After covid-19 forced Olivia Goulding鈥檚 Indiana middle school to switch back to remote learning late last year, the math teacher lost contact with many of her students. So she and some colleagues came up with a plan: visiting them under the guise of dropping off Christmas gifts.
One day in December, they set out with cards and candy canes and dropped by the homes of every eighth grader at in Terre Haute, a city of more than 60,000 near the Illinois border where both Indiana State University and the federal death row are located. They saw firsthand how these kids, many living in poverty and dysfunctional families, were coping with the pandemic鈥檚 disruptions to their academic and social routines.
鈥淵ou just have a better concept of where they鈥檙e coming from and the challenges they really do have,鈥 Goulding said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e looking at that electronic grade book and Sally Lou hasn鈥檛 turned in something, you remember back in your mind: 鈥極h, yeah, Sally Lou was home by herself, taking care of three younger siblings when I stopped by, and I spotted her helping Johnny with his math and she was helping this one with something else.鈥欌
The school鈥檚 experience provides a window into the hardships millions of families across the country have endured since last March, and exemplifies why education isn鈥檛 the only reason many Americans want schools to fully reopen. Schools like Sarah Scott help hold their communities together by providing households with wide-ranging support, which has become much tougher during the pandemic.
鈥淎 lot of our students are struggling emotionally,鈥 said Sarah Scott鈥檚 principal, . 鈥淭hey鈥檙e stressed because they鈥檙e falling behind in their work. Or they鈥檙e stressed because of the conditions they鈥檙e living with at home.鈥
Even before the coronavirus struck, kids at Sarah Scott faced significant obstacles that compounded the normal social challenges and surging hormones of middle school. They live in Vigo County, which has the state鈥檚 and . Nearly 90% of students qualified for free or reduced-fee lunches. Some showed up needing to shower and change at the school, which has a food pantry that also offers clothes and hygiene products.
Things got more difficult for students when covid threw Sarah Scott鈥檚 normal schedule into disarray. Initially, the school went totally remote, then moved to partially in-person for the start of the 2020-21 school year. When covid spiked in October, Sarah Scott went remote again because not enough substitute teachers could fill in for quarantining staff. Since January, students have been spending part of each week in the school building, with no plans as of early March to open fully.
Kids were given laptops to use at home. But internet access can be problematic.
鈥淚nternet has been the worst,鈥 said Samantha Riley, mother of seventh grader Mariah Pointer. 鈥淪o many people are on it, it shuts down all the time.鈥
When that happens, she uses the Wi-Fi emitting from the school bus that sits in front of her apartment complex, one of several parked around the community to fill the gaps.
Even when the internet works, though, keeping kids on task at home isn鈥檛 easy. Heather Raley said she often cries from the stress of trying to make her seventh grade daughter engage online. 鈥淚t just seems like we鈥檙e always butting heads over this,鈥 Raley said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a bigger battle getting the work done.鈥
As in many other communities, students are falling behind academically. Some don鈥檛 do any of their e-learning activities. Sarah Scott鈥檚 reports to child protective services for educational neglect 鈥 when caregivers aren鈥檛 getting their children to either in-person or remote classes 鈥 have more than tripled this school year.
Brown said she also worries about physical neglect and abuse, which is harder to detect when interacting with students remotely. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e in an abusive home and you have to be there five days out of the week because you鈥檙e doing remote learning, you鈥檙e in that environment even more,鈥 she said.
More time at home can also mean doing without necessities, including food.
The school helps by offering free breakfasts and lunches for in-person students and to-go lunches on remote days. Sometimes, the principal . The school recently secured a microwave for one family and an inflatable mattress for a student who鈥檇 been sharing a bed with his grandmother.
For some kids, the stress of the pandemic has worsened emotional problems and mental illness. Recently, a former Sarah Scott student who had moved out of state logged into her former teacher鈥檚 virtual class to say she planned to kill herself. The school contacted police, who checked on her. Referrals for suicidal students are up fourfold, Brown said.
School social worker said it鈥檚 been tough counseling kids online or through text messages.
鈥淚 am all about building relationships and being in person and being able to dap you up or give you a hug and be like, 鈥楬ey, what鈥檚 up?鈥欌 she said, using a term for various greetings like fist bumps or elaborate handshakes. 鈥淪o being online is extremely difficult for me, because you can鈥檛 really tell the tone of your student. When I鈥檓 talking to you in person, I can read your body language and I can gauge where you鈥檙e at.鈥
Right now, she said, the psychological well-being of her middle schoolers is even more important than education.
Many students, such as eighth grader Trea Johnson, come up against challenges on both fronts. Trea transferred to Sarah Scott two days before covid ended in-person learning.
鈥淲e struggle with school anyway,鈥 said his mom, Kathy Poff. 鈥淭hen when this pandemic came along, it just knocked our feet out from under us.鈥
His grades plunged. He began to hate school, Poff said. He didn鈥檛 attend his daily video meetings with his teachers. His mother fought with him to complete his online assignments.
鈥淚 usually get pretty bored,鈥 said Trea, whose long, straight hair sometimes falls over his eyes.
Poff found him a therapist he meets with once a week. She said his mood and academic productivity have improved. He wants to be a computer programmer and has been coding in his spare time lately. She also moved his computer into her bedroom so she could better monitor him and has started paying him to do his schoolwork.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 even imagine what it would be like to be a 13-year-old going through this pandemic,鈥 said Poff, 51, a single mother. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going through changes anyway, adjusting to adolescence and figuring out who they are, and they don鈥檛 even have a social group to figure that out.鈥
Goulding, the math teacher, said she鈥檚 glad she and her co-workers can help provide stability and continuity during this trying period. One recent night, for example, she got a call from a truant boy鈥檚 grandmother, who said she was in poor health and raising him alone. The next day, the principal and social worker picked him up and drove him to school.
Still, Goulding lamented not seeing her most vulnerable students on the days when they are remote.
鈥淗ow do I check on my kids? How do I make sure they鈥檙e eating? How do I make sure,鈥 she paused to compose herself, her voice quavering, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e safe?
鈥淵ou鈥檙e no longer thinking about, 鈥楬ow are they doing on their polynomials?鈥 You鈥檙e thinking about, you know, the reality of life.鈥
[Correction: This article was updated at 12:30 p.m. ET on March 25, 2021, to correct the grade level of Heather Raley鈥檚 daughter.]