As the school year ended last spring, We are pretty sure we were able to hear an audible collective sigh of relief from all those involved. Parents, students, teachers, administrators, school board members, and local government officials were all very happy to be ending what can only be described as a chaotic last few months of school. With the pandemic sweeping the world, mandatory quarantining, and the outside world coming to an abrupt screeching halt, everyone was scrambling to make the best of a very difficult situation. Parents were forced to work from home. Students were forced to educate from home. School buildings were shuttered and left to collect dust for the remainder of the school year. Administrations and legislators had to scramble to pull together a plan to support the students, staff, and families that they serve with little to no advanced planning. Needless to say, the end of the school year was eagerly anticipated by all parties involved.

Many school districts used the time over the summer to plan for what the beginning of the next school year might look like. Health departments and local governments spent this summer collecting and analyzing data about cases and transmission rates in order to lay out what they believe are the best and safest guidelines for reopening school buildings for the coming year. Families have tried to return to some semblance of “normal” life over the summer while adhering to social-distancing guidelines, mask mandates, and closures of many public venues. Activities like drive-by graduation ceremonies and birthday parties, socially distanced hikes and playdates, traveling by RV, and virtual vacations have become the norm.

It’s fair to say that the majority of us are looking towards the beginning of the upcoming school year with some amount of trepidation. We must all walk a collectively precarious path as we work together to create solutions to the challenges that we all faced last spring in regards to living life during a global pandemic. It is worth the time for each of us to take some time reflect on the end of last school year and record ideas and thoughts about what worked, and what didn’t. Those observations will help us learn from the mistakes that were made, and be able to head into this next school year in a more prepared, better informed, and proactive way. In my next post, we will explore the educational options that have become available for the upcoming school year and discuss the benefits and challenges of each of those options.

Until then, enjoy what is left of summer while you can. Rest, relax, and gear up for what will certainly be another interesting school year ahead!