NORTH CLARENDON — Xander Pennington poses for a photo on the lawn outside his home on the first day of school each year, holding up a sign that indicates the grade he’ll enter. The photos are so regular that Xander’s dad, Matt, can see the trees grow taller as he looks back through them.
On Tuesday morning, Xander took his usual place in the spot under the trees, but this year he presented his sign, “First Day of Grade 5,” on a laptop.
This year, the computer will serve as Xander’s virtual classroom. His family has borrowed the computer from Clarendon Elementary, where Xander is a student.
In response to Covid-19, schools across the state reopened on Tuesday with a vast array of learning plans that run the gamut from entirely in-person to entirely remote. Mill River Unified Union School District, home to Clarendon Elementary, is operating a remote learning plan for the first several months of the school year, with an exception for students with special needs.
Save for a few administrators, Clarendon Elementary sat empty Tuesday, but classrooms in neighboring districts filled with students.
Xander’s mom, Barbara, left at 6 that morning to drive the 12 minutes to West Rutland School, where she teaches sixth grade math and science. Part of the Greater Rutland County Supervisory Union, most West Rutland School students are attending school in person.
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While her son stayed home and watched a video of his own teacher introducing the coming school year, Barbara watched masked sixth graders file into her classroom and take their seats, separated by plastic barriers.
“Leaving my son today, I didn’t worry about his safety at all,” she said. “Parents of my students, sending their babies to school wearing a mask and having someone else take care of them, I’m sure, was scary. I didn’t have to think about that.”
Initially, Barbara worried about — even dreaded — going back to school in person. But, 17 years a teacher, the first day provided a familiar routine that set her at ease, despite this year’s differences. Seeing students return was a highlight of the day, she said.
“Things that I was really worried about weren’t that big of a deal,” she said. “I thought I was going to just be the mask police all day. I have 24 students in person, between two classes, and of those 24 kids, I had to gently remind maybe five of them.”
Science classes present a particular challenge in the era of Covid-19. She reorganized her group projects, and has arranged a projector that allows kids to see through a single microscope that only she will touch.
“For the kiddos at home, I can still share my screen, so they can see. It’s less interactive for them, but they’ll still have a similar experience,” she said. “All these things I didn’t know how to do in February — I just join the Google Meets, share my screen — it’s crazy.”
While her classes went smoothly, she listed several downsides specific to Covid-era in-person learning, like not being able to see facial expressions.
“A few times I said, ‘I’m smiling at you!’” she said.
The worst part was seeing preschoolers in masks.
“That kind of broke my heart a little bit. The sixth graders, they know this is temporary,” she said. “The little guys, they think this is what school is.”
While she’s glad not to have to worry about Xander’s safety, Barbara didn’t worry about her own health. She said she feels Vermont is safe enough, and believes Gov. Phil Scott will take appropriate measures to protect the public, like shutting schools down, if school becomes unsafe.
She’ll trust district leaders if they decide to reopen Clarendon Elementary, and she understands why schools have chosen in-person models. When schools closed in the spring, she came to understand the disadvantages of remote learning.
“It’s definitely harder to build relationships with kids when they’re on the other side of the screen,” she said. “As far as the student point of view, I think some students thrive in that environment, but a lot of students really need a lot of help. My students in the spring, they became a lot more independent, because you had to be. I can’t look over your shoulder and help you, so they had to figure it out.”
Neither Matt nor Barbara are particularly worried about Xander’s ability to learn remotely. “But I feel bad that he’s not having that person-to-person contact,” Barbara said. “He’s an only child, so that’s tough for him.”
Inside the Pennington household, Xander and Matt began their new routine Tuesday morning, sitting across from each other at the kitchen table. Matt opened his laptop and began his work day at an IT company.
Xander, a 10-year-old mirror image, logged onto his school’s remote learning platform to find a list of the day’s assignments. Their dog, Winston, thumped his tail against a chair leg beneath the table all the while.
“I have to say, I think I’m glad they chose this,” Matt said, adding that he feels lucky he works remotely so he can, for example, guide Xander through IT problems.
Matt helped Xander navigate his email and click on the right links so he could find his teacher’s introductory video, at which time a woman’s friendly voice entered the scene.
“It’s OK if there are lots of bumps in the road,” she said, a few minutes in. “It’s OK if we have lots of problems. I know I will, and I’m sure you will, too. We just have to rely on each other, and work together as a team, and we will have a great year learning. I look forward to it.”
