As Port Angeles reopens its schools, students readjust to routine

Garrett County students were able to get back in school quickly because the district built trust with its community by providing families with crucial supplies, carefully planning the reopening, and communicating extensively with parents. When remote learning was required because of COVID-19, the district provided families with computers, tablets, central Wi-Fi hotspots, and delivered meals, which built trust and opened lines of communication. When students were brought back into the classroom, parents trusted the district to prioritize safety and their feedback was incorporated and responded to.

To counteract learning loss imposed by the pandemic, San Antonio teachers are focusing on the most essential skills- reading and math for kindergartners through second graders. By prioritizing a specific set of skills like phonetics and arithmetic, they anticipate students will stay on track with their grade level. “We knew we had to prioritize in order to stay on grade level.” Based on their own yearly assessments, it seems the strategy is working.

A hotline staffed by teenagers for teenagers has been providing peer-to-peer support and counseling services in Arizona for years but has played an even bigger role during the coronavirus pandemic. The group quickly pivoted to reduced staffing shifts to limit exposure to the virus and implemented longer hours for texting services. Not only have calls to the hotline increased, so has the number of those who want to volunteer.

A collaboration between Ohio's Wooster City Schools and the College of Wooster has allowed for an enhanced educational experience for many students during the coronavirus pandemic. The partnership not only provides tutoring services to the K-12 students but has also "strengthened the bond between the college and its surrounding community."

When many schools across the U.S. suspended in-person school and switched to virtual learning, a teacher was able to successfully keep his students motivated and hopeful despite the drastic decrease in physical interaction. Kevin Gallagher, a kindergarten teacher, recorded his lessons and uploaded them to YouTube where his students could watch at their convenience, and engaged his students through the use of fun props, as well as talking to them about the realities of living through the pandemic.

When schools across New Hampshire, and the U.S., suspended in-person classes as a result of the pandemic, each developed its own way of dealing with a new teaching landscape, including Beech Street Elementary in Manchester. Instead of having teachers individually their class, the school took a "collective approach" and had teachers work as a team, with each teacher in charge of one specific lesson, to deliver the lessons to all students within the same grade. The school also accommodated ELL students by relying on a translation app, and used social media platforms to communicate with parents.

Colleges across the nation suspended in-person classes due to the coronavirus, but it also meant suspending campus life—a classic staple of the American college experience. Students innovated by creating their own version of dorm life and activities by setting up "satellite dorms,” either close to campus or places they could quarantine and study together, and staying in contact through various different social apps. But the biggest lesson for students and faculty was “The powerful role incidental and impromptu interactions play in the college experience—and how hard it is to replace them.”

The Boys' Club of New York addresses the mental health crisis among at-risk boys by providing structured programming, peer mentorship from alumni staff, and a culture of belonging across three clubhouses and roughly 2,500 members.

Chicago Connected is a $50 million four-year program that has already provided high-speed broadband to over 40,000 households in need, representing around 64,000 Chicago public school students, and plans to expand. On-the-ground community outreach in multiple languages was key to connecting residents to the program quickly, which was needed as school went virtual due to COVID-19. The public schools helped identify eligible low-income students whose parents were then contacted by outreach workers.

Rehobeth Elementary School provides extra attention from trained educators with experience in literacy instructional methods to help students make up for COVID-19 related reading-level declines. The school-wide intervention provides a core class where students get most of their lessons, smaller groups where students work on specific skills, and some students are identified for outside tutoring as well. The research-based learning materials can also help students with learning disabilities. Rehobeth second graders had improved reading scores by 60 points in one school year.