Timeless School Insights

Disclaimer: I am not a health professional. I am a concerned parent and grandparent. This article draws attention to some of the questions I have about sending my grandchildren to school. ~Rob Kennedy

Getting your child ready for school in the summer of 2020 is a nerve-wracking experience for parents. We have always been concerned about our children's safety both at school and at home. We have taught safe behaviors since they were tiny tots. Suddenly, all those familiar scenarios seem so benign and distant. This COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything you and I have seen in our lifetimes. The virus seems to attack people of all ages. It seems to lurk in hosts and find new hosts via droplets that hang in the air. It lives on common surfaces such as doorknobs and stair railings. It spreads to its new host when he touches his face. Worst of all, there's no vaccine for the COVID-19 virus. Scientists are scrambling to create vaccines, but it doesn't look as though anything will be available before early 2021.

I have listened to This Week In Virology podcasts for several months. I have concluded that frequent handwashing, wearing a 2-ply mask in public, social distancing, staying home whenever possible, are necessary steps to protect myself and others from the virus. That's what the health experts recommend. But what about children in school? Let's look at some of the safety steps and protective measures your child's school will most

It's late spring, early summer. If you are the head or owner of a private K-12 school, you are coping with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. It never seems to end, does it?

Your academic year 2019-2020 was going so well until everything stopped in March. You sent students home. You sent teachers home. In a matter of hours, your in-person classroom instruction became online instruction. Your old way of doing things was predictable and full of cherished traditions that made your school what it was. Your brand had dozens of metrics that proved to potential families that your school was worth the fees you charged. Your mission to educate the whole child that depended on personal interaction and watchful supervision was rarely questioned. Your brand and your mission have not changed. But the way you deliver them has most definitely changed.

So, how does a school like yours survive the aftermath of this terrible pandemic? By living in the moment with a cautious, clear vision of the future.

In this video, a doctor explains what COVID-19 is.

Step 1. Convene a planning committee to plan for the academic year

Keep your committee small but representative. Your administrative staff, faculty, board members, and parents are experienced, devoted people who care about the school. Their job is to develop a road map for the immediate future. Management of the day-to-day

The COVID-19 closed schools nationwide in the spring of 2020. One day schools were open. The next day they were closed indefinitely as state governors issues stay at home orders. Then schools scrambled to replace familiar face-to-face classroom instruction with online learning. Sports and extracurricular activities became distant memories. Plans for summer school and camps went out the window. Graduations, end of year traditions such as school plays and assemblies are virtual occasions in 2020. It's all so different, so scary, and so unsettling. Yet, you and I know that life must go on.

Dr. Reinhold Niehbur's Serenity Prayer comes to mind as a spiritual anchor for these troubled times:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

courage to change the things I can,

and wisdom to know the difference.

I cite this prayer because it expresses the attitude each of us must bring to bear on the situation which faces us in our daily lives. Our children's education is a critical concern. That's why we elected to send our kids to private school in the first place. However, this COVID-19 virus is controlling everything. And it will continue to do so indefinitely until we have vaccines to protect us.

This short video displays The Serenity Prayer.

With that in mind, here are five things you need to do when you are a parent with children

On March 1, 2020, the Coronavirus or COVID-19, as it is named, has begun spreading worldwide. In the opinion of most reliable news reports, it is only a matter of time before the virus spreads widely here in the United States.

I am writing this article with small to medium size private schools in mind. Larger schools will have health professionals on staff or on call. For a variety of reasons, mainly financial, small schools won't have these health resources readily available on site.

I am not a health expert. What I have done here is to gather all the information I can from trusted sources such as the World Health Organization to help you cope with the virus. I strongly recommend that you monitor your state and local government's recommendations and advice, as well as information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Suggestions for families

I offer these suggestions from the perspective of a parent and grandparent. We have so much contact with people in our daily lives. We touch so many surfaces and never give it another thought. Unfortunately, we all have to rethink how we behave with a dangerous contagion such as COVID-19 lurking who knows where. For example, I now wipe the handle of the shopping cart with a sanitary wipe when I go to the supermarket. Most stores seem to have sanitary wipes by their entrances. Use them. I don't shake hands or kiss

Cindy Springsteen writes about teens for the Long Island Examiner. I asked her about the challenges facing teens and their parents in the 21st century within the context of sending them off to private school. Here are her answers. ~ Robert Kennedy
RK: Does sending your teens off to private school help protect them from drinking and other forms of substance abuse? Your reasons?
CS: No, I do not think sending your teens to a private school is going to protect them from the dangers of drinking and other forms of abuse. Teens are teens, and just because they are in a private school, they will still be exposed to everything available to them in the public schools. In some cases, it is said that private school teens come from families with money and could more easily purchase bad things. This is a personal opinion.

RK: Cindy, I agree that teens are teens. Whether they go to private or public school, they will be exposed to all sorts of opportunities to drink. The difference, however, with private school is that if they are caught, the consequences will be serious and swift. I know of an instance at one of my daughters' schools where a couple of seniors decided to sneak a drink on campus a few days before graduation. They were caught and were not permitted to attend graduation.

RK: Let's look at another serious issue. Suicide is