Monday (March 8) kicked off in-person learning for students, grades 6-12, in Shelby County Schools.
And as was the case with K-5 students last week, “#Return Stronger” was given a resounding “No, thank you” by thousands of students.
SCS officials said only about 30 percent of the system’s 110,000 students actually returned to the classroom. The rest will continue using the virtual model to finish out the year.
The SCS Facebook page posted Monday: “It’s a beautiful day and we are excited to see our 6-12 grade students back in the classroom learning SAFELY! Thank you to the parents, teachers, staff, and students who made today a success! #ReturnStronger.”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic reared in its traumatic head in the United States a year ago, Shelby County students were abruptly removed from the classroom setting as the Shelby County Health Department struggled to get a handle on rampant community spread.
A total virtual model of learning was adopted to keep students safe at home from community spread. Earlier this year, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced it was time to put children back into the classroom. But many parents are just not convinced.
“A lot of the feedback I am getting from parents is that many of them are still afraid,” said Angela Moore, a sixth-grade teacher at Humes Middle School. “Some of our parents have serious, underlying conditions, and they are just afraid to send children to school. They may unknowingly bring the virus back home.”
Moore is facilitator of a girls’ program called, “It’s a Girl’s World.” The majority of young ladies in this mentoring organ are inner-city residents living in multi-generational households.
Economic and social factors make parents and guardians feel unsafe about sending children back right now.
“There might be a few more coming back into the classroom before the year is out,” said Moore. “But right now, parents are afraid, bottom line. That’s just what it is right now.”
For the Kimbro family, virtual learning has brought everyone closer together. Long periods of sheltering at home have been good for everyone.
“I guess we were in a routine,” said Arnita Kimbro, mother of two East T-STEM Academy students. “My husband and I both worked. I would rush home, cook dinner, and then, the kids got ready for school the next day. It was a vicious cycle.”
Working from home and seeing so many lose family members has inspired the family to create a new routine.
“We have all reconnected again,” said Kimbro. “We have tuned back in to one another. Every evening, we actually sit down together and talk around the dinner table. I get a chance to ask both my kids, ‘So, what’s going on with you?’ The pandemic has been a meaningful time for us.”
Jaila Kimbro, a 10th-grader at East, agreed with her mom that virtual was the way to go for the rest of the year.
“I do miss interacting with other students and the administration,” said Jaila. “But we only have three-and-a-half months left in the school year. Breaking our routine would be a disruption in our virtual learning schedule. So, I think continuing to learn at home is the right decision.”
Jaila and brother Jaden Kimbro, an East High senior, have adapted well to the virtual model. Both are straight-A students.
“I knew from the beginning of the school year I wanted to remain in virtual learning,” said Jaden. “I like the sense of freedom I have in the virtual classroom.”
Arnita Kimbro said she has kept a small circle of friends around the children to fulfill their need to socialize.
Christie Stroggins, a pharmacy technician who works during the day, chose to send her middle schooler back into the classroom.
“While I was working, my older sister would keep the kids for me,” said Stroggins. “She monitored them while they were in their virtual classrooms. I also have a daughter in pre-K-3 at Career Academy in the Klondyke neighborhood in North Memphis.
Stroggins’ son, Cortez Woods, is a sixth-grader at Humes. Her daughter, Chasity Woods, went back to school on Wednesday (March 10) this week.
“I was apprehensive about sending them back into a classroom situation at first,” said Stroggins. “But I talked to Ms. Moore, Cortez’s teacher, and she helped me feel more assured about the precautions being taken to keep children safe at school. And, I wanted both of them to have the classroom experience, especially Cortez in middle school.”
Besides, “we can see an end to the pandemic now,” said Stroggins.
“Thank God, we can see the end, finally.”
