Talisa Stout-Stephenson, 36 has four children in charter and public schools within the city. They will return to in-person learning on Wednesday, and Thursday. Ms. Sutton Stephenson, an educator for District of Columbia Public Schools said that she was thrilled that her children, all fully vaccinated and well, would be returning to school in person. Her 6-year-old daughter was particularly happy.
“She’s really a different child in person than she is virtually,” said Ms. Sutton-Stephenson, who is also fully vaccinated. “She retains more information. She really does value relationships with her teachers and other students.”
“I cannot see doing virtual again,” said Ms. Sutton-Stephenson. “I really wish that the conversation or the narrative would switch from staying home to, ‘What do you need to do to stay in person safely?’”
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons from the Washington Teachers Union stated that teachers agree that learning in person is the best way to learn right now.
“Our teachers are very anxious because we know that the numbers are very high, but we know that the best place for students to be is in person,” said Ms. Pogue Lyons, adding that it was “going to be a long probably month and a half.”
She expressed delight that the District was one in a few places in the nation that required a negative test from all students and teachers before they could return to school. The school system will also offer K95 masks to all teachers, and the union is pushing to have those masks available to students.
Other schools in the D.C. metropolitan area have either cancelled classes completely on Monday or switched over to virtual learning due to the snowstorm, Covid-19, and/or both. Those include Arlington Public Schools, Fairfax County Schools, Montgomery County Public Schools, and Prince George’s County Public Schools.
Source: NY Times
