The email announcing school would be closed for a month went out less than 15 minutes before the annual Math Night began. Parents and children, maybe fewer than in past years, trickled into the gym and spread out around the tables to learn and play fun math games.
It was a Thursday evening, and the school day had been highlighted by a professional harpist who performed in the Centennial Theater that morning and the Bright School Choir who sang for grandparents gathered for a Building a Bright Future Capital Campaign event in the library.
There was cautious talk around the gym about an illness called the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 and what it might mean for our school and our families. An email from Head of School O.J. Morgan earlier that afternoon had announced school would be open on Friday, March 13, but would be closed starting Monday, March 16, through the end of Spring Break, Tuesday, April 14. Surely that would be enough time to weather the spread of the virus.
As we know now, that was not the case. March 13 was the last day of the 2019-2020 school year spent on campus. In typical Bright School fashion, it was a day full of excitement with classes trailing through the theater to eagerly purchase goodies at the fifth grade bake sale in the morning, students reciting digits of pi for Pi Day (March 14 or 3/14), and raucous shouting and clapping when fifth grader Christopher Kim, winner of the Pi Day contest by reciting 525 digits, elected to “pie” fifth grade teacher Matt Lauer in the face during Bright Fest Friday.
The rest of the year was held online, through Zoom meetings, virtual Bright Fest Fridays, assignments on Seesaw and photos swapped of LEGO creations and what children were doing at home to stay Bright Fit. Many traditional events such as the kindergarten and fifth grade plays, the PK Luau, the high jump, the fourth grade’s 50-state meal, class pictures, Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day, the fifth grade vs. faculty softball game, and even the Bright School Picnic were called off. Bright School looked and sounded different, but the essence of caring and nurturing children was still there, even if virtually.
“The pandemic has thrown the entire world into a state of uncertainty, presenting challenges for families, churches, businesses and schools. Our community has certainly felt this as well. Out of adversity, however, also comes strength. Difficulties starkly reveal the depth of an institution’s fortitude and the soundness of its mission, and we are happy to say that Bright School has weathered the storm firmly intact and confidently poised for adjusting to the future,” wrote Mr. Morgan and Board of Trustees chair, Austin Center ’85, to parents, faculty and staff on May 21.
“But a school’s strength is only as powerful as its people, and we want to commend everyone in our community—students, parents and grandparents, teachers, administrative staff, custodial staff, alumni and trustees—for their perseverance and dedication to keeping Bright School whole. The spirit all of you bring to the school’s work is the essence of what makes the school a cherished place to educate children, as it has done for 107 years. We will forever be indebted to you for your commitment to those values we deem so important in the lives of our children.”
Online learning was new and different and challenging for most, students and teachers alike. The connection between teacher and student, while only through a screen, was important and certainly no longer taken for granted.
"Huge thank you to all teachers. This is not easy on anyone and I know how hard you all have worked to transition to distance learning,” one parent wrote in a survey about online learning.
"Thank you very much for all you are doing in these crazy times. We appreciate you!" added another.
"I know this has been super challenging for the teachers and faculty at Bright School to pivot to distance learning, but we want you all to know that we are super impressed by what Bright School is doing our the students."
No one at Bright School had ever taught online before. No one knew what to expect. Zoom meetings, with 12 to 15 children moving around in their screens, became dizzying windows into the lives of teachers and students that would have probably not been seen otherwise. Parents, siblings and even pets often made appearances during the calls.
“I could not have been more impressed with how my students responded to the abrupt transition to virtual learning. Never in a million years would I have ever imagined teaching an online classroom full of 5 and 6 year olds, but we found success through the resilience of the children and the amazing support of their families,” kindergarten teacher Bill Greene said. “Many of my students’ parents sat alongside their children during lessons and offered support and even frequently engaged with the class. Although it was a lot of fun having the whole class at once, that did present specific challenges. Small group and one-on-one conferences provided the kids more opportunities for direct involvement.”
Mr. Bill, as he’s known to the students, is one of several teachers who also had children at home during the shutdown. It made for some interesting and trying Zoom meetings with his students.
“Fortunately, two of my children were old enough to keep up with their schoolwork independently, even though they did need assistance from time to time. My youngest daughter, Ava, who is about to turn 4, is not yet capable of understanding the difference between me being at home and me having to work from home,” he said. “Finding a balance between being a simultaneous father and teacher was difficult at times. Luckily, though, my students and families always welcomed any one of my children with open arms during our virtual meetings.”
As online learning continued and lasted much longer than anticipated at the beginning, teachers adapted to what worked best for them and their students.
“I felt much more connected to my students when I got to hear their voices and see their faces, much more so than just a worksheet. That is why I really made the effort to include a video lesson of myself teaching as opposed to just written directions in each lesson,” music teacher Cindy Beirne said. “Likewise, a student can respond with just a written response or complete a worksheet, but their recorded responses or videos were so personal that they really made my day. Just to hear the ‘good morning, Mrs. Beirne’ or ‘thanks for this lesson; it was really neat!’ was very sweet.”
While online learning took place, the school was nearly empty except for Mr. Morgan, sometimes with his dogs Nigel and Sugar, and Sabrina McAllister and Stacy
, who came in to work in the office. Teachers were making their lesson plans remotely, meeting with each other and assistant heads Renee’ Kropff and Christy Lusk via Zoom and recording videos at home for their students as best they could.
Then a tornado hit in the eastern part of Hamilton County on April 12. A few of our families lived in neighborhoods that were damaged, and many families and teachers lost power for a few days, some for longer. It was just another obstacle to be breached.
After spring break, the school began having all-school Bright Fest Fridays (BFF) online. Normally, these assemblies would have been in the theater on a Friday afternoon with fifth graders making announcements, handing out birthday bracelets and acting out a skit or showing a video related to a lesson for the day. Instead, the BFFs were virtual but still with fifth graders leading the way. One of them led the Pledge of Allegiance, and two others made announcements. Usually, Mr. Morgan addressed the students, one time wearing a long wig to show what he expected his hair to be like after not having it cut for many weeks. Mrs. Beirne finished each BFF by playing her piano and singing “The Bright School Song” from her living room.
What became clear through the experience was the need to be together, that the Bright School experience thrives on in-person interaction.
“The most difficult part of distance learning, both as a teacher and as a parent, was knowing how much the children truly missed being around one another. Unfortunately, there is no way to virtually replicate the social, emotional, and academic benefits of a physical classroom and community for students. I missed my amazing class, coworkers, and even the simple things like saying hi to parents as we loaded children into cars at the end of the day,” Mr. Bill said.
The shortened time on campus also meant a very different end for the fifth graders. Mr. Morgan, the fifth grade teachers and other administrators wrestled with ways to make the end of year special for the Class of 2020. One day, teacher Ann O’Brien, Mrs. Kropff, receptionist Elizabeth Jackson, nurse Kelly Jennings and Mr. Morgan loaded into the two Bright School buses driven by Paul Davis and Reggie Washington and traveled all around the city, delivering personalized yard signs to each fifth grader’s home in the rain. It took seven hours!
Faculty and staff made posters of messages to fifth graders that were included in a video, and fifth graders also made posters of their mottos for surviving middle school and their own personalized signs displayed at the end of school parade.
The official last day of school came and went, and the next day, all teachers gathered at school, put on masks and gloves and greeted each child who came through in cars and trucks to pick up school work, art and shop projects and little gifts. It was the first time students had seen their teachers in person in two months. Fifth graders came at the end of the line, and each student’s name was called over the loudspeaker as they approached the concourse.
Families decorated their cars and trucks, and some students even shot confetti into the air. Despite the rain, it was uplifting for everyone to see faces and smiles in person.
As soon as the regular school year ended, the return to school plans for August were put on the table for discussion. Mr. Morgan was adamant that campus would reopen in August. Asked how the summer was going, he would repeat, “We are reinventing Bright School!”
The school had a chance to do just that when it cancelled Bright Days, our summer program, and opted instead to offer three weeks of enrichment in July for current and new students, Bright Care for grades PK and kindergarten, and Bright Prep for grades 1-6 (including the fifth graders who just graduated). The program was free. In less than a month, new assistant head Kendra Reasor and school counselor Rachel Blanton, who oversee Bright Days, created these programs and recruited teachers, and Mrs. Kropff instituted the safety protocols and started the school’s implementation of Ascend, an online health monitoring system that will be used in August.
Students arrived by 8 a.m. and were dismissed at 11 a.m., and in those hours, the school felt right again. Face coverings were required, and desks were distanced. It was a chance for students and teachers to get back into the habit of being at school, have a routine and interact in person.
“The feeling around the school was alive. Just the sounds of children, seeing their faces, and having teachers in the classrooms was a big boost for everyone,” Mr. Morgan said.
The masks, worn by students and teachers, could not hide their smiles.
Be Happy. Be Together. Be BRIGHT!
Students and Teachers Return to School
School opened joyfully and with great anticipation in August with everyone wearing face coverings and learning new procedures to stay safe and healthy. Each morning, parents completed an online health survey called Ascend, which was created by Chattanooga-based Base Camp Health. Ascend tracks symptoms and directs families to stay home or go to school.
To reduce the number of students congregating in common areas and hallways, grades JPK-3 mostly remained within their classroom cohort during the day. Grades 4-5 continued to switch classes for reading, writing and math blocks. Classes spent more time outside for instruction, play and lunch. Lunch was delivered to the hallways for grades PK-2, and grades 3-5 walked to the dining hall to pick up pre-made lunches. Some classes ate in their classrooms, and some ate outside, physically distanced, of course.
Instead of having a large crowd at Registration Day, the school held Phase-In Days for the first week of school. Over four days, students came in small groups of three or four each day. Parents met teachers for the first 30 minutes in the Early Childhood Center classrooms and outside for the older grades.
Students learned who their teachers were when they received notes in the mail personally written by their teachers. Each envelope included a balloon and confetti.
Over the first month of school, the school followed guidelines from the Hamilton County Health Department and quarantined a few classes after exposure to positive COVID-19. Classes at home stayed engaged with their teachers and classmates using our online learning program called iBright. Parents raved about the improvements made over the summer to make online learning more consistent with in-school learning.
The school’s first and foremost goal was to offer in-person instruction as long as and as much as possible. For the first trimester, after school activities and athletics were cancelled along with early morning activities such as handbells, choir and Morning Math. The school hoped to bring back those activities as the year progresses but only if a safe environment can be ensured.
