16 DECEMBER 24, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
The ups and downs of education
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
This unprecedented year
brought unprecedented change
to the largest school system in
the country — from an initial shutdown
some said took too long to call,
a delayed reopening in the fall, and
new challenges for students, parents
and school staff alike to grapple
with.
In early March, after the first
COVID-19 case in New York City was
reported at the end of February and
the first in Queens at the beginning
of March, some private schools began
to close out of precaution of the
outbreak.
Educators, parents and elected
officials then began to call for all
public schools to close, in order
to get a better handle of the novel
coronavirus. However, childcare
and meals became a big concern, as
working families depended on the
school system to ensure their children
not only have two steady meals
per day, but also have a safe place to
be while they’re at work.
Queens City Councilmen Francisco
Moya and Robert Holden
joined Speaker Corey Johnson and
Brooklyn Councilman Mark Treyger
in urging the city to instead just have
schools provide families with free
meals.
“Kids absorb everything. They
see the stores around them closing,
sports events getting canceled, their
families scrambling to make lastminute
arrangements,” Moya said.
“Despite this, we expect them to set
everything aside when they arrive
at school as if it exists in a vacuum,
separate from what’s beyond the
classroom window. That’s not an
environment for academic success
and it’s not an environment that will
keep them safe from the COVID-19
pandemic.”
Shortly after, in an emergency
address, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
the “painful decision” to
close the city’s public school system,
which serves 1.1 million students.
Attempts to reopen schools during
the spring semester were in
vain, though, as the city and state
struggled to keep up with the virus
inundating the hospital system.
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza
noted families could pick
up daily free meals at designated
schools and the city’s 75,000 teachers
would undergo intensive training
to begin instructing students
remotely.
But with the new structure came
new challenges, namely internet and
First lady Chirlane McCray, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza welcome students
back to school on Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
tech access.
The Department of Education
(DOE) initially set out to deliver
25,000 iPads, with an ultimate goal
of 300,000, with internet capabilities
to students in need. Some internet
providers, like Spectrum, offered
free WiFi for a few months — but
they were soon met with criticism
as some families with unpaid bills
couldn’t access it, according to
Chalkbeat. They later provided the
service for low-income families for
a certain period of time.
All throughout, school-aged children
tried to adjust to the abrupt
shift.
“I feel sad I cannot see my friends,”
Jordan Turkoglu, a first-grader at
P.S. 290Q, said at the time. “I have
some school work but it’s not a lot
and I feel sad I cannot see my teacher.
I’m happy because I saw some of my
friends on video yesterday. I do want
to play with my friends but now I
cannot.”
Parents, most of whom found
themselves working from home for
the first time, also had to adjust to
having their children home all day,
every day. Some felt they had to become
their children’s teachers.
One Astoria mother and entrepreneur,
Tamykah Anthony, who
homeschooled her two children
long before COVID-19, gave QNS a
breakdown of what a day in her life
teaching her children and running
her own businesses looked like, with
the hopes of encouraging parents
to be patient with themselves as
they navigate the switch to remote
learning.
For students with special needs,
teletherapy became the default. But
that meant parents who normally relied
on educators and therapists for
their children became overwhelmed
and concerned of regression in
their development, as a Forest Hills
mother with a daughter with autism
told QNS.
The height of the pandemic caused
many New Yorkers to feel hopeless
as cases and deaths surged, while
people’s everyday life underwent
abrupt changes in order to fend off
even more heartache.
But there were bright moments
sprinkled along the darkness, and
acts of kindness became more of
the norm. Teachers stepped up to
the challenges ahead, with some
recognized for their efforts to
bring joy and lighthearted fun to
their students, such as Andrea Feldman,
teacher at I.S. 145Q in Jackson
Heights, and Tom Carty, principal
of P.S./I.S. 49 in Middle Village, who
sang to their students to keep them
motivated.
“Our kids are probably going
through a mix of emotions from
being worried, curious, scared and
2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
Photo courtesy of Rachel Sokol
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