This Wednesday we begin our first attempt at hybrid learning at Lincoln School.  With most schools coming back hybrid in February, we are one of the first schools in Costa Rica to come back to some form of in-person learning.  Our leadership team has worked incredibly hard to iron out all of the logistics and details to ensure that we maintain appropriate safety measures and protocols.  Our teachers have been working diligently to put everything in place to offer both quality in-person and distance learning.  Our maintenance teams have been working around the clock to ensure the physical campus is ready to go.

On one level, I’m very pleased with the degree of preparation and planning.  You begin to realize just how many small details go into the day to day operation of a school – from drop-off and pick-up, to recess and lunch, to classroom transitions.  With COVID protocols in place, every single one of those details has undergone some important shifts and adjustments, and the communication challenge of sharing all of that information with families and students is intense.  We’re holding another round of information sessions today, specifically to try to review all of the processes and protocols we’ve designed and will be putting into place.  I joined the meeting with our preschool families this morning, and it became apparent very quickly that there are still a lot of questions – all of which need to be addressed so families know what to expect.  

Yet, despite all of the preparation, the information meetings, and Q&A sessions, I think at this point the most important thing is to start.  We’re calling this next quarter a “transitional period,” and that is by design.  We’ve tried to communicate and remind all of our stakeholders that we will have to learn and adapt and improve during this time of transition.  Pick-up and drop off procedures have been adjusted, daily schedules are adjusted, and teachers will be trying to simultaneously teach in-person and distance learning students – all for the first time.  That’s a lot of change to manage.  

To help us manage that change, we’re trying to stagger our formal return dates.  This week we’ll start with preschool and high school.  Within two weeks, we’ll have everyone back in the rotation.  We’re also starting with a 4 hour shortened day schedule – again with the idea that we’ll be learning quickly about what works and what needs further adjustments as we go.  

As I mentioned in my blog post last week, my main goal is to stay close to what is happening in the classroom.  How are teachers managing the challenge of simultaneous in-person and distance learning?  What strategies are they using that seem to help, and what challenges are they facing that we can, as administrators, work to address quickly?  I’m hoping to make those questions the focus on my blog entries in the coming weeks.  

Like the rest of the world, I’m heading into 2021 with a whole lot of hope and enthusiasm.  After such a challenging year behind us (and frankly, an intense opening to 2021), I’m excited to dig back into the work of providing meaningful, personalized learning for all of our students.  My hope this year is that I can focus my writing and reflections more on the practical work and strategies I’m seeing in classrooms and less on the broader administrative concerns that often occupy my attention and energy.  Of course the logistics of hybrid learning will continue to demand our ongoing attention – especially for administrators like me who are just now making the transition from fully distance learning to hybrid configurations.  Our students come back next week, and it will be the first time we’ve had students physically on campus for learning since last March.  I’m deeply excited for students’ return, but we already know, having watched so many other schools in the transition to on-campus learning, that the transition will not be without its challenges.

I’m particularly aware of the challenges facing our teaching staff.  Despite our best efforts, our hybrid model is going to rely on teachers simultaneously engaging in-person and virtual learners.  We know that this will present serious challenges, despite our confidence in the ability of our teachers to continue to engage with our students regardless of the mode of instruction.  I’m hoping to stay close and connected to those herculean efforts.  I know that understanding the experience of teachers and students in the classroom is key to making good administrative and leadership decisions. 

So, that is my commitment as we prepare for the return of students – keep my eyes close to the classroom.  Plus, I’ve now been working in a school for 6 months, and I’m incredibly eager to connect personally with our students and staff in ways that I simply could not have done when everyone was at home.  I’ve told staff and parents alike that Lincoln will continue to be a distance-learning majority school for some time – certainly for the rest of the 2020-21 academic year, and so we will have to continue to work to provide the highest quality distance learning as possible.  Yet a return to campus and the launch of hybrid learning allows us to add an additional layer of interaction – a personal touch – that has been sorely missing.  

We’ve had the added luxury of being able to learn from schools in other countries that have already been making that transition – both to hybrid and a full return to school.  I’m not so secretly grateful that Costa Rica decided to keep schools in distance learning mode for the entire fall semester.  But I also agree it’s time to get back on campus.  We’ve been able to learn from some of the early mistakes of others that are natural in testing new systems and solutions.  There are also still many unknowns with regards to COVID-19, and how testing, vaccinations, and temporary restrictions will impact our plans.  In any case, we are optimismtic that we can build on the early learnings of others and move quickly towards a focus on high quality learning experiences and environments for our students.