By Marc Batson, Assistant Headmaster

Watching the impact of COVID-19  approach our little corner of the world was like watching a slow tide move in.  In the weeks leading up to March break, we were learning more and more about the potential spread of this disease, and by the time spring break rolled around on February 28, we were already making plans for students who would need to remain on campus for the entire break.  True to form, Saint James rallied as a community, vacation plans were altered, and a group of adults stayed around to make sure those students who already could not go home had a safe place to stay.  Just a few days into the break, it became clear that reopening after March vacation would not be likely.  Word was spread quickly that we would have to move to an online format, but the challenge was that most faculty were already away from campus, so training would prove difficult.

By delaying the start of online classes by a week, the faculty quickly explored options for teaching in a new way.  Other independent schools were in the same situation of having to respond quickly, and the sense of sharing and camaraderie with other schools was simply impressive.  Ultimately, we were able to move to an underused platform that we already had access to – Microsoft Teams – and this became the foundation for how we would hold our classes.  Combined with our Blackbaud system, Microsoft Teams proved to be a relatively user-friendly approach to teaching online.  Of course, we all had much to learn about how to remain effective in terms of posting assignments, assessing, and accepting submitted work from students.  We also looked to strike the balance between live and recorded classes, always keeping in mind that many of our students had already made their way back home, which meant distant times zones in several cases.

All of the cautions about online learning proved to be true.  Technical issues were encountered; streamlining and standardizing approaches were awkward; instruction and learning was altered greatly across many lines; a fatigue factor reigned as teachers and students alike came to know how hard it is to communicate effectively via the internet.  Essentially, the thing we value most – community – was lost.  School seemed to become just about imparting and receiving academic information, and the more “human” aspect was absent.  Kudos to teachers and the students for doing such a great job of keeping up the academic rigor, but none of us want to be without in-person interaction again.  Gains were made in figuring out how to make the online experience more normal, and these lessons will be valuable should we need to offer online classes again.  But what we all crave is to be with our students on campus.

Going online in the coming year seems inevitable on some level.  There could be shutdowns (even briefly) again, and I am sure that the opening of school is going to bring delays for some travelers as they work through quarantines, testing, and visa issues.  Some of us are enrolled in courses for improving online classrooms, and certainly a good amount of our teacher meetings in August and September will involve compiling best practices and standardizing approaches a bit more.  And while improvement is in order if we need to teach and learn online again, I take this opportunity to state how proud I am of our students for all of their hard work and patience; and how proud I am of our faculty for adjusting so quickly to the situation that COVID-19 presented and for working tirelessly for their students.