School is about to be in person on Wednesday. Listening to the protocol- that is necessary, was also very depressing. Get to 1st period and open your laptop and put in your ear buds. Lunch in classrooms- no talking while masks are off. The kids who are going back said they will try it, but have no problem not showing up if it stinks. They thought it was like prison before… I don’t blame one Senior who decides to just stay remote.
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@jeneric ”…thought it was prison before…”. LMAO. Your description makes it sound like prison!!
Back in Nov when there were pipe dreams, they said we could go back hybrid in Jan (never happened) but on half rotation and 2 days a week. But it’s synchronous teaching so the teacher is sitting in front of the laptop teaching the in-person kids with a chromebook in front of them and also the other half of the kids who would be on home rotation.
My kids read the choices and they laughed at them. They picked to continue to stay home. Even my studio is S24 play-by-the-rule kid who loves school passed on in-person hybrid. I mean, why even bother? Worst case you don’t even get to see your friends if on a different rotation.
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My S21 has been remote the entire yr, he didn’t want to go back hybrid. The hybrid kids are in their laptops at school and not worth it for him. He still gets to go to school daily for sports practice and other ECs at school.
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Our school is finally starting back in person. There will be 12 kids max per classroom (50% classroom capacity), all masked, hepa filters, infrared cleaning (or whatever). This protocol was set up at the beginning of the school year, but then the state said 25% capacity, and now up to 50%.
But, then it snowed and got cold! I think they must be expecting them to eat outside (I have to admit to tuning out a bit during the presentation, assuming my kids are old enough to know what they’re doing). So, school will be online tomorrow (and Wed if it’s still so cold). Then they have a brief break before the last trimester starts. Hopefully, if it is lunch that’s the issue, they can let them eat in class. I just want them to have some final socialization with their peers who they’ve been in school with since 6th grade!
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Our school’s kids will have the option to go back hybrid after being 100% remote since last March. BUT not until April 24th and the protocols are so draconian (e.g., 15 min. to eat and no talking, staying in the same classroom during the breaks between classes, etc.) that my S21 said no way, not worth it. It’d only be for about a month anyway.
Plus, it’s pretty likely he’ll miss graduation so that he can quarantine at his summer camp job b4 the campers arrive.
I’m thankful (and realizing lucky) he’s still engaged in his classwork. If he pulls off straight As again this semester he’ll be a class valedictorian and that motivates him. Esp. b/c his sister, D18, had that honor and he wants to match it! Sibling rivalry!
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Same thing here. S21 and D23 go to different private high schools, both are hybrid. My kids were going in person 2x a week until Thanksgiving. We kept them home b/w Thanksgiving and Christmas b/c older son was having surgery in December so we couldn’t risk any possible school exposures/mandatory quarantine. Plan was for both to go back after winter break, but just days before, my daughter asked if she could stay home for third quarter. None of her friends are in her cohort, three of her teachers teach from home, 25 min commute in cold dark weather. We agreed, if that’s what she wanted. S21’s first day back was a remote day for his cohort. After his first couple of classes that day, he came in the kitchen and asked if he could switch to all remote also! He said his in person classes only a couple of kids at school. His situation made even more sense - same thing with no friends in his cohort, but he has a 45 min commute. He had to get up so much earlier on his in person days, plus the weather is always iffy this time of year (we get a lot of freezing rain, wintery mix and his commute is tough even on a sunny day - lots of road rage, inattentive drivers, etc). Sucks because he is a senior! Both plan to go back in person after 3rd quarter - I think it will be much better when warm weather arrives. Plus, S21 plays rugby and they are starting spring sports in March so it will be easier for at least two days to be at school rather than racing from home to get to practice on time.
I appreciate that both schools did everything possible to have kids back in school, even twice a week, but after a while I think kids realized it was a lot of effort for not much difference. Much easier to sleep in later, not have to wear a mask all day and worry about social distancing if they do remote schooling. That said, I do think for some kids, they really need that in person time to stay engaged with their teachers and have some socialization even if it’s not ideal. If either of my kids was struggling, I would have encouraged them to stick with hybrid rather than switching to remote.
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@AlmostThere2018 He has to keep his valedictorian status! So close and I’m sure he can do it! -fellow Valedictorian HS Class of ‘93 
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Hearing about senioritis and checked out kids makes me feel better in a sad way. I see my S21, who is already an introvert, in his room day after day, on his phone or watching videos on his iPad , and it makes me anxious. He also games with friends, which in the “old days” I tried to put limits on. Now, I’m just glad he’s laughing and talking to friends. I don’t even know what time he stays up until…2 or 3 am? He has maintained his grades, does all his homework, eats meals with us, and has actually been friendlier, so I leave him alone. Still, it makes me sad to see this routine. Socializing is not the easiest for my S, so I worry that this skill is not being developed. Anyway, thanks for “listening” and providing a space to talk about what’s going on with our high schoolers.
My kids’ school is still online. I think they are gearing up to go back hybrid. I signed my kids up for hybrid but they now both say they might want to stay online. Some of friends are in the other cohort group, and lunch will not be like before. I was desperate for them to go back and get out of the house, but I’ve decided if they really dislike hybrid, they can go back to online. At this point, I think it’s 50-50 whether they go back this year anyway.
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You pretty much described my S’s day, except he will walk the dog with us most afternoons for about 30 to 40 minutes. I try to look on the positive side that he’s gaming and chatting with his friends in town – not strangers in other countries. So he is connected, albeit electronically. He sees folks IRL maybe once every couple of weeks to play frisbee or eat outside. It’s rough.
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Thank goodness my kid isn’t the only one doing this! You guys at least get dinner with your kid. It’s really just us and D24 and he comes out whenever.
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D21 has seen only two friends IRL in the last couple months. Yes, we aren’t home, but she wasn’t seeing a lot of people when we were. She has her job on the weekend and at least gets out of the house, so she can still carry on a conversation with other people. She has her sister here as well.
She is going away for school and will probably never see most of these people again. I guess it’s kind of like the separation started earlier than expected, but it was going to happen eventually. I just hope when she goes off to college she has the energy to deal with a roommate and a hall full of girls- that could be overwhelming after this year of nothing!
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some schools are having kids take placement tests before they register for their fall classes.
Very similar situation in our household. D21 works on sundays and I think it’s the highlight of her week to get out of the house. The kids all placed their orders for cap and gown, but there is no return date to school in sight and she made a comment that she may wear her cap and gown in our house.
I do worry that the return to “normal” may be hard in some ways for many of the kids who have spent so many months holed up in their rooms. The cold gray weather isn’t helping things.
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Same thing here, my S21 has 3-4 kids in his 2 day a week in person classes. 3 of his classes are virtual only. I am making him go as I feel he is happier when he returns, not to mention dressed and hair looking good. His grades are fine but all he is looking forward to is being done with this school year. No prom, questionable graduation, none of his friends going in person, no senior special gifts, and he just wants the nightmare over. He committed to his top choice in July and was ED admitted in December which makes him even more over his senior year.
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I agree with previous posts - the whole fabric of our kids’ social development has been altered. After almost a year of being the only kid at home, and often holed up in his room due to quarantine or just to minimize contact with dad (my husband is a vulnerable individual), I have a hard time imagining S21 in a dorm with a roommate.
Our school is in-person 5 days a week and not technically hybrid, but it does have a very loose protocol where, if a student “isn’t comfortable with in person right now,” he can go virtual - for a week, a month, whatever. Some are taking advantage of that, and S21 has lobbied hard to do so. But when he is home, I can tell he isn’t focused on the classes, so, uh, no. His senior class is just 13 kids, and most of them go to school most days.
Our school requires students to take the AP exams if they want AP credit on transcript. I don’t especially care about the scores for Physics 1 or MicroEcon - as an Econ major, he will retake the latter in college, the former doesn’t buy him much. But Calc BC - a 5 could earn 2 semesters of math credit which would be good.
An outdoor graduation will likely happen - the school is very small, and they managed to do it last summer with the 2020s. Prom is up in the air. But soccer is happening, at least practices, so S21 is getting exercise.
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Just wanted to mention something to check if your S or D applied ED, was accepted, and withdrew other applications. My D21 was accepted to her ED school in December and went on to each of the other schools she applied and withdrew her applications from them. However, I’m not sure the regular applications to some schools are linked to honors applications. She was accepted to University of Kentucky’s Honors College yesterday. Oops! I feel bad that she possibly took someone else’s spot, but hopeful that since she immediately went on and declined it that they will offer that spot to someone else. She is looking into the other two she applied to honors to see if she needs to let them know separately to withdraw her application.
Just a little side note fwiw. Happy Tuesday everybody!
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Thanks for this tip. I know D21 withdraw via portals where she could and then emailed the admissions officers for the other colleges. I am not sure if she got confirmation emails back or not. I don’t know if there were any other Honors Colleges applications that were separate (I don’t think so, but I will make sure she knows to check).
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My S21 also spends most non school time online or online gaming with friends. It’s nice to hear him laughing with them but that shouldn’t be all he gets. Winter is rough. Before it got really cold he’d get out a bit to golf or play soccer with friends most weekends. I hope Spring comes early. At least he still seems pretty focused on keeping up with school.
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I tried to get my son to do a virtual admitted student event last night. An hour in he got up and walked away saying it was like every other virtual everything and useless as he stormed away. Good times. Really going to be easy (not at all) to pick a college this year.
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I agree with this. Add on that we are really interested in what these campuses will look like for fall which likely can’t be determined by May 1 and I don’t know how D will choose. She did do a Richmond admitted student even last night and there was more info there than was previously available but I don’t think it moved the school up or down for her. We are going to campus in about ten days and I think that might help. We need to get out there. Figuring out schools from behind a laptop just isn’t working.
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