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An outdoor band practice at Daniel Hand High School in Madison, Conn. on Sep. 17, 2020, as the school district returns to a hybrid model during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: Madison Public SchoolsAn outdoor band practice at Daniel Hand High School in Madison, Conn. on Sep. 17, 2020, as the school district returns to a hybrid model during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An outdoor band practice at Daniel Hand High School in Madison, Conn. on Sep. 17, 2020, as the school district returns to a hybrid model during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An outdoor band practice at Daniel Hand High School in Madison, Conn. on Sep. 17, 2020, as the school district returns to a hybrid model during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Virtual show choir practices. Restrictions on which direction you can walk down the hallway. “Cohorts” that mean most of his friends aren’t in the building at the same time as him. COVID-19 means that Jack White, 17, won’t exactly have a “normal” senior year at Daniel Hand High School in Madison.
The days leading up to the start of school were marked by anxiety and even sadness, White said, but that quickly changed once he got back. During extraordinary times, White and others along the Shoreline are finding joy in the return to school, even with all its quirks.
“I didn’t think we would even be going to school in person but I am very, very grateful that we are,” he said.
Officials had not identified any school-related COVID-19 cases in Madison, Guilford or North Branford as of Thursday.
But the return to school has other challenges. At Hand, just walking around the building is one of them.
White might be 20 feet from his classroom, but if it’s in the “wrong” direction he has to go upstairs and come back around, he said.
“I think everybody hated the first day of school,” he said, adding that the hallway issue itself was enough to make him wonder whether he should have opted for full-time distance learning.
But White quickly got used to it.
“We got over it so quickly because we were all just very happy to be seeing each other,” he said.
White even found a silver lining to the hallway problem. “I get my steps in on my Apple watch,” he said.
A pleasant surprise
Despite some apprehension, parents in North Branford, which opted for a full-time in-person learning model, and in Madison, which chose a hybrid model, said the transition back to school was smooth.
Take Victoria Lanza, whose daughter is in first grade at Jerome Harrison Elementary School in North Branford.
“I had a lot of hesitation sending her back because we’ve been quarantined this entire time together,” she said. “Now it’s like, I have to send her back out into the world.”
But overall, “it’s gone very well,” Lanza said of the return to school.
“[The principal] really went above and beyond to help me feel comfortable and safe sending [my daughter] back,” Lanza said. “I really think that [the district] did a fantastic job, and I’m proud of our little town.”
For Anne McCarthy, who said her son is a third-grader in Madison Public Schools, the summer wasn’t easy.
“I was anxious, because I work full time. … It’s a lot all at once,” McCarthy said, adding that she was worried about lining up child care if her son was only in school a couple of days a week, as per Madison’s hybrid model.
But when the district told her that her son, who is in the special education program, would be given an exemption so he could return four days per week, McCarthy’s anxiety began to dissipate, she said.
“It’s worked wonderfully,” she said.
JeanAnn Paddyfote, interim superintendent for Madison schools, confirmed that “there are certain students … based on their needs, that are attending 4 days.”
In transition
Guilford resident Cheryl Magee had no complaints about her daughter’s return to school as a first-grader at Melissa Jones Elementary School, she said.
The district’s policies have made her feel comfortable, she said, adding that her daughter was thrilled to be back.
“I’m pretty positive. Guilford’s been great,” Magee said. “I’m glad they’re open.”
On the other hand, Alexis Gambardella, who said her daughter is a first-grader at Guilford’s A.W. Cox Elementary, was a bit more apprehensive.
When Guilford switched to remote learning in the spring, Gambardella said, she found the experience difficult. The district could have done a better job streamlining its teaching approach between elementary schools, she said.
Gambardella also wishes the school had opted to return to full-time in-person learning, she said. But although it’s too soon to assess how well the hybrid model is working, she’s hopeful, she said.
From the student perspective, White said that even with all the abnormalities, the Madison school district has done its best to make everything as normal as possible, adding that the district has been especially good at considering students’ opinions.
“It’s just been a very enjoyable time and much less stressful [than in the spring],” White said. “It’s just so uniform and it’s so easy on the students.”
Finding joy
Regardless of qualms parents have had about back-to-school, they say their kids are delighted to return.
Gambardella’s daughter “is absolutely happy to be back,” Gambardella said.
The same goes for McCarthy’s son, who is “excited to go to school,” McCarthy said. “He desperately missed his friends, he missed his teachers.”
The relief in going back hasn’t just been felt by students and parents, but by administrators and district officials, too.
“I’m thrilled the kids are back in school full-time,” said Shawna Papa Holzer, chairwoman of North Branford’s Board of Education. “Children need to socialize. They need to see their friends and teachers in person.”
When the students came back, “it was joyful,” said Guilford Superintendent of Schools Paul Freeman. “I think everybody needed to see kids back in school”
“The buildings have come to life again,” said Paddyfote, the Madison schools head. “The students are really excited to be back, and the teachers are excited to see them.”
Most students are back
In Madison, Guilford and North Branford, most students have returned to school.
Just 7.3 percent of students opted for distance-only learning in Madison, according to Paddyfote.
In Guilford, about 90 percent of students chose to go back for in-person classes, Freeman said.
Zip06 reported similar numbers in North Branford, but Superintendent of Schools Scott Schoonmaker did not respond to a request for comment.
In Madison, Director of Health Trent Joseph said that as of Thursday afternoon, the school community had no confirmed COVID cases. The same went for Guilford, according to Superintendent of Schools Paul Freeman.
Michael Pascucilla, director of the East Shore District Health Department, which serves North Branford, also had good news to share.
“We have not linked any cases directly to the North Branford school system,” he said.
An ever-changing situation
It’s important that folks continue to social distance, and that those who feel sick stay home, Pascucilla stressed.
Even though there were no confirmed cases in North Branford schools by Thursday afternoon, that could change at any moment, Pascucilla said.
“And it probably will,” he added.
As happy as he is to be back, White, the Hand senior, knows the situation is precarious.
White is a dance captain for VIBE, Hand’s show choir, which is currently holding semi-virtual rehearsals, he said.
In the spring, VIBE’s national competition was abruptly canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to White.
He knows it could happen again, he said.
“Every single rehearsal we act like it’s our last, because it very well could be,” White said.
meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com
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