The Devon Dialogue Devon Preparatory School’s prestigious newspaper proudly publishing for over five decades volume XII, issue I | November 2020 | Devon, PA 19333
Zoom LearningAny Value? One Teacher weighs in
Sperratore Interview
Meet Devon’s new Science Whiz! Page 5
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Devon Varsity Soccer
Adminstration on COVID-19 discuss reopening
Dan Brown ‘21 and Mason Lindley ‘21 go in-depth on Devon Prep Soccer
Senior Reflections A Senior reflects on the journey so far Page 6
Golf - A New Devon Dynasty? Does baseball have a challenger? Page 3
Devon’s top brass
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Page 1
Feature: Administration tackles Coronavirus, Reopening Editors-in-Chief Ian McKnight ‘21 and Zachary Fedyk ‘21
Devon Dialogue: When the pandemic first hit and Devon had to shut down, how drastic was the situation for the administration to move to digital learning? Father Aisa: It was very clear that we had to go to digital learning, and quickly. We were following the data, and we came to the realization that this was growing more and more drastic and real by the day. We did take action: we had the initial Schoology system up and running by that first Monday, and eventually moved to Zoom. We had to get everything running smoothly, as well DD: How do you think the student body at large reacted to digital learning? Jennifer Gregory: It was better than anything we could have hoped for. We had complete and total compliance from the very beginning, from the sixth grade through the seniors. Without this, it would have been very difficult to get learning back on track. Our students are very perceptive, and they knew that if the learning wasn’t real, then they were not going to care as much. It was a difficult transition, but they went over and beyond, and for that we are grateful. DD: In your opinion, was Devon more adequately prepared’ for digital learning than most other schools? Mark Aquilante: In short, we were better adept to making the necessary changes. We had a downtime of merely two days, unlike most schools, who weren’t following the trends and were not ready to transition to online. Our learning continued almost seamlessly. Additionally, again, we had the willingness to make digital learning work, not only from our students, but from our amazing teachers as well, who spent three hours one day together and figured out the whole process, which in turn assisted the students in getting learning underway. Pat Kane: I think I agree with Mr. A’s point, not only from an administrator’s perspective, but also as a parent. I saw what my son’s teachers were doing on a firsthand basis, and it was amazing to see that as a parent as well. DD: When did the discussion regarding reopening in the fall really get underway? MA: We started discussion back in April, because once we got the distance learning underway, we quickly realized we were not going back for the rest of the academic year. We had enough time to get all these protocols in place in time for the fall because we started discussion so early. PK: We were well ahead of the curve in terms of all the changes, and although we had this two week timeframe as a goal, that quickly changed. However, Devon Prep believes that education is the key, as per our mission statement, and that goal remained as such throughout the reopening process DD: Face shields have now become a staple of Devon Prep’s environment as we continue to deal with the effects of the pandemic. How did the administration come to the decision to have face shields over masks? MA: The parameters and guidelines regarding public health changed over time as new information and new data became released, and we followed that closely. We followed the no mask vs having a mask debate, the conditions, how it affects the eyes, etc. JG: We did not want to get caught in the hysteria of the whole pandemic, and instead chose to listen to the physical science that we were presented with. We figured out what was best, knowing that complete and utter safety is by default
an impossibility, and created a path to keep our community as safe as possible. DD: How were the classroom sizes determined and outdoor classrooms created? PK: Knowing that we needed to have a six foot minimum between students as well as having face shield policies, classroom size was going to be limited. This led to the creation of new classrooms as well as splitting up larger classes in order to accommodate these arrangements. Outdoor classes mean more spacious environment and not having to wear masks/shields, so we created as many as we could FA: Yeah, and additionally, we needed an available cafeteria system up and running since the old one was not going to work out, which led to the creation of the lunch tent as a hybrid classroom/cafeteria. DD: What was the hardest part of the transition to reopening? PK: The hardest part was putting all personal feelings aside and then making decisions that will work the best for the most amount of people, and everything was a byproduct of that MA: Knowing that a normal environment wasn’t going to work, knowing that students couldn’t stare at screens all day, we needed to find a path forward that was going to allow us to return safely, and that task itself was challenging. FA: We also needed to work with parents to find the best common ground of “togetherness” as part of this community, which included phone calls, at-length discussions, etc. Not everyone was going to say that our system worked for them, which is why we allowed the choice of distance learning to students. But finding that common ground that worked for the most amount of people, that was challenging. JG: We needed a “new” factor. We were not going to sit and wait around, sticking with what we had in the springtime. If we did that, again, it wouldn’t have felt like real school. We needed to be engaging and thorough with our reopening process, taking nothing from beforehand for granted and being given access to an unlimited range of ideas. Support from parents and students helped narrow down that range to find that mix that worked best, as Father said. DD: What is your biggest concern moving forward for how the school will manage this? MA: Honestly, snow is our biggest fear as of now. How will we react to not having classrooms outside, besides the lunchtent, come the wintertime? It is an intervening obstacle in our path because it offsets any plans that we can make. JG: We also wish to keep the day-to-day functionality as normal as possible. If everyone continues to follow guidelines, then that makes it infinitely easier to plan ahead, even with impending potential snow. PK: Another shutdown is a potential concern as well. We are ready to move to distance learning at any time now, which is a good thing, but we are hoping for more communications from local officials in regards to how we are to carry ourselves. More community discourse, more state regulations, anything to help our school and others feel less isolated and as if there is someone there to reach out to if we need to. DD: Thank you all so much for your time and your dedication to this school and to the Devon community at large