappeared.

Guy said: "Now only hard plastic can be washed."

Gay said that in kindergarten, students learn through games. But the toy time will be different. Children will choose a bucket of Lego blocks or toys to play alone all week.

Gay said that she missed her interaction with students very much throughout the school year.

Despite this, the risk of COVID-19 entering her classroom is still taking a toll on Gay's house-her father has a weakened immune system and is in a serious condition, and she lives with him. She is worried that he will be given the coronavirus. She said she also felt fear for students and their families.

Whitney is also worried. She didn’t know what she would say to family members if a student contracted COVID-19 in the classroom

Whitney said: "I think this is my biggest fear-if a child gets sick in my class, I will be responsible for it."

Gay is concerned about this because the plan in the area requires that the distance between classrooms be at least three feet, instead of the six feet recommended by the school.

Students will eat in the classroom and wear masks. Health experts warn that eating and drinking indoors around others are high-risk activities.

She said that Guy tried to separate the students as much as possible, and they would use plastic partitions during meals. But there are two students on the table in the room.

She said the reality of having her 18 students wash their hands six or more times a day is also daunting.

Gay said, "However," we will have to overcome it. "Then what should I do to overcome it?" "

Therefore, she will teach in person. However, her fears have been answered by many teachers.

The Teachers’ Union Anchorage Education Association has filed a preliminary complaint with the school district, notifying some members of the school district that they may refuse to perform work tasks due to unsafe working conditions. It also outlines the steps its members can take if they believe they have been pushed into an unsafe situation by the school administrator.

Corey Aist, the chairman of the association, said the goal is to be solution-oriented to ensure the safety of everyone, not a barrier to face-to-face learning. Safety issues range from the absence of six feet between the classroom and students, to close lunchtimes without masks to air circulation and filtration issues.

The teachers hope to do well. They want their students to achieve success. They want students to improve. They want to do this in a safe environment, and they are worried that we are not in a safe environment," Astor said. "They are worried that they will sign up for COVID-19. They worry that their students will sign contracts. "

Emily Goodykoontz is a journalist, covering local government, education and general tasks of the Daily News. She previously reported major news in Portland, Oregon, and worked as an intern reporter for the Eugene Registration Guard, before joining ADN in 2020. She received a degree in journalism from the University of Oregon.