In Shrewsbury, class is in session at Saint John’s High School. The great majority of students are on-campus, full-time, albeit things look different this year.Everything is spread out. A building foyer is home to an honor’s world history lesson one day. Students take study breaks under tents set up outside. Everyone is wearing masks. Students sit in assigned seats that have been spaced three feet apart.Complete Coverage: 5 on Education Matters “It’s what we’ve been preparing for really since March,” said headmaster Alex Zequeira.Like many private schools offering full in person learning, the private Catholic school has seen an unprecedented demand. But one thing is certain: K-12 education — whether it’s at a private school or public, whether it’s in-person, remote, or a combination of both — will be like no other year in Massachusetts.”There’s a level of improvisation we’re going to have to do as educators right now to get through the world that we’re in,” said Tim Piwowar, who is Billerica’s school superintendent and president-elect of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents.He and his colleagues are juggling many challenges and unknowns.”We are trying to walk the fine line between, how do we keep students and staff safe, but at the same time, how do we provide a meaningful educational experience? And at the same time, knowing the role that schools play as a driver for families as it relates to child care and in a family’s ability to put food on the table at home so that they can work?” he said.Billerica, like about 65% of other districts in Massachusetts, is offering a hybrid education, combing in-person and remote learning. Most of the remaining districts, including many of the cities in the state, are fully remote.Either way, having students in the home is posing a challenge for parents. Like many working parents, Waltham mom Debbie Kennedy is worried about how to balance her job with the extra demands of keeping her children on-track when they are at home. Her son and daughter are starting all-remote, and then expecting to shift to a hybrid model.Debbie Kennedy is going to start working from her office two days a week. Her husband works out of the home as a school custodian, so that means that seventh-grader Addison Kennedy and her brother will be home alone for part of the week.”What are you concerned about as you head back to work two days a week?” 5 Investigates’ Karen Anderson asked.”That I’m going to get a phone call from the teachers saying the kids are not doing what they’re supposed to do,” Kennedy said, laughing.But Kennedy is hardly the only working parent concerned that her children need more support to learn at home. For families with the means, they are buying that support with tutors and babysitters.”Parents don’t want their kids to just plateau and just do OK. They really want their kids to do the best they can and to be engaged and interested in the curriculum,” said Alexandra Berube, who owns Boston Tutoring Company.For Berube, it’s not only the busiest year so far, it’s a year of firsts.”We’ve never gotten requests for families looking for a tutor to come in and work with two or three or four kids before at the same time,” she said. “But now it’s definitely a very popular request.”Also new this year is parents hiring tutors for hours at a time, undeterred by the $65- to $80-an-hour fee.”They want someone to come in for the full school day, maybe two or three or four days a week, and just make sure the kids are engaged and working on their schoolwork,” she said.Sharon fourth-grader Lila McCarty will have two tutors from Berube’s company, one in English and another in math.”Last spring was pretty challenging. And right now, I think there are a lot of unknowns,” her mom, Caroline McCarty said. The uncertainty around the new school year, especially in Sharon, where teachers fought returning to the classroom, pushed the McCarty’s to hire the tutors so they take matters into their own hands.”In the event that she’s not able to have as much face to face time with her teachers and peers, we did think it was in her best interest to hire some additional educators to help her,” McCarty said.Boston College education professor Martin Scanlan, who worked with local school leaders this summer, said there is no one-size-fits all approach to education now.”Students are missing their connectivity to other people,” he said. At their best, schools are rising to the new challenges of remote learning and the rest of the pandemic’s problems using innovation.”The most successful places in addressing the pandemic are leveraging new opportunities and not just seeing this as a loss,” he said. For example, some districts are connecting with families, especially with higher needs, better than ever before.”We’ve heard over the summer in numerous districts how they’ve gotten new resources, whether that’s laptops or whether that’s looking at broadband access to families. Well, that’s something that should have been happening before. But at least it’s happening now,” he said. But the concern remains that the education gap already in place will widen.In Massachusetts before the pandemic, white and wealthier students test scores are some of the highest in the country, but less than a third of Black and Latino students were reading at grade level. And one out of every 11 low income students dropped out of high school.”Those test scores, those dropout rates, all of those things that are our challenge without this crisis are going to increase,” said Sharon Scott-Chandler, executive vice president of the anti-poverty group ABCD, or Action for Boston Community Development.”Higher income families and communities are doing pods, are providing access to tutoring and other kinds of support,” she said. “So we have to be as creative for low income families as higher income communities are being for their children.”Creativity and more resources can help make up for some of the challenges. Districts are giving out computers and WiFi hotspots. In Billerica, students can use computers at the Boys and Girls Club.In Boston this past spring, Deandre Avant was able to graduate from high school with support and a home with Bridge Over Troubled Waters, an organization that helps homeless youth in Boston.Now, he’s started community college, looking to build on his interest in drawing and become an architect. He believes that when young people are given the help they need, they can face the challenges of COVID-19, and come out on top. “It’s never fair when there’s a public crisis that you never expect is going to happen and you’re just trying to live your normal life,” he said. “No one said that the road was going to be easy. But in order to make through, you have to just keep on going because you can’t let something like that just stop you.”Are you still struggling to get online?School districts around Massachusetts have tried to work with families to provide computer and internet access to children. However, some parents still report that they have come up short.Here are some tips if you’re still struggling with reliable access:Talk with officials at your school. Districts tell us that they want to help, and if you reach out directly, they may be able to come up with a specific solution for your family.Check with your local library. Most of them have access to computers and free WIFI available that can be used inside or even outside of the facility.Many local internet providers offer more affordable internet packages for people who meet certain qualifications, including those receiving SNAP or other public benefits, and parents of children who receive reduced cost or free lunches. Some programs are only available for new customers.Comcast Internet Essentials: Comcast’s Internet Essentials program offers internet service for $9.95/month for most applicants who receive a federal benefit, including SSI or Medicare; a person who lives in HUD-assisted housing; and a family that has a child in the National School lunch program. People who are interested can click here from a mobile browser to complete a brief application and receive an installation kit.Spectrum Internet Assist: Spectrum’s program provides high-speed internet at lower prices. People who qualify for the program must have one or more member of the household who currently receive assistance under the National School Lunch Program, the Community Eligibility Provision of the Lunch Program, or SSI (65+ years of age only). You can complete the application by clicking here.Verizon Lifeline: Verizon offers low cost internet in select service areas through a government assistance program. Applicants must have an income of 135% or less than the federal poverty guidelines, or you must be receiving a qualified federal assistance program, including SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, Federal Public Housing Assistance, Veterans Pension and Survivor Benefit, or Tribal Programs. Click here to read more information and to find an application.
In Shrewsbury, class is in session at Saint John’s High School. The great majority of students are on-campus, full-time, albeit things look different this year.
Everything is spread out. A building foyer is home to an honor’s world history lesson one day. Students take study breaks under tents set up outside. Everyone is wearing masks. Students sit in assigned seats that have been spaced three feet apart.
Complete Coverage: 5 on Education Matters
“It’s what we’ve been preparing for really since March,” said headmaster Alex Zequeira.
Like many private schools offering full in person learning, the private Catholic school has seen an unprecedented demand. But one thing is certain: K-12 education — whether it’s at a private school or public, whether it’s in-person, remote, or a combination of both — will be like no other year in Massachusetts.
“There’s a level of improvisation we’re going to have to do as educators right now to get through the world that we’re in,” said Tim Piwowar, who is Billerica’s school superintendent and president-elect of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents.
He and his colleagues are juggling many challenges and unknowns.
“We are trying to walk the fine line between, how do we keep students and staff safe, but at the same time, how do we provide a meaningful educational experience? And at the same time, knowing the role that schools play as a driver for families as it relates to child care and in a family’s ability to put food on the table at home so that they can work?” he said.
Billerica, like about 65% of other districts in Massachusetts, is offering a hybrid education, combing in-person and remote learning. Most of the remaining districts, including many of the cities in the state, are fully remote.
Either way, having students in the home is posing a challenge for parents.
Like many working parents, Waltham mom Debbie Kennedy is worried about how to balance her job with the extra demands of keeping her children on-track when they are at home. Her son and daughter are starting all-remote, and then expecting to shift to a hybrid model.
Debbie Kennedy is going to start working from her office two days a week. Her husband works out of the home as a school custodian, so that means that seventh-grader Addison Kennedy and her brother will be home alone for part of the week.
“What are you concerned about as you head back to work two days a week?” 5 Investigates’ Karen Anderson asked.
“That I’m going to get a phone call from the teachers saying the kids are not doing what they’re supposed to do,” Kennedy said, laughing.
But Kennedy is hardly the only working parent concerned that her children need more support to learn at home.
For families with the means, they are buying that support with tutors and babysitters.
“Parents don’t want their kids to just plateau and just do OK. They really want their kids to do the best they can and to be engaged and interested in the curriculum,” said Alexandra Berube, who owns Boston Tutoring Company.
For Berube, it’s not only the busiest year so far, it’s a year of firsts.
“We’ve never gotten requests for families looking for a tutor to come in and work with two or three or four kids before at the same time,” she said. “But now it’s definitely a very popular request.”
Also new this year is parents hiring tutors for hours at a time, undeterred by the $65- to $80-an-hour fee.
“They want someone to come in for the full school day, maybe two or three or four days a week, and just make sure the kids are engaged and working on their schoolwork,” she said.
Sharon fourth-grader Lila McCarty will have two tutors from Berube’s company, one in English and another in math.
“Last spring was pretty challenging. And right now, I think there are a lot of unknowns,” her mom, Caroline McCarty said.
The uncertainty around the new school year, especially in Sharon, where teachers fought returning to the classroom, pushed the McCarty’s to hire the tutors so they take matters into their own hands.
“In the event that she’s not able to have as much face to face time with her teachers and peers, we did think it was in her best interest to hire some additional educators to help her,” McCarty said.
Boston College education professor Martin Scanlan, who worked with local school leaders this summer, said there is no one-size-fits all approach to education now.
“Students are missing their connectivity to other people,” he said.
At their best, schools are rising to the new challenges of remote learning and the rest of the pandemic’s problems using innovation.
“The most successful places in addressing the pandemic are leveraging new opportunities and not just seeing this as a loss,” he said.
For example, some districts are connecting with families, especially with higher needs, better than ever before.
“We’ve heard over the summer in numerous districts how they’ve gotten new resources, whether that’s laptops or whether that’s looking at broadband access to families. Well, that’s something that should have been happening before. But at least it’s happening now,” he said.
But the concern remains that the education gap already in place will widen.
In Massachusetts before the pandemic, white and wealthier students test scores are some of the highest in the country, but less than a third of Black and Latino students were reading at grade level. And one out of every 11 low income students dropped out of high school.
“Those test scores, those dropout rates, all of those things that are our challenge without this crisis are going to increase,” said Sharon Scott-Chandler, executive vice president of the anti-poverty group ABCD, or Action for Boston Community Development.
“Higher income families and communities are doing pods, are providing access to tutoring and other kinds of support,” she said. “So we have to be as creative for low income families as higher income communities are being for their children.”
Creativity and more resources can help make up for some of the challenges.
Districts are giving out computers and WiFi hotspots. In Billerica, students can use computers at the Boys and Girls Club.
In Boston this past spring, Deandre Avant was able to graduate from high school with support and a home with Bridge Over Troubled Waters, an organization that helps homeless youth in Boston.
Now, he’s started community college, looking to build on his interest in drawing and become an architect. He believes that when young people are given the help they need, they can face the challenges of COVID-19, and come out on top.
“It’s never fair when there’s a public crisis that you never expect is going to happen and you’re just trying to live your normal life,” he said. “No one said that the road was going to be easy. But in order to make through, you have to just keep on going because you can’t let something like that just stop you.”
Are you still struggling to get online?
School districts around Massachusetts have tried to work with families to provide computer and internet access to children. However, some parents still report that they have come up short.
Here are some tips if you’re still struggling with reliable access:
- Talk with officials at your school. Districts tell us that they want to help, and if you reach out directly, they may be able to come up with a specific solution for your family.
- Check with your local library. Most of them have access to computers and free WIFI available that can be used inside or even outside of the facility.
- Many local internet providers offer more affordable internet packages for people who meet certain qualifications, including those receiving SNAP or other public benefits, and parents of children who receive reduced cost or free lunches. Some programs are only available for new customers.
- Comcast Internet Essentials: Comcast’s Internet Essentials program offers internet service for $9.95/month for most applicants who receive a federal benefit, including SSI or Medicare; a person who lives in HUD-assisted housing; and a family that has a child in the National School lunch program. People who are interested can click here from a mobile browser to complete a brief application and receive an installation kit.
- Spectrum Internet Assist: Spectrum’s program provides high-speed internet at lower prices. People who qualify for the program must have one or more member of the household who currently receive assistance under the National School Lunch Program, the Community Eligibility Provision of the Lunch Program, or SSI (65+ years of age only). You can complete the application by clicking here.
- Verizon Lifeline: Verizon offers low cost internet in select service areas through a government assistance program. Applicants must have an income of 135% or less than the federal poverty guidelines, or you must be receiving a qualified federal assistance program, including SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, Federal Public Housing Assistance, Veterans Pension and Survivor Benefit, or Tribal Programs. Click here to read more information and to find an application.
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