Q&A with Principal Johnson: What Should Students Expect When We Return To In-Person School?
By Dermott Foley
By Dermott Foley
Eastern Principal Matt Johnson and other staff have been busy transforming the school in preparation for students to return in person. There are now one-way hallways, hand washing stations, and socially distant “Please Stand Here” signs placed in strategic locations. Different groups of students, depending on how they get to school—be it by bus, car or walking—would be assigned different entrances for arrival. Dismissals would be staggered.
Eastern Middle School has about 970 students enrolled for the 2020-21 school year, and so far 339, or about 35 percent of them have indicated they would like to return to partial in-person school.
In an interview with the Winged Weekly, Mr. Johnson said reopening plans are in flux given the unpredictable nature of the pandemic but he is hopeful students will be able to return to the building on a voluntary basis before the end of the school year. He said he is looking forward to welcoming students back as soon as it is safe.
“We miss you guys,” he said. “This is not a school anymore. It’s like a lonely hotel that I come to every day. So we're really excited to have you come back.”
When the Montgomery County Board of Education met in December, the group tentatively set Feb. 1 as the date when small groups of students would begin returning for in-person instruction. This is at least the third time the board has determined a need to delay the reopening.
With cases rising in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and across the United States and with vaccinations still in the early stages, MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith on Tuesday recommended pushing back the start of reopening to March 15. The Board of Education— with one member, Rebecca Smondrowski, voting against the idea —approved his request. Smondrowski expressed concern about the loss of learning experienced by vulnerable students.
Under the latest plan, students would return in phases with a reduced schedule and a reduced class size.
Students with special needs, those in career and technology education programs, and in grades K-3rd are prioritized in the first group. Sixth graders would be in the next group and would be the first middle school students to return. They would be followed by the 8th graders and then 7th graders would be last.
Mr. Johnson said Eastern’s count of students who will be in-person may change as “a fair number” of families have yet not filled out a Montgomery County Public Schools survey regarding their preference. Of the 673 who have responded, there was a pretty even split with about half (334 students) indicating they wanted to remain all virtual and half (339 students) opting for hybrid or partial in-person school. This is very similar to the results of other schools in the county, he said.
The families of 297 students have not responded. Those who do not fill out the survey default to all virtual learning.
At Eastern, Mr. Johnson said, the breakdown appeared to be similar across different programs, such as the comprehensive and humanities programs, and among demographic groups. However, a higher percentage of 6th grade families responded to the survey than those for other grades, and more 7th grade students opted to remain all virtual.
Below are more details about what you might expect in the coming weeks and months if in-person classes are given the green light. Mr. Johnson emphasized that the changes are part of a draft plan, and that many measures are still being tested and may evolve before students return to the building.
Winged Weekly: Can you describe what physical changes we might see at Eastern in terms of safety measures?
Mr. Johnson on hallways: We have currently a model of one-way hallways. It's going to be counterclockwise. Also the stairwells will all be one way -- some up, some down. There are a couple of hallways where they can't be one way. So we have to make sure with signage the areas that will be two ways.
Mr. Johnson on classrooms: Most of our classrooms are capped at about 15 students. So what we have done just recently is we've removed out of all of those classrooms any desks or chairs that go over 15. And we have stored them throughout the building… Some classrooms have a cap of, say, eight chairs and desks because they're a little bit smaller. Everything is ready to go so to meet those safety standards of class capacity.
Mr. Johnson on arrival/dismissal: We have desks and chairs set up in the cafeteria that are six feet apart. We're probably going to do the same thing in the gymnasium. Those two areas are where we will hold students when they get here in the morning. If you walk to school, you'll have a different entrance. And if you are dropped off by a parent, that will be another entrance. And then we will dismiss in a staggered fashion. Kids who go to the bus will exit out of a certain door. Kids who are getting picked up, out of different doors. And if you're walking, you will go out another door.
Winged Weekly: What is the state of Eastern’s ventilation systems? What steps are being taken to improve the air ventilation in the school in response to the coronavirus?
Mr. Johnson: We have people coming in this week to replace the filters that are in our various HVAC units, getting them up to the highest filter available. We have a couple of classrooms that will get additional air purifiers, but otherwise we trust our system will work fine.
Winged Weekly: What will lunch look like?
Mr. Johnson: We're not comfortable sending all kids out to the cafeteria because it wouldn't be big enough. Probably there may be a group/class that chooses to eat down there, but otherwise you'll be eating in your classroom.
Winged Weekly: What about classes like physical education, chorus and band?
Mr. Johnson: We are still waiting on some official guidance on whether there can actually be the PE that you might be used to. We don’t know yet whether PE, band, and chorus can actually do the things they would normally do because of the breathing and the possibility of potential spreading of covid.
Winged Weekly: What will the in-person schedule be like? Before the pandemic, Eastern typically had eight-periods a day. In virtual learning, we have four periods a day. Should we expect to have the same teachers in-person as we do over distance learning, or will classes have to be shuffled?
Mr. Johnson: Our number one goal is to keep students with the same teachers they have. We want to minimize the disruption of your schedule. And we also are going to continue with four periods a day because half of the kids will be in virtual learning. So that's where we are now. I know that other schools, elementary schools in particular there, they may struggle with being able to keep students with the same teacher. But it’s our goal to keep students with the same teachers.
Eastern Middle School has about 970 students enrolled for the 2020-21 school year, and so far 339, or about 35 percent of them have indicated they would like to return to partial in-person school.
In an interview with the Winged Weekly, Mr. Johnson said reopening plans are in flux given the unpredictable nature of the pandemic but he is hopeful students will be able to return to the building on a voluntary basis before the end of the school year. He said he is looking forward to welcoming students back as soon as it is safe.
“We miss you guys,” he said. “This is not a school anymore. It’s like a lonely hotel that I come to every day. So we're really excited to have you come back.”
When the Montgomery County Board of Education met in December, the group tentatively set Feb. 1 as the date when small groups of students would begin returning for in-person instruction. This is at least the third time the board has determined a need to delay the reopening.
With cases rising in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and across the United States and with vaccinations still in the early stages, MCPS Superintendent Jack Smith on Tuesday recommended pushing back the start of reopening to March 15. The Board of Education— with one member, Rebecca Smondrowski, voting against the idea —approved his request. Smondrowski expressed concern about the loss of learning experienced by vulnerable students.
Under the latest plan, students would return in phases with a reduced schedule and a reduced class size.
Students with special needs, those in career and technology education programs, and in grades K-3rd are prioritized in the first group. Sixth graders would be in the next group and would be the first middle school students to return. They would be followed by the 8th graders and then 7th graders would be last.
Mr. Johnson said Eastern’s count of students who will be in-person may change as “a fair number” of families have yet not filled out a Montgomery County Public Schools survey regarding their preference. Of the 673 who have responded, there was a pretty even split with about half (334 students) indicating they wanted to remain all virtual and half (339 students) opting for hybrid or partial in-person school. This is very similar to the results of other schools in the county, he said.
The families of 297 students have not responded. Those who do not fill out the survey default to all virtual learning.
At Eastern, Mr. Johnson said, the breakdown appeared to be similar across different programs, such as the comprehensive and humanities programs, and among demographic groups. However, a higher percentage of 6th grade families responded to the survey than those for other grades, and more 7th grade students opted to remain all virtual.
Below are more details about what you might expect in the coming weeks and months if in-person classes are given the green light. Mr. Johnson emphasized that the changes are part of a draft plan, and that many measures are still being tested and may evolve before students return to the building.
Winged Weekly: Can you describe what physical changes we might see at Eastern in terms of safety measures?
Mr. Johnson on hallways: We have currently a model of one-way hallways. It's going to be counterclockwise. Also the stairwells will all be one way -- some up, some down. There are a couple of hallways where they can't be one way. So we have to make sure with signage the areas that will be two ways.
Mr. Johnson on classrooms: Most of our classrooms are capped at about 15 students. So what we have done just recently is we've removed out of all of those classrooms any desks or chairs that go over 15. And we have stored them throughout the building… Some classrooms have a cap of, say, eight chairs and desks because they're a little bit smaller. Everything is ready to go so to meet those safety standards of class capacity.
Mr. Johnson on arrival/dismissal: We have desks and chairs set up in the cafeteria that are six feet apart. We're probably going to do the same thing in the gymnasium. Those two areas are where we will hold students when they get here in the morning. If you walk to school, you'll have a different entrance. And if you are dropped off by a parent, that will be another entrance. And then we will dismiss in a staggered fashion. Kids who go to the bus will exit out of a certain door. Kids who are getting picked up, out of different doors. And if you're walking, you will go out another door.
Winged Weekly: What is the state of Eastern’s ventilation systems? What steps are being taken to improve the air ventilation in the school in response to the coronavirus?
Mr. Johnson: We have people coming in this week to replace the filters that are in our various HVAC units, getting them up to the highest filter available. We have a couple of classrooms that will get additional air purifiers, but otherwise we trust our system will work fine.
Winged Weekly: What will lunch look like?
Mr. Johnson: We're not comfortable sending all kids out to the cafeteria because it wouldn't be big enough. Probably there may be a group/class that chooses to eat down there, but otherwise you'll be eating in your classroom.
Winged Weekly: What about classes like physical education, chorus and band?
Mr. Johnson: We are still waiting on some official guidance on whether there can actually be the PE that you might be used to. We don’t know yet whether PE, band, and chorus can actually do the things they would normally do because of the breathing and the possibility of potential spreading of covid.
Winged Weekly: What will the in-person schedule be like? Before the pandemic, Eastern typically had eight-periods a day. In virtual learning, we have four periods a day. Should we expect to have the same teachers in-person as we do over distance learning, or will classes have to be shuffled?
Mr. Johnson: Our number one goal is to keep students with the same teachers they have. We want to minimize the disruption of your schedule. And we also are going to continue with four periods a day because half of the kids will be in virtual learning. So that's where we are now. I know that other schools, elementary schools in particular there, they may struggle with being able to keep students with the same teacher. But it’s our goal to keep students with the same teachers.