On Relationships and Learning

It wasn't supposed to be this way. It was supposed to be different. It was supposed to be better. 

We did the whole pandemic thing since March of 2020. We re-invented what education looked like. We made it work. 

We vaccinated. We vaccinated again. We lead the United States in vaccination rates. 

And yet, here we are, faced with another daunting school year. Particularly for us in St. Johnsbury, one in which more than seventy percent of our student population is at greater risk since they are not old enough to be eligible for vaccines yet. Still, on Wednesday, August 25, we will welcome our first through eighth graders back; six days later, our pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students will return to make our school family complete. 

We are universally masking. Every student, teacher, staff member, employee, visitor will be required to wear a mask when in our building. We are following the science that tells us that this current variant is twice as transmissible. We are following the science that tells us that masking prevents transmission. We encourage all eligible students in our district to get vaccinated because we follow the science that tells us how effective vaccines are. (References: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/delta-variant.html; https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid-19-state-level-data-report/)

We are doing all this because we want all of our students - every single one of them - back in our building, rebuilding relationships with our adults, to feel safe, welcome, and included. We know that when students feel safe, welcome, and included, they can learn to their individual potential. Almost universally, children learn best when they are in our building, with their teachers and friends. We want that, in person, every day in St. Johnsbury. 

I know what you're saying: we did this last year. And we did. Our community rose in support of our students, faculty, staff, and employees. You supported hybrid learning, a remote schedule, and smaller cohorts to support physical distancing. From the bottom of my heart, I am grateful beyond words for your efforts to keep us safe and healthy. 

So as we return to this nearly normal, not quite pre-pandemic school year, we will need more grace and understanding from our community again. This is not the situation we wanted to be in this year, and we will make the most of it. We will do that by focusing on relationships and learning. We will not be worried about "catching up" from the past year and a half. I wrote about this very notion in this very blog earlier this year: 

We will not presume anything about our students' experience over the past year except one thing: they've lived through a global health pandemic. 

There is plenty of work ahead. And, yes, our students have not had the year any of us had planned. But we will take on the next steps in the same way we have always approached education in St. Johnsbury: by meeting every student where she or he is. 

We will not presume anything about this year. We will only welcome our students back with open arms, delighted to have them learning with us again. 

Here we are, on the cusp of another school year. We had hoped for something different but this virus has other plans for us. Still, we will welcome our students back with open arms, masked faces, delighted to have them learning with us in person again. 

That's it. That's the list. 

Photo courtesy of teacherspayteachers.com