24 WashingtonFAMILY AUGUST 2020
as a cross-curricula unit,” she says.

While school systems haven’t rolled out
official plans, certain proposals have been
discussed, such as an A/B day schedule,
hybrid learning (a mix of online learning
and in-person learning), and recorded
class lessons for those who don’t feel
comfortable going back.

Bobson heard from friends in other
states who have told him that their school
districts will use hybrid learning in the fall.

“I can only predict, but I see something
similar happening in Maryland,” he says,
adding there are a lot of complications.

Maryland State Superintendent of Schools
Karen Salmon laid out a blueprint for
the fall return that included a number
of suggestions. “But it left the ultimate
decision on how learning was going to look
next year to the specific school district,”
he says. “So, all of the districts are kind of
scrambling right now, trying to make sense
of the document.”
Without knowing what the fall semester
could hold, Ardillo says that she has
felt the need to over plan in case of any
situation. “I feel like I am doubling up on what I
would be doing already. I am worried that
we will go back in the classroom and then
have to close again due to a resurgence of
the virus. The uncertainty is stressful, and
the planning for both scenarios is time-
consuming,” she says.

As the start of the school year grows
closer, many teachers, including Peter
Ruhno, a special education teacher at
Aberdeen Middle School in Harford
County, feel that time is running out to
make an official decision on the fate of the
coming school year.

Harford County officials announced that
the fall semester will start online. Teachers
and parents don’t know if there will be a
transition to hybrid or in-person learning
and when that might occur. Ruhno hopes
that this past spring’s sudden switch from
in-person learning to online learning will
prepare students and teachers for fall’s
online learning and a potential switch to
some form of in-person learning.

“If we were to stick full time with online
learning, at least we had a trial period
where we could see what didn’t work and
what we’d want to tweak,” he says. n
IZUSEK / E+ /GETTY IMAGES
Budd will use the site to post the
content that she teaches her students, so
parents can see and help their child if they
have any questions or issues at home. She,
who is starting a job at Barclay Elementary/
Middle School, hopes it will help her
students and their parents ease into the
school year which will initially start online,
with school officials updating their plan by
mid-October. Both public and private schools are
considering the best way to teach students
this fall as the coronavirus pandemic
continues and the world awaits a vaccine.

Not knowing what the next school year
will be like has left many teachers like
Budd working around uncertainty as they
prepare. “So for me, (I’ve been) troubleshooting
and saying ‘How can I have better parent
communication if we are completely
virtual, or even hybrid,’” she says.

Budd hopes to begin accumulating
more resources to improve family
communication as well as prevent such
problems as students who don’t participat,
or online classroom environments that
don’t function well.

Bobby Bobson, a special education
teacher at North Bend Elementary/Middle
School in Baltimore, has dedicated the
summer to helping other teachers develop
online lessons while also bettering his own
understanding of technology.

“I feel like I’m maximizing my time off
in the summer to build systems that will
support my own teaching, but also other
teachers,” he says. “I’m planning on doing
more Google certification this year as well.

I’m going forward with the concept that
virtual learning is going to continue to
happen.” Other teachers, however, are using the
summer to prepare content that pertains
to events happening across the nation.

Michelle Ardillo, a language arts teacher
at St. Jude Regional Catholic School in
Montgomery County, is writing lesson
plans to include the Margot Lee Shetterly
novel “Hidden Figures” in her class’s
curriculum. “I think this book will work well with the
current focus on diversity and racial equality.

I am hoping to offer it to my colleagues
who teach math, science and social studies,



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Open Houses Go Virtual
Many local private schools are hosting their annual open houses online to maintain
social distancing protocols and observe the additional health measures associated
with the ongoing pandemic. Like IRL open house events, virtual open houses allow
families to meet school administrators, talk with faculty and safely tour classrooms—
all from the comfort of a family’s own homes.

Prior to the onset of the pandemic, a typical open house at Congressional School
in Falls Church featured in-person welcome remarks from school administrators
and guided tours led by current parents and students. Now, virtual open
houses at the school will take place on GoogleMeet with specific sessions and
unlimited participants, explains Alyce Penn, director of strategic marketing and
communications. “The event will begin with an overview by the head of school and the division
directors, then participants will break up into smaller groups based on grade level
or division,” says Penn. Within these small groups, parents will be able to speak with
teachers, current parents, students and administrators.

At Friends School of Baltimore in Baltimore and Oneness-Family School in
Bethesda, virtual open houses have already been taking place on Zoom.

Amy Mortimer, director of admissions at Friends School, says that the school’s
virtual open houses include most of the activities that took place during on-campus
open houses, like talks with the head of school, faculty Q&A sessions and current
student panels. The biggest difference is that parents and prospective students can
no longer participate in guided tours and mock classroom sessions with teachers.

“We actually did a virtual open house last spring, and now we [are running]
it very similarly,” Mortimer says. Fall open houses may also feature some slight
modifications, including the addition of short videos and recordings of classroom
sessions for families to view.

At Oneness-Family School, pictorial slideshows are shared during virtual open
house sessions to compensate for the school’s inability to host parents and students
on-campus. Slideshows feature detailed photos of school grounds, classrooms and
the campus community.

Following the virtual tour is an in-depth talk with parents and school faculty, where
information about school programs and school schedules are shared. Afterwards,
administrators and teachers have conversations with parents on school curricula and
application procedures.

“It’s a very inadequate replacement for in-person tours, but it’s the best that we
can do under these circumstances,” says Andrew Kutt, Oneness-Family’s head of
school. The other school administrators share Kutt’s sentiment and acknowledge that
virtual open houses come with its own set of challenges. Hosting them online fails to
effectively show families each schools’ vibrant atmosphere and campus community.

But the administrators hope that these challenges can be overcome with in-depth
parent Q&A sessions and open faculty conversations. n
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