Back-to-school season is hitting differently in 2020. This year, first-day-of-school jitters are mixed in with fears of a still-raging pandemic, families stretched to their limits, and economic catastrophe.
Schools across the country are already starting classes, an unqualified mess that involves shifts to distance learning, optimistic reopenings, and realistic reclosings. Hand sanitizer and laptops have replaced backpacks and lunch boxes as must-have items for the class of COVID-19.
Decisions made by districts and systems could affect parents, students, and communities for years to come. COVID-19’s consequences for schools reverberate far beyond health — touching education, policies, and tech. Parents of the country’s roughly 56 million K–12 students are looking for practical ways to cope with distance learning. And teachers of students of all ages are trying to figure out how to teach remotely without being quite so remote.
We’re taking a week to dive into the struggle, bringing you the perspectives of parents, teachers, students, nurses, bus drivers, and others who are doing their best to make this pandemic school year work — even surrounded by COVID’s chaos.
- College towns brace for a new wave of COVID-19
- The ICE directive is gone, but international students still fear deportation
- Where to sit on the school bus just got a lot more complicated
- Teachers share their biggest fears about reopening schools during the pandemic
- School nurses are on the frontlines of the pandemic
- How to pick the right headphones for kids
- Minecraft Education is perfectly suited for this surreal back-to-school moment
- University staff are worried their recorded lectures will be used against them
- The best accessories to improve your school from home experience
- Going remote makes it harder for colleges to reach first-generation students
- Students’ educations will suffer because of our failure to control COVID-19
- How to hide your clutter using Zoom, Skype, Teams, or Jitsi
COVID Consequences
- College towns brace for a new wave of COVID-19
- The ICE directive is gone, but international students still fear deportation
- Where to sit on the school bus just got a lot more complicated
- Teachers share their biggest fears about reopening schools during the pandemic
- School nurses are on the frontlines of the pandemic
Learning, remotely
- Online classes don’t have to be boring
- Students’ educations will suffer because of our failure to control COVID-19
- Going remote makes it harder for colleges to reach first-generation students
- University staff are worried their recorded lectures will be used against them
- Minecraft Education is perfectly suited for this surreal back-to-school moment
