Lessons From the Pandemic

DEPOSIT PHOTOS LESSONS

FROM THE PANDEMIC

They were two school years unlike any other. But now that kids are heading back in the classroom — full time — Portland teachers, parents and students reflect on the ways in which the pandemic has made them more resilient and adaptable, and prepared them for this school year.

“Wow! You’re tall!”

One of Kim Howard’s students exclaims his surprise at her 6-foot2-inch stature. The school year was nearing its end, but Howard and her 20 third-grade students who attend Woodlawn Elementary in Northeast Portland, had all just met for the first time in person.

“In the beginning, you’re looking at a screen of a checkerboard of faces and you’re trying to put the voice and the face together. But you don’t really know much about their likes or dislikes or their little personalities,” says Howard, who has taught at Woodlawn for 20 years. “And so when they came in, in April, it was really emotional. It was like, ‘Wow, I finally get to see you.’”

Like jolting awake from a bad dream, many of us are still trying to shake the past two years of COVID-19 induced health scares, quarantines, business closures and so much more. For parents with school-age children, the pandemic also spurred new learning modes: sudden, online distance learning from home, then half-day, hybrid sessions. It all required parents to be more hands on in ways many weren’t used to — or able to — all while juggling transitioning employment situations,

increased household duties and more.

But if this summer’s flurry of activities, from the return of summer camps to festive outdoor concerts, have demonstrated, there’s hope for a bright, post-pandemic future. And that includes sending our kids off to school, back into the classroom. This year, they’re armed with resilience and a new appreciation for school, and supported by educators who have nimbly adapted. Here’s a look at how the pandemic shaped students and those who teach them, with a preview of how it will impact education this year and beyond.

Putting the Learning in Distance Learning

As the months of the pandemic ticked into the 2020/2021 school year, it became clear that distance learning was going to be a marathon, not a sprint. Schools streamlined their communications to parents and students — firing off emails, calls or texts — to continue communicating Zoom meeting class times, digital lessons and assignments, sometimes even switching online education platforms entirely.

Akhri Cutler, who has been teaching first grade at Sunset Primary School in West Linn for eight years, says in order to properly teach online, teachers had to become digital media creators overnight. She says there was a learning curve for her in shooting, editing and uploading video and audio lessons in an accessible, inspiring way.

But these students are also digital natives, so while distance learning was different, some of the tools like Chromebooks and chat rooms weren’t. “Their tech skills are phenomenal,” says Cutler. “They’re able to navigate Google Classroom easily, they’re able to navigate Padlet. They’re able to comment and they’re doing more keyboarding than ever before. My first graders can type in the chat in Zoom. Last spring, I would have never thought that my first graders would do this.” Alexis and Jacob Vlcko, in second and fourth grades at Sunset, both say they didn’t mind distance learning. “I liked not waking up as early,” says Jacob. “I liked taking breaks whenever you wanted,” adds Alexis. She also enjoys math and learned equations. Both siblings were happy to see their friends again during swimming and tennis camps earlier this summer.

Despite the distance, Cutler says she was still able to coordinate and engage her 17 students in partner reading this year, as well as writing and art projects — uploaded through Google — and facilitate classroom discussions afterward via online comments. Over at Bridges Middle School, a private school downtown specializing in educating students with learning differences, each student participated in a weekly growth mindset class. “Much of that class was spent talking about building resilience, building grit and your viewpoint,” says Desi Pritchard, the lead teacher and curriculum coordinator.

For all the highs of distance learning teachers, students and parents experienced, it also spotlighted inequities. Inadequate access to technology and school-toschool variances in online teaching opportunities and tools were a challenge for some young Oregonians. In a system that required more supervision, not all children had equal support, especially special needs students, and those whose parents work out of the house, or have full-time or multiple jobs.

“With everyone being at home, my workload tripled with meals and school,” says Joy Vlcko, the mother of Sunset students Alexis and Jacob. “I’m looking forward to having them back in the class; it’s better for everyone.”

“My first graders can type in the chat in Zoom. Last spring, “We recognize now that we had our parents in the classroom,” adds Pritchard. “And that I would have never was really unique for them to see and hear thought that my everything. … One of the things that is really first graders important is their attitude and their outlook. It would do this.” influences their child, which influences what happens in the classroom.” — Akhri Cutler, Sunset Primary School teacher ECO-SCHOOL NETWORK

A is for Adaptable

Just as many teachers, students and parents were getting the swing of Seesaw and the grip of Google Classroom, the next phase of the pandemic emerged: a slow, but celebratory, reopening. COVID cases steadily dropped, vaccines became available for adults and schools cautiously resumed in-person learning, including here in Oregon.

Beginning in February, Portland Public Schools (PPS) began offering a rotation of continued distanced learning and inperson classroom sessions. Some teachers, like Howard, began teaching in person

Woodlawn Elementary students learn outdoors.

exclusively, while others like Cutler, did both simultaneously. (She dubbed her two groups, Roomies and Zoomies.) “That was hard because I felt like I was being pulled in two different directions,” she says. Private institutions had more reopening flexibility. In April, Bridges Middle School transitioned to full-time, in-person learning for its 43 students, fifth through eighth grade. “I don’t know how we could have done (distance learning) another week,” says Pritchard. “I think this was like my 23rd year of teaching and it really felt like first-year teaching again.” But once reunited, teachers and kids alike found that the months apart made them more grateful for the simple things: Seeing your friends face-to-face, recess time, hearing your teacher laugh in person. “For many of them, the social (aspect) is much more important than they thought it was. ... When I told them they were coming back in person, some of them just cried,” says Pritchard. “They just started crying because they were so relieved and so excited.” While Cutler didn’t see each student every day, her pupils bonded in their respective groups and as a class, including during morning share and sing-a-longs. She says snack time became the highlight of the day, not because of the food, but because everyone could take off their mask. “We took off our masks for snack and (one student) said, ‘Oh, Ms. Cutler, I get to see your face now.’ And that I feel like is a big deal,” says Cutler. “Because if you think about it, they only see our eyes. They don’t see our mouth, they don’t see the expression that we give them after they make a comment.”

Students at Bridges Middle School take class outside, with gardening and eggdrop experiments.

What’s Next?

As of press time, Portland Public Schools teachers didn’t know the intimate details of their school’s plan for this year. But with the mostly successful blueprint of hybrid teaching, many feel ready to be back in their classrooms full time. (PPS will also be offering its new Online Learning Academy, virtual, home-based instruction led by PPS teachers. The program is only available for qualifying, medically high-risk students.) “We have a multi-tiered system of support teams,” says Dana Nerenberg, PPS Director of Learning Acceleration. “They developed a set of resources for school teams to intentionally plan for that return to school and what it would look like knowing that some students were super ready and others might have had some caution.” “One thing that made me feel very comfortable about returning (last year) is that I had what I needed,” says Howard. “We had the soap, we had the paper towels, we had the windows open and the HEPA filter machine.” Last year, before kids walked into her class, they sanitized their hands and wiped down their desks and chairs before going home. She also has a sink in her classroom for additional frequent hand washing, and each student was given their own rubber ball with which to play.

At Bridges Middle School, each student was outfitted with their own plastic bin in which to put their books, projects and more. Last school year, anyone who worked at or attended Bridges was required to take an online COVID questionnaire and a temperature check before entering the building. Pritchard says she’s not sure if the school will follow the same protocols this year, but says “I

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DESI PRITCHARD

certainly wouldn’t rule it out.”

Outdoor learning is also likely to stick around. Thanks to 133 volunteers with Eco-School Network, a Portland nonprofit promoting sustainability in Oregon elementary schools, last spring, 50 schools (including 37 Title I schools) received free mobile outdoor classroom kits allowing kids to do just that. The bulk of the kit — waterproof sit pads for the students — is made from recycled materials, like used vinyl billboards and yoga mats.

“It’s just a very fun way to learn, to be able to go outside,” says Howard. She says her class used the kits during read-aloud sessions, as well as math and cooperative games like tic-tac-toe.

Cutler says her class uses the kits daily, during their 15-minute snack break. “Everyday we walk outside with our little seat pads and we go right outside the library doors. We sit down and we have our same spots,” she says, adding that Sunset’s kindergarten, first grade and fourth grade classes have also used them.

Like the two before it, this school year will be unlike any other. But that can be a good thing, and in many ways, everyone is more prepared. Howard says she tells her students, “You’re going to look back on it one day and you will have persevered. You will have seen that you had to have stamina and we’re all going to get through this. And just knowing that 2021 is going to be in the history books, your children one day will read about something that you experienced and you’ll be able to talk about it.”

Managing Editor Tiffany Hill lives in Northeast Portland with her husband and their scrappy, adopted dog. When she’s not on assignment, you can find her exploring the PNW outdoors or playing roller derby.

Planning Your Child’s AFTER-SCHOOL CARE

MOTOYA NAKAMURA/MULTNOMAH COUNTY

If you’ve been trying to predict

what after-school care will look like for the 2021/2022 school year, you are not alone. After-care providers have been having a hard time as well. “Planning has been tough,” said Dan Clayton of Mad Science Portland/ Vancouver in June 2021. “We would usually have the next year planned out already, and instead are scrambling to plan out next year. Much of the planning probably won’t happen until August as the school districts still haven’t figured out what they are doing next year.”

The good news is that providers do want to get back to offering programs that are crucial for working parents. This includes the SUN Community Schools program, commonly known as SUN, a collaboration between Multnomah County, Portland Parks & Recreation, local school districts and community organizations. SUN Community Schools were not able to provide their normal free and low-cost after-school classes in the 2020/2021 school year and instead focused on helping families access food, utilities, technology and housing assistance. “SUN Community Schools are hoping to offer in person after-school enrichment in the fall,” says Ryan Yambra, a Multnomah County spokesperson. “Changes in state guidance or decisions from local school districts may affect our services, but all decisions will be made collaboratively to ensure student safety.”

The One With Heart after-school program that picks up students from certain schools and takes them back to its martial arts studio also has a plan to go forward. “We will be returning to our transported after school Kung Fu program in the fall,” says Danielle McGrath, One With Heart’s kids’ program director. “Our program picks up at Richmond, Glencoe and Atkinson elementary schools daily. The class sizes will be smaller as we create stable groups and adhere to Oregon Health Authority safety guidelines.” McGrath also says that One With Heart’s after-school classes started filling up in early summer and that working parents are eager to get their kids signed up with an activity they enjoy — so they can get back to uninterrupted work hours. See page 35 for a list of after-school providers who are planning to operate in the upcoming school year or contact your child’s school to find out if any onsite after-care programs will be available. — Denise Castañon