According to Alex Zimmerman of Chalkbeat, the numbers are in. 280,000 students showed up for in-person schooling out of the 1 million who could attend school in NYC. But even with these small numbers, it seems there is not enough room. In the past weeks, stories like this one were still the reality for kids trying to attend. According to the WSJ, 11th-grader Leila Mejer came to school for the first day of in-person classes last week, and 3 students were asked to wait outside. Social distancing guidelines allowed only 11 students plus the teacher, but 14 students arrived for class.
In contrast, many NYC private schools have been offering in-person options, often meeting outside. There are, of course, some public schools that have space or options to accommodate similar outdoor learning, such as Essex Street Academy, but not many. And often, when public schools DO have more options, there’s more to the story.
Take, for example, Mullen-Hall Elementary School in Falmouth, Massachusetts where the school did not necessarily have the funding to reimagine education in a pandemic, but the neighborhood and parents stepped in by building exquisite outdoor “living” classrooms. The NYT showed beautiful pictures of first graders doing sentence-structure lessons in a flourishing outdoor garden. But what they forgot to include was the information, for example, that the median income level there is $73,000 a year and that students living in this district are already ranked as some of the most likely to succeed in the nation by Raj Chetty’s Opportunity Atlas.
There is also a very exciting outdoor school approach happening in Hot Springs, AR, but Hot Springs is also home to a National Park and beautiful botanical gardens. Still, the point here is not to critique the creativity of these resilient communities or teachers. Instead, we’re curious why more schools aren’t willing to try to find more space. For schools catering to communities with higher income, they know unhappy parents will pull their students from their schools if they are not satisfied. So, these schools feel pressure to adapt to these uncomfortable circumstances, but shouldn’t all school districts be trying to accommodate students whether parents are pushing for change or not? And if low-income students had the option to leave the schools that aren’t serving their needs (like so many parents who can afford it are doing), would that be a call to action for their schools and districts?
We recognize that many districts do not have the parent-power of places like Falmouth, MA. But we’ve also heard stories of creative classrooms during the tuberculosis epidemic. In fact, in early spring there were lots of discussions about outdoor schooling in NYC. According to another NYT article, there has been a major shift towards more green spaces in low income communities:
Between 2007 and 2013, in conjunction with the Trust for Public Land, the city converted more than 250 schoolyards to green space for student and community use. The New York City Housing Authority has 1,000 playgrounds that could be commandeered. And the Parks Department, as Mr. Benepe, who is now with the Trust, pointed out, has 35 recreation centers, already outfitted with gyms and bathrooms that could accommodate a few thousand children.
So, what’s the hold up? We know screen time isn’t healthy, and now many haunting articles are reminding us that there are risks when kids stay home too. For those who want and need the safe haven of school, now is a better time than ever to offer our communities choices.