“Mom, will I get to swim in the pool during recess?” This was one of the many questions that an Athens, GA mama of two and business owner heard when she explained to her son that he would be going to “school” with 5 of his friends in someone’s neighborhood pool house this fall after schools in their area decided to go completely online.

First, her son’s school’s start date was pushed back a month. Then, the announcement came that school would be starting remotely. As a business owner with a husband who also works full-time, she started to feel the stress of last Spring welling up again. How was she supposed to run a successful business that has numerous COVID complications of its own along with educating and caring for two kids?

That’s when she got what felt like a miraculous call. A parent of one of her son’s friends was inviting him to be a part of a school pod. He and 5 other kids would meet in a pool house each day with a retired teacher and work on the Kindergarten curriculum. The “pool school” would start on the original school opening date with lessons and curriculum from the retired teacher. Then, when virtual public school starts after labor day, the hired teacher (who would be physically present) would teach the lessons and curriculum provided by the school. 

When describing the unpredictability of last Spring, she explained different phases of “virtual school” her son had experienced. First, he received worksheets and lists of curriculum topics they were supposed to cover. When schools realized they were going to be out for a while, they began scheduling once-a-week zoom calls that included an activity or two to prepare before the call. For example, “Find a diamond-shaped item or a rectangular item in your home to bring to show your classmates.” 

But it was soon obvious that only about ⅓ of the class was participating in the calls. The socio-economic barriers to virtual school were unbelievably hard to navigate for her son’s classmates. Schools tried changing virtual class times to after work hours, but it seemed to make no difference. Next, teachers tried breaking up classes into smaller groups based on skill and ability levels for more focused, individual attention and more flexible scheduling.

This last model is the one, this family assumes, they will be back with once virtual school begins again. But with so many small group calls to make, the amount of time teachers can spend with students is not enough. So, for now, this family is paying extra to “utilize” the public school curriculum and to get some help with childcare. 

The family also seemed very disheartened by the circumstances. “We were really excited for our son to be a part of a diverse, public school community, and he enjoyed making friends with every kind of person last year. But I’m afraid that, as we saw in the Spring, a significant number of his friends will not be able to make this version of school work.”

There’s still a lot of details to work out, and for the “pool school” organizing parent, another full-time working mom, this is the third pod she has organized. Not only does she have the pool house kindergarten up and running, but she has also organized different pods meeting in different places for her 3rd grader and 5th grader. As we take another look into what education looks like this fall, what questions should we be asking? What concerns should we have? Wouldn’t it make more sense if families didn’t have to pay “twice” to get an education? And what about those who can’t manage a situation like this one? Shouldn’t they have the opportunity to still get an education? Not to mention, there are other kids going back to school in person in the same state. It’s been fascinating watching how education is changing under pandemic pressure. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments.