I think March 13th was the last day of high school for my seniors, unfortunately.
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Sounds like my parents live in the same county as yours. Both are in the 75+ group, but they have not heard anything yet either, not even a place to register/sign up. Though I would prefer they get vaccinated as soon as they are able, depending on how they are administered, my mom said she is not going to be vying to get it immediately if it means having to wait in lines like they were in FL. She and my father are being extremely cautious, so she said they will just continue to stay home until after the āmad rushā when her age group becomes eligible.
My sonās school (private school in MD) ended up doing a socially distanced graduation for its seniors last summer so Iām hopeful at a minimum, my sonās class will have the same opportunity. My oldest is due to graduate college the week before him, and that one I am more concerned about being canceled. Fingers crossed!
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Kids are playing tennis here in the western suburbs. Youāre in Chicago right? My husband also plays indoor twice a week.
Yes, it looks like some Illinois regions will be able open up more at the end of this weekā¦but that level is still far away from allowing hundreds or thousands of people to gather for a graduation ceremony. Illinois is in the minority of states that hasnāt played football this school year, and isnāt playing any HS sports right now.
Our HS is also working on a number of different graduation scenarios, which Iām sure will still be good and allow for graduates to have closure.
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Maryland and DC havenāt had any high school sports. They are all saying maybe a little mini season in the spring, but I think the winter sports have no hope. Maybe fall and spring. The privates too havenāt had any.
The number one HS QB in the country plays in DC and basically just moved to Oklahoma where heās going to school next year because I think he knows they wonāt get a spring season and if they do itās not worth it for him to stay (he still goes to school remotely).
LOL. Lesson learned!
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Thatās actually not true with private high schools in MD. I have one kid in private school in AAco and one in private school in Baltimore City. Both of their high schools had fall sports. My daughter plays tennis and she had a shortened season. My sonās and daughterās high schools for sure had football, soccer and field hockey though some of the schools in their conferences opted not to play this fall so they did not have a full season but they did play.
exactly 
Yes, state rules are only allowing for 2 on a court at a time, no small group lessons, other than the semi-private with the 2 on the court at a time, so not happening here and shouldnāt be happening there. Our club and others have been trying to fight the state on it since November when the rules went into effect since tennis is such a low risk sport but to no avail. They keep updating us and were hoping next week to open, but still nothing.
Tennis coach latest I think also was that the sport may also now get moved up after it was initially moved back to May/June. However, if they move it up, then they need indoor courts to play at so who knows what that will mean, but still have a few months to go with that anyway! Just hoping it starts soon, even though they also have to play wearing their masks inside, which sounds so uncomfortable.
Hm. Maybe itās different in our county. Both my H and D21 have been playing doubles with no masks. Maybe the club just looks the other way. The dividers are brought down between the courts.
Oh okay, my kid is in the WCAC and theyāve had no seasons, his school canāt even socially distanced practice right now. 4 schools are playing basketball now in WCAC but thatās out of 13. Ryken (St. Marys county), DeMatha, McNamara (PG) and PVI (NoVa).
My SO lives in the western suburbs so I am up there a good bit. (I havenāt been able to spend time in the city in months due to the quarantine requirements.) Both his boys play travel/club baseball. They are currently allowed to have small group training at the club facility. I believe the max group size is 6, with masks, distancing and other protocols, of course. From what he says, there are different protocols in DuPage County than City of Chicago @homerdog @srparent15 (Note: I have not looked into this so take it for what it isā¦ second hand knowledge.)
I will say that in general IL is much more locked down than we are in GA. And there is a huge difference in GA between where I live in the City of Atlanta and my brother 30 minutes away in the suburbs (not even going to mention the small town my parents live inā¦ thank goodness they are able to stay home and have others shop for them, etc.) We visited my brother in the northern suburbs last weekend and decided to brave a dinner out. While the restaurant we went to was practicing safety measures, several we walked by were packed and looked like they would have a year ago. I was surprised and my SO was absolutely shocked (especially coming from Chicago).
My D attends a small private (in person with option for virtual learning but only 10-15% have opted for virtual) and they were able to have some sports, although some seasons were cut short. She is very involved in the Arts and Iāve been impressed with the creative ways they have found to safely perform. Rather than a stage performance, they made a film (filmed outdoors) and streamed it. The holiday chorus concert was outside and broken down into small groups spread across campus and limited attendees were in guided groups that traveled to each choral station. I could name many other examples but I will say for our Arts kids a bright side of the covid world is that it has allowed kids to work in mediums they may not have (for example, the film).
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Maybe looking the other way, because here is part of an email we received last week -
" Happy New Year!
After many weeks of uncertainty regarding state restrictions, hereās what we know:
Back in November, the Governor issued Tier 3 restrictions for the whole state, regardless of regional metrics.
Just today, the Governor extended those restrictions until at least Jan 15 with this statement:"
The AACo exec canceled all use of indoor and outdoor sports facilities, fields, etc in December so none of the private schools have been practicing or competing in AAco since. However, he modified his executive order yesterday so practices are restarting today. My son doesnāt play a winter sport so not sure what is going on in Balt City. I donāt think the private high schools are currently practicing/playing but I could be wrong. My son plays rugby in the spring so heās hoping they will have at least a shortened season that will start later than usual.
Based on what youāve said, I can guess where your son goes to h.s. - my sons have several friends who were/are class of 2019 and 2021 there. That stinks there have been no sports for them this year. Tho my kidsā schools had shortened football seasons, the QB from one of their schools transferred to a high school in a southern state in order to play. I have no idea tho if he ended up getting recruited.
My son used to play rugby as well. Who knows they may have even played against each other. My son had a spinal injury his soph season and his doc said he wouldnāt recommend playing it anymore (especially not in conjunction with soccer that was his primary sport).
I do hope your son gets a season along with all of the other students who have dreamed of their senior seasons.
@Mjkacmom I know, itās so crummy. We thought my 2020 had it bad, but he recently commented on how much worse his 2021 sister has it. Ugh. My hope is that at least the start of college is okay for our 2021ās, because fall 2020 was a mixed bag on college campuses.
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Only one of my kids was unscathed (24) with schooling (although she works at a fun accounting firm and has been holed up with her boyfriend and his mom since March. My son āgraduatedā from college and my 19 year old got booted out of her dorm in March (all classes online including this spring). These young adult years were some of the favorite times in my life. I also thing they are coping better than my generation right now.
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Yes, my S21 has already announced that he will take a gap year if things are not ānormalā at his college this fall. He has watched his sisterās experience with remote college this year and wants nothing to do with it.
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Iāve been away for a while as Iāve been too grumpy to post. D21 got behind in her physics course, which I didnāt know about until a week ago. She just spent the last few days doing a ton of physics and turning in assignments right and left. This was a self-paced course, but stillā¦everything had to be done by tonight for our umbrella school (accredited school that oversees her homeschooling) deadline. She got it done and the teacher, angel that she is, graded everything right away. She got an A by the skin of her teeth, and I completed the Mid-Year report on the Common App and just submitted it half an hour ago. That whole last-minute thing stressed me out way too muchā¦I had not realized she had gotten behind. She ended up with four As and two A-s last semester, so thatās good anyway.
Also discovered that my ex is expecting a baby with his 20-years-younger than him girlfriend. The age difference irritates me because he has only dated much younger women since we divorced (the winner was a European model with giant fake boobs and an anorexic-thin body who was 21 when he was 52ā¦). So now D21 is old enough to be her future half-brotherās mother. My ex will be 77 when that kid goes to college.
The really odd thing, selfishly speaking, is that the news made me look forward to when D23 leaves for college. I wasnāt able to forge a new life for myself after my divorce, since I am the one who has custody and I have homeschooled our kids (or driven them around to all their colleges and school institutions and extracurriculars once they hit high school age). I have no complaints - I am very close to my daughters and I have always been their rock as their father did all kinds of giant midlife crisis things. Thatās been an honor - I havenāt missed anything at all during their childhoods. But I do know that once both are out of the house, I have a new chapter to live, and I am getting very excited for that. There is so much I want to do (that doesnāt cost very much), and for the first time in 20 years, Iāll be able to just do what I want. I look forward to that. And no offense to any older parents out there, but for me, I would absolutely not want to have another baby once I got into my upper 50s. I know that might work for some, but not for me. I love my two very much and am very happy I was there with them all those years. But Iām done. I think Iād rather stick a fork in my eye than start raising another child once I hit my late 50s (and again no offense to older parents with newbornsā¦I speak for myself only).
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Iām there with you on the virtual school and falling behind. S21 thought he had turned in the assignments. It shows it on his phone but I guess that doesnāt mean itās submitted on google drive desktop so he had a bunch of missing homework. He didnāt respond in time so he ended up with B+ in AP Stat. Argh.
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