San Diego High Schools Forced to Close Due to COVID-19; Here is How They Are Handling It

Students and faculty alike are experiencing a variety of emotions as they navigate the many changes caused by coronavirus. ​

High school graduation, prom and grad night are all events American teens look forward to for most of their lives, but San Diego County high school students are seeing postponements and cancelations of these events as well as multiple other changes to their education due to the coronavirus pandemic.

​Linsey Finch, a senior at San Pasqual High School in Escondido, said that the school is aiming to postpone graduation until later this summer so that seniors don’t miss out on the opportunity to experience walking in their graduation.

“Personally, it makes me sad thinking about it; we’ve been working hard for 12 years of school to possibly not have a high school graduation ceremony,” Finch said.

San Diego County high schools closed March 16 to lower the risk of transmitting COVID-19, and this has impacted more than just the typical school day. Teachers are transitioning their classes to virtual formats, grading is being changed and Advanced Placement tests are now being administered online. Some classes had to alter course content and get rid of experiments or projects that would not be feasible for students to do at home.

Personal changes have also been real for students, especially seniors, who are missing out on coveted high school experiences.

Personal effects

Many teachers say they miss the connection they have with their students and classes and have found that to be the most difficult part of the transition.

“The hardest part for me is being away from the students, whether it be sarcastic jokes or checking in on how they are doing; the hardest part is being away from what I call home and my family,” said Jared Hoyt, an AP chemistry teacher at San Pasqual.

Laura Whitten, an English and drama teacher also at San Pasqual said that she misses greeting students as they walk inside the classroom.

“The intangibles like laughter and spontaneity are gone, I miss my kids so much,” she said.

Students are missing out on sports, performances and special events. Sarah Lord, a senior at San Pasqual High School and captain of the varsity dance team, said that online schooling is especially tough on the seniors.

“So many fun things happen senior year,” Lord said. “I’m so sad that I won’t be able to perform in our last pep rally or dance concert. I’ve been looking forward to these things since freshman year.”

Some high schools are trying to postpone prom and still have it, possibly over summer, but everything has been “up in the air due to the uncertainty of this whole situation,” Finch explained.

Restructuring classes

Professional development opportunities have been presented by districts to guide teachers in learning online programs to conduct classes in a multifaceted manner. Whitten said the Escondido Union High School District provided an intensive training and that teachers “were encouraged to do eight hours last week.” But Whitten did 12 to make sure she learned everything and could decide which method would work best for herself and her students.

“It’s an exciting time in education and perhaps this little nudge will push into an area of further reform,” she said.

Online classes do not follow the normal structure of a typical high school day, however. Teachers currently have Zoom video meetings with their classes about twice a week to update them on assignments and give their lectures.

Lord said that right now there is no schedule for when classes meet. Teachers just communicate with them through email about when they will have their Zoom classes. Lord also explained that teachers email their classes with updates frequently.

Hoyt created a website for his classes where students can find their assignments and class information and additionally has Zoom sessions every week, more for students in AP chemistry who are preparing for the exam in May.

Classes such as labs and art classes are especially difficult to conduct through distance learning.

Students are unable to do many activities and experiments that they would be able to do in the safety of the classroom.

“The plan is now to demo certain labs that can be done at home, are safe and get the major concepts across through Zoom,” Hoyt said.

Obstacles

Andrew Bye, a teacher for the San Diego County Office of Education Juvenile Court and Community Schools, said that his division has faced obstacles such as attendance in online classes and ensuring that students have access to food.

“We create a space that makes students want to learn; I am their biggest hype man,” Bye said. “But the hardest change with online classes is that many students don’t show up; most of the day, I try to get ahold of people.”

The Juvenile Court and Community Schools division has been working hard to provide food to students in need by setting up food sites at many San Diego public schools that are open from 11 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday.

Since Community Schools are year-round, the teachers do not have a full summer break to solely focus on preparing for the following year if it is still online.

“We’re year-round, we have to build the plane while we’re flying,” Bye said.

Grading

The California State Board of Education and the Department of Education issued a joint statement with California colleges and universities showing how schools can grade and other flexibilities that are being accepted during this time. The statement says that the institutions will accept credit/no credit for classes instead of letter grades for A-G courses that were completed in winter/spring/summer 2020.

The state of California created the rules so that high schoolers and community college students will still be able to gain admission to four-year universities and not be negatively affected by the challenges caused by the pandemic.

According to the Juvenile Court and Community Schools’ Hold Harmless statement “grades will not drop below those issued prior to the date of school closure, March 16.”

Ryan Trust, a sophomore at Poway High School said that all of Poway’s classes are now pass or fail, and Lord explained that San Pasqual “has changed the rules for grading so that your grade can only get better; grades can’t drop from when classes transitioned to online.”

While the new measures are in place to help students who may not have access to computers, internet or other essential resources, students expressed that it is hard to stay motivated.

“It is so easy to get distracted when I’m at home,” Lord said. “For me, my grades are fine, but I have AP tests I should be studying for.”

Advanced Placement Tests

College Board, the organization that administers Advanced Placement tests which can give students college credits, announced that AP tests will still take place, but students will be taking them online at home. Students will also have the option to complete the written portions by hand and take a photo to upload and turn in.

Caroline Potter, an AP Spanish teacher at San Pasqual, said that the AP Spanish test has significantly changed and will be open-note, open-book and does not have the multiple-choice portion like it did in the past.

College Board is providing free exam preparation to help aid students in succeeding on the tests despite the circumstances.

Learning and rebuilding

Teachers and faculty have learned a lot about how to conduct classes virtually, a task that many high school educators have not had to do. They have also learned how to maintain solid communication with their students through emails and the creation of websites.

Students are staying connected with one another through Zoom meetings and apps such as House Party so they can talk and hang out even from miles away in their homes.

In case high schools are unable to go back to in-person sessions starting in the fall, teachers are working together to learn new ways to improve the delivery of their material online and are already preparing for next year.

As for the students, the dates of their graduation ceremonies are still unknown, if they happen at all. But San Diego County high schools are working to give students the experiences they feel they deserve if it works with the Center of Disease Control’s rules and regulations.