PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — For all the areas of our lives affected by the pandemic, schools still remain at the forefront.
Masks or no masks? Online or in person? How far should we distance students?
While the debate surrounding these issues has been fierce and polarizing, much of the nastiness has been left to some of the more vocal defenders: parents and politicians. Meanwhile, the people who matter most in the equation — students and staff — don't have much of a say in the conversation.
On this episode of KYW Newsradio's In Depth podcast, we find out how one school in Philadelphia has operated through the pandemic, from the perspectives of young students and employees.
Over nearly two years, St. Peter's School on Lombard Street in Society Hill has developed health and safety mitigation strategies and tried to preserve its pre-COVID-19 traditions and rituals.
But what we found is that the small, subtle, interpersonal details, moments, and interactions are just as important as the lessons taught in classrooms.
Listen or read some of the firsthand accounts below.
Max, eighth grade
"I feel like just the social interaction, without that, you kind of lose a big aspect of growing up, really. When you don't have those small social interactions, you kind of start to lose your friends a bit. Because there's no… no really connection. There's nothing. It's just them in a classroom and you hear them speak, and then you speak and you can't talk to each other."
Athena and Avery, second grade
"Excited, happy, and, like, all the good feelings. … It's incredible to be back and I'm so happy that the virus is finally starting to come down and starting to end and it's been really great to be here."
"I just felt like it was easier at school than it was to learn at home. It was easier [at school] because I could actually focus on things more … because at home I have different things around me that I usually like to play with and stuff like that. And at school there are things that I like around the classroom, but I'm really just focused on keeping my eyes on the teacher."
Valerie Hill, school nurse
"It's my job, and I feel that I have a responsibility to the school community and a social responsibility to people, in general, to make sure that they're healthy, make sure they're safe. I'm just a small piece of a much bigger puzzle, I believe, in order for a school to function and for kids, for the staff or the faculty to actually have a great day, a big piece of that is health. Once you make that component full circle, it makes a lot of sense… that the students can have a good experience at school."
Matt Evans, head of school
"Having been virtual for the two-and-a-half, three months that we were the previous spring was not a good situation. For us to know the impact that it had on kids and their families and, ultimately, our teachers, who never got into this business because they wanted to teach online, we knew that getting back was a priority. And doing so safely was necessary. The public schools did an incredible job. A lot of them were able to do a lot of good work with what they had been given, [but] the buildings, the way the structures were in place, and the number of students made it almost impossible to be successful. We don't like to look at it as we could, and they couldn't, but rather, we are lucky. We found that we were able to do it for our students, and as an independent school, that's what we've always been trying to do."
Editor's note: St. Peter's is a non-sectarian, independent school. These accounts only reflect the experiences of St. Peter's students and faculty and are not representative of any other schools in Philadelphia or elsewhere.
