What do you think the odds are that we will be back to normal next fall, as in parents invited into the building for curriculum night and to walk younger kids into the classroom, no pods, no masks, no social distancing, kids allowed to sing and play instruments at school?
and what about after school? early morning drop off? parents need these things to be able to work and live a regular life!
0% (Sorry), assuming you mean 2021. Remember kids won't even have begun to be vaccinated by then. Best hope is that the teachers are vaccinated, so there is less risk to them teaching IN school. This would allow all schools to open, at least on a hybrid schedule.
oh yeah. we can also hope that the vaccine a)remains effective against new variants and b) proves to be pretty good at preventing transmission (all this class was tested for for was to stop severe disease, which they are great at)
In NYC? I think things will be mostly back to normal. Probably not full afterschool programs but some options will be available. Remember how low our cases were in Sept? And that was without a vaccine.
Kids won't be vaccinated by then but teachers probably will. I REALLY hope things will be as close to normal as possible.
I can deal with fewer extracurriculars and on-campus meetings and even some Zoom classes if they need to thin out crowds. But I desperately want my kids to be back on campus at least 4 days a week.
The majority of my DC's class is already in school five days a week with afterschool. (NYC public, with private afterschool).
I'm much more optimistic that thing will go back to normal. Even during the height of the pandemic people chose to send their kids to camps and schools. With more and more people getting vaccinated, hospitals will not be strained and people will not be worried about infecting the vulnerable. As time goes on, the risk to children from staying remote will increase. People will make a cost/benefit analysis and it will overwhelming be in favor of going back to school
I agree. If many adults are vaccinated, there will be some level of herd immunity, so even if children are not vaccinated, the levels of virus circulating will be much lower. It is absolutely ridiculous to keep children out of normal school this long.
@Anonymous This assumes that vaccines will work against new variants, of course...the jury is still out on that.https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/new-coronavirus-variants-could-cause-more-reinfections-require-updated-vaccines
@anonymous Even if there are reinfections, if the impact is less severe, life will continue back to normal.
Oh for private school , schools in Florida and on Long Island totally back to normal. Public schools in larger cities, 0% chance. It’s truly pathetic
NYC publics are already in session 5 days a week. By Sept, the cases will be way down and almost the entire high risk population will be out of harm's way. Things will be much better.
@Anon My middle schooler hasn't been in person since mid-November. I think he was in school all of 10 days this year. All his teachers apparently got their first vaccine shot, yet we are still hearing "no timeline for return."
@Anon virtually none of them are in session 5 days a week. they just 'can' be.
Nope. No chance we'll be back by Fall 2021. I think realistically June 2022. People will continue to choose to work remote and take extra precautions - so many people are "waiting on" the vaccine, not only waiting in line to take it but also "wait and see" if there are any issues with it
No not the way you are describing but i do think there will be school 5 days a week starting in the fall.
What you are describing -- restoration to a pre-COVID world -- will not happen by fall 2021. I think we know that to a certainty. Will there be more a return to normal than where we are now? Absolutely. We will be closer. But that's not the same as being close, nor is it the same as actually being there (back to normal).
Even 50% normal would be huge. High school classes on campus, kids get to take real science again, less social distancing (maybe 20 per class). Does that seem possible?
@anonymous I think 50% back to normal is possible but not for that age group -- for younger ages (elementary school). Not for high schoolers who transmit like adults but who are not soon in line to be vaccinated.
@Anonymous Oh wow. So high schoolers are looking at another full year at home? That is such a depressing thought, it almost kills my joy from the inauguration.
many of the options listed here are simply not survivable from many aspects- people cannot go on like this. there will have to be full time school..
No one truly knows. It will depend on the effectiveness and distribution of the vaccine. And approval for teens to be vaccinated! Once vaccinations are widespread things can return closer to normal. Notice I said closer... That means full-time school. But things will never be what they were pre-COVID. Much more will be done remotely in the future. The world has changed.
I think masks and distancing will continue but I don’t mind those at all. My kids‘ elementary (doe gen-Ed) is already back to 5 day/week for most of the classes, but there have been a significant number of cases and thus school closures. I think it really just depends on how many cases we‘re seeing societally. As long as the positivity rate remains high, it’s inevitable that the school will continue opening and closing. Very happy that when open, 2 of my 3 kids have the normalcy of being back in 5 days week.
Moving forward, there might be a shift in guidance regarding when and how long to close. We've already seen a shortening from 14 to 10 days of quarantine.
@Anonymous I assume you realize that 5 days a week is not the norm for nearly all other schools? Not sure how yours is making this work. Very few schools have the capacity and the staff to host SD classes 5 days/week.
Actually most schools are swimming in space as the vast majority of students are fully remote. To borrow your word, I think you‘re assuming I‘m talking about a majority-white D2/3/15-type school where most students chose hybrid learning; these schools are not the norm. The staffing shortage is real but can be remedied by the hiring of under-qualified subs (not ideal, but makes 5x/wk possible). Our school has also been doing this class-by-class, finding a solution for one class and then figuring one out for the another. Chaotic, for sure, but probably a more sustainable solution than trying to bring the whole school in 5x/wk at once (a seemingly impossible feat which is why most administrators can‘t/won’t attempt).
Did anyone actually ENJOY curriculum night? Doing that online makes soooo much more sense. I'm also hoping this will mean that parents actually keep their kids home when they are sick!
Yes! and YES! Those are the kinds of permanent changes I'd be thrilled for (also: online PTA meetings PLEASE).
The thought of my kids being permanently at home for most of the school day/week, on the other hand, breaks my heart. I really, really hope that's not what people are saying when they talk about never returning to pre-COVID life.
@anonymous Totally agree. Kids need to be in school everyday and interacting with each other. But as a working parent, the whole being in the school for back to school nights, pta, parent teacher conferences were all ridiculous.
100%. Also babysitters in NYC are expensive! With online back to school night, etc., both DH and I can attend without having to hire a babysitter.