Head of School's Message: November 9

Today, during faculty and staff training, we will be learning how to administer drop-off, pick-up and screening procedures. These exercises are no longer drills in anticipation of an eventual return. Tomorrow is a big day for the Chandler community, and especially for the kindergarten students who will be on campus.

We are starting with half-days of in-person learning for kindergarten and students in first and second grades when they return during the week of December 7. We will make a determination by December 18 about whether to offer full days of in-person programming starting January 11.

Why half-days? We do not want to rush into re-opening and overly stress the people or the systems we need to master to stay open with the virus still widespread in the community. Half-days make the most sense to us as we slowly begin a process that will result in a return to in-person learning for everyone sometime in 2021. The half-days through December are the first steps in making a transition back to school before we move to longer days.

We want Chandler's re-opening to be sustainable by paying close attention to the details around arrival protocols, morning transitions, and snack, before adding additional protocols for lunch and dismissal. We want to examine each detail and be prepared to address additional complexities after we have experienced half-days.

 

With the required protocols in place, we are asking students to do school in new ways. Having been away from school for some time, we are mindful of the fatigue students may experience as they navigate learning while masking and distancing.

 

Because there can only be two supervising adults per cohort, that means that teachers are responsible for all supervision - no one else can watch the kids at recess or during specialist classes, and as our teachers do school in new ways, we want to ensure that they have a manageable workload and the ability to take the breaks that we are required to provide to them by law.

We recognize the challenges that dual working families have at this time and the logistical difficulties that half-days impose on them, but we believe that half-days are the right approach for the time being. 

The well-being of Chandler teachers is of great concern. In meetings with faculty over the past two weeks, more have used the words 'exhausted' and 'burned out' than at any time since the pandemic began. One said, "I'm mentally exhausted. My program is not meant to be taught like this, but I am making adaptations and I'm determined that the students are not going to lose anything." Another said, "I'm burning out. This is like playing a game of chess. I have to think carefully about the next move. I'm staying positive and keeping the kids positive, but I have never been so tired." Teachers are not unique in being fatigued by the current circumstances. Everyone is tired.  Faculty morale is important to fulfilling Chandler's mission and the success of in-person learning and distance learning. That is a significant factor behind the decision to extend the Holiday break by one week. 

Without the third week, faculty would spend the bulk of the break preparing lessons. Distance learning requires a complete redesign of the curriculum. In Chandler's differentiated program, rarely can teachers produce a set lesson script week in advance. We have a K-8 curriculum with goals and objectives that requires constant revision to meet the needs of each student. The third week in January allows our teachers downtime and breathing room as well as the opportunity for professional development and more training on campus as we prepare for the eventual return of all the students. 

To be clear, the third week is not a vacation for faculty. It will be a workweek, not a play week, but it will allow for the previous two weeks to be a vacation. The quality of the in-person and distance learning programs depends on the teachers and after four months on Zoom, they need a longer rest than they typically get at the end of the calendar year.