So here we are. September. It's the end of summer break. The road to the start of school was stressful and uncertain. There was anxiety over what was going to happen come the fall. And now school has begun. But how did we get here? Flash back to the beginning of August when we received confirmation that our district would be submitting options for a reopening plan to the state at the beginning of the month. After which time they would make their final decision on what the upcoming school year would look like. And so it began...
So we sat. Patiently. Waiting. Finally we receive a fairly confusing email from our superintendent highlighting the options that they were submitting to New York State for approval. They were as follows:
100% In-Person Learning
A Hybrid Learning Model
100% Remote Learning
So there we had it. To be honest I wanted to say "well, Duh! I could have told you that. Aren't those the only options?" Once the email came in all we could do is wait a little longer until we were told for sure what the final decision. August 14th comes. We received a fairly confusing email telling us what we were going to be doing in the fall however it was still unclear. Were we Hybrid or Remote? It seemed like there were 2 options still in play and were weren't really sure what to do.
Thankfully the district sent out an email within a day or so after that explaining that were were indeed going to be using the Hybrid Model of learning for the upcoming school year. However, they were also offering a 100% Remote learning option for those parents who were not comfortable sending their children back to school just yet.
Ok, great, now we were tasked with making that decision. A decision I never thought we would be faced with. Did we send them back to the Hybrid Model or did we keep them home? There were obviously pros and cons with both decisions. We didn't want the kids to miss out on the interaction with their teachers and fellow classmates in person (we think socially it would be more beneficial for them), however keeping them home to learn remotely would keep them safer and we wouldn't have to stress about the fear of them getting sick.
Our other concern with keeping them home for remote learning was who would teach them? I am still working (albeit from home) and my husband still has jobs as well. So this was ultimately not only a decision that affected only the kids but us as well. We wanted to make sure that if we kept them home they were getting just as much of an education as if they were sitting right in front of their teacher.
We went back and forth for a while. Considering the pros and cons to both options, talking with other parents, and trying to decide what would be the right thing for our children. We didn't ever want them to be without the best learning experience possible. Ultimately we decided to keep them home. It was what made us feel most comfortable. We had to commit to 10 weeks of home learning after which everything would be reevaluated. We knew that in order for this so work we would have to work together as a team to ensure that the kids got the most out of their education. We also made the decision to have both kids in the same class. It would be easier to stay on top of their school work if they were doing the exact same thing at the exact same time.
So there you have it. Decision made. Now we awaited the beginning of school. Sounds like we were all set right? NOPE!
Insert wrench thrown in....
THE SCHOOL DISTRICT CHANGED DIRECTIONS! Even though we decided to go 100% remote and other parents decided to go Hybrid, the Board of Education threw us a curve ball and made the decision to keep the entire school district 100% Remote Learning until October 13th (which just so happens to be my birthday, happy birthday to me!). They just weren't prepared for the return to school, battling staffing issues, among other things. I was happy we were already planing on keeping the kids home because it didn't upset our plan too much, but i felt bad for those parents who were counting on the Hybrid Model. For now we can only hope that all goes smoothly and our kids will be back to learning all together in a classroom setting soon.
Stay tuned for my start of the school year post....
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