Blacksburg New School is, by design, a school based upon community and togetherness. So, when Governor Northam closed schools on March 16th due to the COVID-19 outbreak, suddenly our community was forced to separate, and the togetherness became isolation at home. We worried that Blacksburg New School would have to become a “new school.”
Since 1971, Blacksburg New School has been a school woven together by a dedicated partnership of students, teachers, and parents. It is an independent parent-teacher cooperative school, born fifty years ago when the value of this type of education was recognized, but now remains as one of the last of its kind in the country.
Our school prides itself in high academic standards, playful students, wise teachers, and engaged parents—all operating on a beautiful campus. At Blacksburg New School finding and striking balance is the guiding principle of the school. The balance between work and play. Comfort and challenge. Saving and sharing. Indoors and outdoors. New and old. Self and other.
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Social interaction and conversation are at the core of our curricula. Students learn to comfortably interact with peers, with students from different grade levels, and with adults. With small class sizes, learning is up close and personal. Technology is welcomed, but treated with respect and thoughtful engagement.
Then came COVID-19 and “social distancing.” The closure of K-12 schools in Virginia led to “distance learning.” Normal was upended for all schools, all teachers, all students, and all parents. Everywhere. And at the Blacksburg New School, teachers and parents and students feared that it would mean the end of everything that made our community unique.
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The world has changed, at least for now, but we at Blacksburg New School felt that we needed to find a way to preserve the community we had worked so hard to build. Finding ways to keep the balance is at the heart of making online learning feel “right” for us. While we are not changing who we are, we are definitely learning, and growing. It’s not easy. Teaching remotely is harder and less fun. Learning remotely feels harder and less fun. But, learning to make the most of it—really make the most of it—that is a valuable thing to learn.
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And our community has worked quickly to adapt to the situation. We recognize that what felt “right” last week may have to be tweaked or changed or omitted this week in order to keep feeling “right.” That’s part of the balance-finding. Expectations have to be flexible and they have to honor the real people engaged in the process: the kids, their grownups at home, and the teachers. But learning can continue. The community can continue. Enjoyment and fun can continue.
We at Blacksburg New School are:
- Using technology with care, wisdom, and fun.
- Watching teachers’ daily videos.
- Engaging with each other and our teachers via Zoom.
- Zooming with pets.
- Sharing recordings of original stories.
- Reading common books and having book group meetings.
- Gathering informally to eat lunch via Zoom.
- Using FlipGrid, YouTube, Google Classroom, and Zoom with forever-increasing ease.
- Going on a “virtual field trip” to the American Shakespeare Center
- Investing in meaningful technology by hiring a full time IT and computer lab teacher.
- Expressing ourselves through hilarious theme Fridays (tie-dye, mustaches, hats, pajamas)
- Doing lots of art projects—both suggested and spontaneous!
- Engaging in regular Spanish, Music, and Health activities.
- Including preschool siblings in the learning.
- Getting extended outside time—building fairy houses, taking hikes, doing yoga.
- Joining our grownups at home and engaging in lots of cooking and bike-riding.
- Competing very successfully in National History Day (online this year)!
- Checking in with each other. Really checking in, with one-on-one conversations, and not just about school.
- Taking breaks…to rest, rebuild, re-balance.
The way that we work together as a community has changed, but our community is continuing to learn, grow, and support each other through these new and challenging experiences. And one day soon schools will re-open, and our Blacksburg New School community will once again be playing—indoors and outdoors—on our campus, together.
For more information about Blacksburg New School please visit www.blacksburgnewschool.org.
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