By Adam Rohdie
After watching my beloved NY Giants win their second straight game this past Sunday, my screen surfing landed on the season premier of 60 Minutes. On that episode, Scott Pelley interviewed President Biden and asked an interesting question. He asked the President if the pandemic was over. Biden did not hesitate to simply answer, “yes.”
While I am sure everyone is done reading about Covid, and I am certainly not excited to write about it, I do want to share some of my thinking around Biden’s answer and how it applies to schools. I think it is safe to say we are definitely at a new point in the Covid war. The opening of school this year was euphoric in that it felt so normal—kids without masks, no talk of social distancing, no dousing students with hand sanitizer as they walk through the door, and the ability to have in-person faculty orientation, new student meet and greets, and parent gatherings have brought a smile to everyone’s face.
Undoubtedly, this year is going to be terrific and so much better than the past few. However, I fear that lingering just under the surface is a reality that must be acknowledged and closely monitored. At GCDS, we are keenly attuned to two potential problems which, sadly, are real and will not just go away without explicit attention.
The first issue is academic loss. The teachers across our community remain among the heroes of the pandemic in all that they were able to accomplish given the unprecedented circumstances we all faced. That said, we fool ourselves if we believe that the past two years have not impacted student learning.
Learning loss will show itself differently for a student entering grade two or for the student about to start their junior year in high school this year. In any case, we need to be attuned to what it will look like and how we will approach working through it. Now more than ever, skilled teachers are going to need to make a quick diagnosis of where students are in their learning, and then meet them at that point to prepare to move them forward. This is going to be a significant challenge because in any given class a teacher may find 5, 10, or 15 different starting points and as many different holes to fill. A teacher’s ability to differentiate within the classroom and a school’s ability to provide the supports, scaffolds, and extensions necessary will be put to the test this year.
The second issue, and in some ways an even more challenging issue, is the mental health of our students. As we entered this school year with the joy of seeing smiles and not masks on the first day of school, it is easy to focus on celebrating the ‘end’ of the pandemic, burying the impact of the prolonged stress and anxiety that has been internalized over the last two plus years.
The reality is that this is the moment we will see more anxiety, more depression, more suicidal ideation, and more eating disorders; all of which will demand more services to help our students. I know it seems counter intuitive that as we emerge from the pandemic, we see a rise and a not a decline in the need for services. Health professionals around Greenwich are currently being overwhelmed with requests for services and cannot keep up with the demand. At GCDS, we have added three new professionals to our student support/mental health teams. It is an investment whose return cannot be quantified because at the core of any school, the commitment to help keep children safe and healthy is infinitely more important than learning the quadratic equation.
While I hate to rain on the parade we are enjoying as we emerge from the pandemic, we must be cognizant of these issues in order to support our students in optimizing their learning and their well-being. I am also very optimistic that with teachers and administrators having their eyes wide open, we will indeed provide the educational and emotional support our children will desperately need this year.
Perhaps, this is where I return to a familiar theme for me—thank a teacher! The work they have done these past two years is exceptional and inspirational. The work they will do this year and going forward will be perhaps even more challenging. I know of no group of professionals who are more ready to take on this challenge—with the support and partnership of their respective school leaders and families. So, when they work their magic this year, as I have no doubt they will, that is when I will officially say the pandemic is over!
Adam C. Rohdie is the Head of School and a Grade 8 History Teacher for Greenwich Country Day School.
