Compiled by
Avani Narula ‘21
Morgan Rees ‘21
EA first announced that the school would hold virtual classes until October 8th. On September 11th, the administration announced that EA would hold in-person school starting September 21st. The school drafted an elaborate reopening plan to ensure the safety of our community. Here are thoughts of EA faculty, parents, and students on the decisions made.
Photo courtesy of Ashley Kennedy ‘22
Teachers/Admin:
Zach Richards, Senior Form Dean, P Luca ‘33
“I am actually comfortable with the schools plan, I’m comfortable with initially starting out virtual and following the reccom we got from the CHOP policy lab and the Chester county health department. I think it made sense to start out virtually and gave us time to make the necessary arrangements, tighten things up, and get ready for us to open up in person. I think coming back on the 21st was good, I think our approach was good and it made sense. It was smart to phase in the grades in order to have the full reopening today on the 28th. Last week allowed us to see what other areas needed adjustments and changes.”
“So far I think todays gone really well. The drop off period with the arrivals seems to have gone well, changing classes has gone pretty well. Lunch was one of my biggest concerns — the traffic with long lines and social distancing and I feel like getting over that hurdle was big for us. So the biggest concerns throughout the day is arrival to campus, lunch, and dismissal and I feel like we have done a great job as a school to make the best of the situation. The most frequent complaint so far among the senior class has been the fact that they cannot leave campus and come back. It’s just the little things that they assumed they were going to be able to do that have bothered them the most”
Dr. Kahlil Oldham, US Teacher
“I think that the school administrators were in a really tough spot because the conversation about schools has been so difficult all summer long. I was surprised that the school decided to shorten the period of remote learning from six weeks to three weeks, and I appreciate everything they have done to make the facilities feel safer. However, I continue to be concerned about the level of the virus in our community.”
Parents:
Bill Bagnell, P Billy ‘06, Morgan ‘21
“So glad the kids are back in school! The delayed opening was smart to do as there were too many unknowns at the time and Dr. Locke along with the heads of the Upper, Middle and Lower Schools have been totally transparent during the process. What truly makes Episcopal special is the fact that we have a number of highly intelligent people internally along with access to health professionals who are parents or alumni at the state and federal level. Thus, the decision to delay school was based not only on science but also the overall health of the EA community as a whole. Nothing is 100% other than death and taxes however the fact that the kids are back in a classroom is tremendous!”
Angie Perry, P Jon Nolan ‘18, Morgan ‘21, Harrison ‘27
“In my opinion, I believe EA made the right decision to reopen. The school listened to the parents and as a result they gave us the option of choosing in-person or virtual learning for our children. They left decision up to us. For our family, choosing in-person was an easy decision. I personally believe the children are safer in school due to the procedures in place. Kids need social interaction and by going to school this takes pressure off of out-of-school socialization where procedures are not as strict. So far, I’ve been pleased. However, it will be interesting to see how the school will react if/when positive cases arise. If/when they do, I still believe their decision to reopen was the right thing to do. Would I still feel comfortable sending my children if a positive case or two became known? Absolutely! I believe contact tracing works and from what my children have shared about their day to day and the plans in place, I believe EA is doing a job well done.”
Kara Gallagher, P Celia ‘21, Franny ‘23
“While I was incredibly impressed with virtual EA, I feel relieved that the students have the opportunity to safely return to in-person learning. There is nothing better than the smiles and stories that my daughters bring home after a lively day on campus!”
Students:
Julia Zhang ‘23:
As a new student, I am definitely excited and in favor of school opening with the proper precautions. I like EA’s plan, except the lunch blocks are a bit confusing, but I think the way the lunch tables are set up is very smart. I also think putting hand sanitizer around campus is a good idea too. As for online school, I did not like it. I was sitting at my screen for almost the whole day, and there were other issues exclusive to online learning, like internet and trouble with zoom links. I also feel like being in a classroom and learning, for me, is more effective than being in my living room and learning. Overall, I am definitely excited to be back on campus, but there is a part of me that wonders how long can we keep this up.
Gaeli Keffer Scharpf ‘23
I go back and forth between thinking that we should stay home or go back, but overall I think going back was the right decision. I do wish that we did a hybrid form just because having a break from real-life school was nie because I could kind of work around my own schedule to a certain degree. I think it’s definitely better for kids to work around other kids as opposed to being isolated.
Online school was nice because I had a lot more free time to do my work and anything else on my to-so list, but I do learn better in person so I wasn’t grasping the concepts as well as I usually had in person.
The plan seems pretty concrete and although it’s a bit annoying following all of the rules they are important to keep us all safe. I think that if everyone follows the rule then we should not have any safety issues.
I am a little bit concerned that sports are going to be a problem, but again if everyone follows the rules there shouldn’t be. Another concern I have is how everything is going to change when it rains or in the winter because a lot of the time I was outside, either in line for lunch or sitting on the green for a free block. I’m just worried about having a lot more kids stuffed into a small area like the wrestling room,which will smell even worse while wrestling is in season.
Sarah Groark ‘21
“I am so excited to be back on campus. Being a senior, I want to be able to be in the classroom with my peers for our last year together, but in the safest way possible. EA’s administration has done such a great job with all the planning that has gone into making all of this possible. Aside from the occasional reminder to keep our distance at larger gatherings like lunch and chapel, I feel the student’s response in large has been really good.”