During this first week of the summer, NY, NJ and CT are beginning to quarantine people coming from states where the virus is increasing. As I (and many others) was debating if it was worth the risk to get a haircut at the finally reopened salon, Disneyland postponed a planned opening for mid July.
I'm pretty sure I am not alone as my thoughts wandered to how they could even monitor the zillions of roads into these NY, NJ, and CT? Then, my thoughts wandered to how all this will impact colleges in these states that are set to open in 6-8 weeks and schools that are set to reopen soon after?
We can't deny it; summer will end and fall will come, College, public school, and private school administrators have been talking about it for MONTHS and now, kernels of plans are being announced even as the numbers are increasing in so many parts of our country!
It is clear that many, many individuals have fallen behind during the era of remote school. With parents and caregivers returning to work in many places with limited camp, pool,j ob, or play options, our students of all ages as well as their parents and their teachers are trying to figure out next steps.
One thing seems true: plans, opening dates, and schedules are SOFT (like Disney's revised opening) and ALL over the place!
In today's briefings, I noticed:
- Marist College (Hudson Valley NY) will open August 24th, skip fall break, finish at Thanksgiving
- Michigan open September 2nd and go remote after Thanksgiving
- Ithaca College (upstate NY) will open on October 5th
- Cazenovia (not too far from Ithaca) will start August 18th
- Stanford will have 4 quarters with half of the undergraduates at each quarter during the year
- NYS public schools - plan on reopening, but it's too early to decide
So, as I mull my own plans and syllabi for the fall, my thoughts are ALL over the place.
While I guess this is all normal in these abnormal times, I guess it's why I find myself mulling over Facebook fueled mind-boggling puzzles such as this:
Let's be honest, I'm more likely to solve this puzzle than figure out what "school" will look like in the fall!
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