REVISION

Back To Barstow

From In-Person to Online Learning — and Back Again

We were prepared for continuous learning in a way few other schools could be.

Even behind masks, their smiles shone through. When students returned to Barstow on Aug. 20 — five months after the COVID-19 mandate to close campus — they were excited to see teachers and friends, eager to return to their classrooms and ready to write a new chapter in our school’s history.

“This was a first day of school unlike any we’ve ever experienced before,” Director of Campus Operations Liz Bartow said. Administrators, faculty and staff spent months planning for the safe reopening. “One of the first procedures we put in place was daily temperature checks for every person entering the building. Students took it in stride. You could see how happy they were to be back together, even six feet apart.”

The Barstow community is adjusting to myriad changes in 2020–2021. They include mandatory face masks, social distancing, one-way lanes in hallways, reconfigured spaces, creative scheduling — and classes that include students learning together on campus and from home. Families have the freedom to make that choice daily.

“We’re the only school in the city, and one of only a handful across the country, that opened on time with the ability to teach every student continuously, face-to-face, wherever they choose to learn,” Head of Campus Dr. Tom Niermann said. Here’s how Barstow made successful transitions between in-person and online instruction.

READY FOR A RAPID RESPONSE

In early March, administrators, faculty and staff began planning for the possibility of a campus closure. A“rapid response” team oversaw expansion of our existing online platform. The foundation built during eight years of delivering hybrid learning courses and a long history of investment in technology and training supported Barstow’s quick pivot.

“Our team started hosting weekly technology trainings for faculty nearly 15 years ago and rolled out one of the region’s first 1:1 technology programs in 2003,” Director of Technology Scott Daniel said. “In the past five years, our mandate has been technology integration and support in every grade and every classroom. That’s why our teachers were prepared for the rapid learning curve of daily online classes.”

During the school’s two-week spring break — with Kansas City under a stay-at-home order and in consultation with local health departments and the Board of Trustees — President and Head of School Shane Foster announced Barstow would be fully online when classes resumed March 30.

Working from home, teachers created online classrooms and shared education apps like Showbie, Kahoot and Pear Deck to help them deliver meaningful content in engaging ways. The tech department expanded school-wide Zoom capacity and added apps remotely to lower and middle school iPads. While division directors and teachers collaborated on homework, assessment and testing methods, the administration hosted virtual town halls to help the community navigate what would come next.

Two weeks after the online launch, with COVID-19 cases spiking across the country, Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced the mandatory closure of all public, private and charter schools for the remainder of the year.

“We were prepared for continuous learning in a way few other schools could be,” Foster said. “We had the team and the tools to adapt to this new environment. While other schools struggled, we were able to move forward without missing a single day of instruction during the fourth quarter.”

CREATIVITY & INNOVATION IN ACTION

A Barstow education prepares students for the future by teaching 21st century skills: collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity and problem solving. The spring semester became a learning lab where students could see faculty and staff apply those skills to improve, refine and even redefine the online experience.

“We made the decision to maintain our challenging curriculum, but at the same time we were deliberate about assigning less homework, offering support and compassion, and purposefully building schedules that allowed students time to interact with teachers and to step away from their screens,” Foster said.

Faculty and administrators made revisions and improvements to online classes based on feedback from families about what worked — and what didn’t. The technology team provided hours of one-on-one support and helped troubleshoot home connectivity problems. Teachers created online talent shares and art challenges to bring students together. At a time when the community was separated by circumstances, Barstow created new ways to connect.

“What’s been great to see is our son eating lunch with his friends via Zoom every day in between classes. I can hear him talking and laughing with his friends,” an upper school parent wrote last April. “I appreciate the tone and attitude about online learning. It is understood that you want students to continue to learn while not wanting to add stress onto an already enormously stressful time.”

Spring events and traditions had to be canceled or, where possible, reimagined. Concerts were replaced with performances recorded from students’ homes. The fifth grade trip to Washington, D.C. became a virtual visit to the capital’s monuments and museums. Preschool students and “lifers” even collaborated on a virtual postcard to celebrate Tree Day, a tradition dating back to the Cherry Street campus. Perhaps the most difficult decision was the postponement or cancellation of commencement week activities. Instead, Barstow celebrated the Class of 2020 with yard signs and a drive-through Senior Salute, video congratulations in the digital Honors and Awards program, and in August, a socially-distanced graduation event.

BACK TO BARSTOW 2020

When the school year ended, work began immediately to ensure a safe, responsible and on-time campus reopening. Changes to the physical campus include new and larger restrooms in the lower school hallway, the removal of lockers to widen the spaces by six feet, reconfigured rooms with fewer desks spaced at least six feet apart and plexiglass dividers installed in rooms where students share tables. Colorful Adirondack chairs dot the grounds outside upper school, and when the weather cooperates, classes in every division are being held outdoors. With food service suspended for at least the start of the year, even the dining hall was partitioned into spaces for middle school Spanish, geography, math and English classes.

At the same time, the administration was creating the Back to Barstow 2020 Return-to-Campus Plan, a comprehensive but flexible blueprint for prioritizing the health and safety of the school community during the pandemic. It was developed with guidance from the National Association for Independent Schools, state and local health departments and the newly-formed medical advisory committee, a group of medical and legal professionals who are also Barstow parents.

The school purchased touchless thermometers and water dispensers, hand sanitizing stations and UVC light stands and wands. A larger custodial staff cleans frequently touched surfaces several times throughout the day. And do these measures work?

“Evidence from middle school science students when they tried to collect bacteria around the school in September is pretty clear,” Niermann said. “In the past when they collected specimens from door handles and drinking fountains for their bacteriology project, they never failed to fill their Petri dishes. This year, however, the dishes were nearly empty. They contained virtually no usable bacteria. That’s a pretty good sign that our procedures make a difference.”

Engaging, active, hands-on classes continue for both in-person and at-home students. When the technology team investigated the most effective ways for teachers to reach students in both environments, they found Swivl. Now 65 of these robot-like devices allow teachers wearing a “marker” to move freely around their rooms with quality two-way audio and a video feed from an iPad. With better communication and interaction, students can focus on learning that is memorable — and fun.

Lower school parent Caroline John is impressed. “Online classes for my third grade student are great, especially now with Swivl. It’s so amazing that he is engaged fully in the class with his teachers. This is as great as it can get.”

NEW LOOK, SAME MISSION

Barstow looks different in 2020, but planning, preparation and a commitment to its community have kept the school continuously open while many other schools have offered limited or part-time in-person classes, or reverted to a fully online schedule for part of the year. By the end of October, the school had been informed of six cases of COVID-19 among students and employees and followed quarantine procedures to limit further transmission.

“We’re working every day not just to make Barstow the best place, but also the safest possible place, to learn,” Dr. Niermann said. “This is possible because of extraordinary efforts, and faculty that teaches more than content areas. They model resilience and perseverance. And that all goes back to our mission to develop mind, body and character.”