@homerdog - I don’t anticipate 6 foot distancing in classrooms at BC. Their rule is wear a mask when 6 foot distancing is not possible and masks are required in all classrooms. I envision students in every other seat, which is probably more like 3-4 feet of distance between students. I could be wrong - more parent orientations are coming up so I hope to get more specifics.
@xyz123a ah got it! Two of S19’s best friends are at BC. I’m hoping their plan works!
Aren’t some k-12 schools looking at spacing desks three feet apart?
@homerdog - Thanks! Me too!! It is “interesting” to have kids at two very different colleges with different plans.
Same at Michigan but didn’t think to add night and weekend classes. She actually seemed very pleased about it and must of gotten decent times. Wouldn’t want a 8:00 am Saturday class… Lol.
Huh? Seems like you have this image that is just not a reality at some schools. Sure they will add more classes to have “live” classes and yes some will be discussion classes. These will be smaller classes. Shouldn’t really have a problem talking etc. It’s not like one person will sit in the top row and one person all the way down in the first row and kids scattered. They will make it work. The Wisconsin patient said going online was not an issue since they have been working on this concept for years. Same at Michigan and probably most large research schools, I would assume. It’s not all doom and gloom.
@Happytimes2001 my S was planning to return in the fall, but so far he knows 2 classes will be online and suspects a 3rd will too. He also believes that fall on campus will be worse than anticipated and therefore is almost certain to stay home and take classes remotely for fall semester and see if he wants to return in spring, which is permitted.
If this lasts longer, and he can’t have the LAC experience, I really think he would consider transferring to one of our state schools for the lower cost.
@GKUnion yes. CDC recommend 6 when feasible. In recognition that 6 ft is not practical without limiting student numbers, American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that spacing as close as 3 ft may approach the benefits of 6 if students also wearing masks. According to AAP ”schools should weigh the benefits of strict adherence to 6 ft if the downside is that means remote is only option”
D is elementary teacher. Her SC district will definitely start remote, announced today. They are hopeful risk levels drop and back in class by perhaps October. Details still fuzzy but at least parents can now decide if they want to be in remote class with their with zoned school or commit to school year long online school.
Well, @milgymfam , I admire your candor in your plan, and sincerely hope it works out for the best for you, and that your kids, when and if they do eventually leave the nest, have no regrets. My brother had an involuntary gap year forced on him in the mid-60s, and to this day misses the extra year in the prime of his life. Que sera, sera.
@shuttlebus wrote:
As is Middlebury I just found out. That’s almost half of NESCAC.
@knowstuff I cannot find the article and the drawings anymore. There were artistic renditions of classes with 20 students. In order to have six feet all around them, they needed a classroom with 100 seats. And, in that drawing, kids were indeed in the back row. It had six feet all around each student like a circle of six feet diameter. Maybe six feet isn’t a thing anymore.
Hope the Broad institute can deliver…they have quite the customer list. It also probably means there won’t be same day results since the tests will need to be physically delivered.
@homerdog
Yes, I remember seeing the drawing somewhere. I don’t think it was meant to discourage people from taking socially distant classes. It was meant to illustrate the difficulty of finding classrooms with that much space.
My son at Big U has only one class that is online out of 4/5. All are 25 or less.
Add BC to the Broad Institute list.
Sorry, no taking cuts. You have to read all the posts. It should only take like a few weeks ?
. You really need to go to your own schools website and see what they have planned. Every school is slightly different.
@roycroftmom perhaps (hopefully) the difference here is that we don’t force anything on our kids.
One chose a gap year. One is choosing to take the fall online because a class she really wants won’t be offered again before she graduates- but she can’t see the point of going to campus under the current rules and with the current risks. Her school doesn’t offer part time so she’s bust crafting a schedule that meets her needs of the moment but doesn’t waste the semester in terms of moving toward graduation. She could’ve taken the semester off and graduated on time, and thought she would, but she really wants this class with this teacher.
Both made their choices in conversation with us parents but knowing they had full support for whichever choice they made. I think that everyone’s kids should be driving these conversations at home (on here it is bound to look differently simply by the fact that they’re not here to speak for themselves)- I truly think that if they have agency over what they do during this time they will be less likely to have regrets later. Part of our discussions have been that no plan is perfect and the world is full of curveballs right now. We’ve made pros and cons lists and they’re turned to outside mentors for fresh perspectives… and then made their decisions. I don’t think the kids who are going back are wrong… nor the kids who gap or transfer or anything else.
Side note, younger daughter is gapping from Goucher. They’re doing wastewater testing of the dorms, which is something I’m surprised more schools are not doing. They’re not talked about on here often, but I think their plans are actually really solid.
(And I wanted to add that they’re definitely going to leave the nest- can’t wait, actually, while still enjoying our company for now. At 18 and 16 there is no big push because we all know that it’s coming soon enough. In fact, in about four years there won’t be a nest. We have interesting future plans).
I actually don’t know since I don’t know what every school in the United States will do but at Michigan their professors.
Bowdoin using Broad Institute as well.
@milgymfam Agree with everything you’ve said re gap year.
Our D20 is deferring from Harvey Mudd and like you, we agree that it’s important for her to be making this decision. We did have a lot of family discussion about it and have come to some agreements on how our family dynamics should work for the next year, but this is her decision. In person clubs, varsity athletics, and the consortium setting we’re all important to her in choosing the school so it makes a lot of sense to her to defer for a year since she’ll get none of that and she’ll have an opportunity to work, volunteer, train, and generally grow up for a year. She has no delusions that things will be perfect next fall, but it certainly won’t be worse and this gives her a chance of having four years of close to the experience she wants.