What If Coronavirus Comes to Grace?
This article was written entirely before the announcement of a modified schedule for the rest of this school week.
“We had talked about it in the past,” assured Mr. Davison, Head of School, when asked about the contingency plan he introduced to the Grace community in the event the school shuts down. A potential closure is due to the rising threat of coronavirus.
Coronavirus, also known as novel coronavirus or COVID-19, is a mutated version of the virus that has been around before, meaning many people may have already had a variation of the illness. The disease primarily attacks the respiratory system, and the most common symptoms are coughing, fever, sore throat, and shortness of breath. The virus can lead to the common cold, or in worse cases, pneumonia.
This coronavirus was first found in China, and is believed to have been spread from an animal, but which animal is still unknown. As 2020 began, the virus continued to spread; first throughout Asia, and then beyond. Now, there is at least one confirmed case on each of the six inhabited continents.
On Tuesday, February 25th, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) warned that coronavirus is more than likely to begin spreading in the U.S.: “It’s not so much of a question of if this will happen in this country anymore but a question of when this will happen,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The answer to that question is becoming increasingly sooner rather than later.
As of Sunday, March 1st, there are 76 reported cases in the U.S., and the first case in New York City has been confirmed. In just one week, those numbers have begun to change drastically. “We are already using lots of disinfectant,” shared Mr. Davison, “but that’s based on the regular flu.”
As of Sunday, March 8th, there are over 500 reported cases in the U.S. and 106 in the State of New York. With that, the virus is getting ever closer to the Grace community. This past weekend in a letter to the parents, faculty, and staff, Mr. Davison shared that, “There are four students – from the Lower, Middle, and High School divisions – who are currently self-quarantined. All are all either secondary or tertiary contacts,” meaning none of these students have the virus themselves, nor have they been in contact with someone with the virus. However, this is a very telling representation of how COVID-19 is continuously spreading around the tri-state area. In light of this, Mr. Davison also noted that the level of disinfectant has changed to “hospital-grade.”
With the reality of coronavirus beginning to settle in, it leaves everyone with one question; what can I do to stay healthy? Acknowledging that it is a boring answer, High School Nurse, Vikki King exclaimed, “Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands.” Vikki has also been busy putting up more Purell dispensers around the 46 building.
With signs around all around the school saying ‘Wash Your Hands,’ the students and faculty have clearly received this message. Ms. Grafton, HS History, said that “I’ve been washing my hands more, especially when I get off the subway.” Similarly, Tess D. ‘20 shared that “I’ve been taking a lot longer to wash my hands, making sure I’ve been taking at least 30 seconds.”
While washing our hands is certainly one of the first lines of defense we have against the spreading of this virus, it is not the only measure that can and should be taken. “Sneeze into your elbow, cough into your elbow. Stay hydrated, stay rested, and stay away from people who are coughing,” shared Vikki, who also added that you can turn this situation into a positive. “Yes, the virus is here, but what can we do about it? Take care of yourself. Maybe redo your diet. Start drinking green juices, take your vitamins, get more exercise. Take your stress level down, because the minute you start stressing, your immune system goes down.”
For those who remain on the calmer side surrounding coronavirus, preparation feels to be the most important thing as of now. When asked if he felt anxious or worried, Nicholas D. ‘20 said, “not at the moment, but I understand that something bad could happen.” The always cheery Dana, High School Student and Family Coordinator, shared that, “I’m not really an alarmist, so I’m just waltzing around here like everything is going to be fine.”
Spencer A. ‘20 is someone who currently is mixed between calm and worried; “I feel like we should be somewhat anxious, and we should always be precautious, but we shouldn’t be in full-fledged panic mode.”
Sahil S. ‘22 is finding himself in a much more nervous state; “I’m worried that by touching a door that everyone in the building has touched, I’m going to get really sick.”
Ms. Dilley, HS Science, shared that, “it doesn’t help that my advisory loves to talk about coronavirus, and we just read updates to each other.”
There is one question that has been on everyone’s mind: will Grace have to shut down?
During an interview, Mr. Davison said he thinks, “it’s about a 20-25% chance [that the school has to shut down].” The interview was conducted before the first case of coronavirus had been reported in the State of New York, as well as closures by other New York City Independent schools, either for cleaning or because a member of their community may be infected. However, Mr. Davison still maintains that figure in light of the escalation of COVID-19 around New York.
Within a day of the CDC’s warning to the U.S. regarding the virus, Mr. Davison sent out a letter to the parents explaining that the school was already prepared in the event of a school shut down. “If schools were to close, we would deploy a distance learning plan that would include work to do at home and class meetings with teachers on school days using an online conference tool,” reads the letter.
If Grace is forced to move to online schooling, for no matter what period of time, classes will run on somewhat of a condensed schedule. “Our plan is not to have people try to teach every class as scheduled on Zoom,” explained Mr. Davison. Zoom is the online video conferencing tool that Grace will use if the school closes, essentially allowing students to ‘FaceTime’ into class. For the High School, each class would have one meeting per cycle of about 40 to 60 minutes. The other two meetings scheduled for that cycle would take the form of a one-on-one check-in between the teacher and the student.
The homework flow and rigor of grading assignments will not change in the event of distance learning; “A paper is a paper. A test is a test,” noted Mr. Davison, “now, with GraceNet, Google Suite, and access to video conferencing technology, we really feel we can keep things running.”
When discussing the distance learning plan with members of the faculty, they are certainly optimistic and hopeful of the opportunity it provides; however, just with almost everything involving the coronavirus, the unknown is paramount. “I’m never going to love it, but it’s a good idea to keep some momentum going,” shared Ms. Grafton.
Many teachers have been trying to figure out what is the best way to make distance learning work for their classes. Mr. Todd, HS Visual Arts, does not benefit from the ease that a history or literature teacher might have in switching over to the online platform but has figured out a way that would allow his classes to stay on track; “I can assign more assignments that are geared towards viewing and critically analyzing the art rather than making the art.” Mr. Chan, HS Counselor, said he plans “to have open office hours for students who want to talk about things” in the event of a school shut down.
While the administration has been active in preparing the teachers to use Zoom, little to none has been done to adequately prepare the students for this real possibility. Kaitlyn L. ‘20, one of a small minority of students who have already used Zoom in class, said it was really helpful to practice because “I don’t think I would’ve been able to figure it out without the teacher’s help.” Evan B. ‘20, who has not used Zoom yet, expressed that “it would be nice try it, so if we do have to use it for our classes, we know what to do.”
There is a level of interest in the prospect of distance learning from the student body, mixed with a realistic introspection of how effective it might be. “It might be nice, for a short period of time,” shared Meekaya G. ‘21. “I don’t know if I would be able to make sure I was doing it, though.” Spencer A. ‘20 said, “I feel like it would definitely make things a lot more difficult, especially for the seniors… harder to focus.”
There are also many potential negative knock-on effects from having to move to distance learning. Tess D. ‘20 pointed out how it could affect the STEM program immensely, not only this year but in school years to come as well. “It actually causes a lot of planning for the STEM classes,” reflected Tess. “I didn’t really think about it because I was thinking history, literature, those will be fine, but I wasn’t thinking about how difficult it will be for my science and math classes. And I wasn’t thinking about the 10th grade; if they want to take AT Chemistry, they might not be able to because they don’t know the material. It might be a big issue for kids who aren’t graduating.”
Another potential causality of a school shut down is graduation, which is currently scheduled for May 22nd. Ms. Carpenter, Dean of the Class of 2020, adamantly says, “Nothing can happen! I don’t want to hear about anything happening that we won’t have our celebrations and our together time. That’s important to me.” Humoring the possibility that graduation is not able to happen on its scheduled date, Mr. Davison assured that, “We will find a new date and have graduation. People will graduate!”
A major point of concern surrounding the coronavirus, for the Grace community specifically, is spring break, which is just days away. It is common for families to travel to all areas of the world, but with the looming threat of COVID-19, many families are asking, should we still be traveling?
Arjun T. ‘22 commented that “I was going to go to California, but we are re-thinking our travel plans.” Henry P. ‘21 similarly is going to California, but that is “up in the air.” Ms. Félix, HS Spanish, said that her traveling over this break is “very unlikely.” However, not all members of the community have decided to reign in their travel. Nicholas D. ‘20 shared that he is going to Jordan and actually made those plans just last week.
Grace’s own travel plans have been strongly affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The school was going to send two school trips this break to India and to Scotland, but those have since been canceled. “This was a scenario that we had hoped to avoid, but given the information we have at this moment, canceling the trips is the most prudent choice,” Mr. Davison revealed.
Ms. Ward, Director of International Exchange Programs, explained that “what we have to take into account is just institutional liability. An individual’s tolerance for risk is generally much higher than an institution’s tolerance for risk, and that’s for us. Our tolerance for risk is very low.”
“I think it was the right decision on behalf of the school,” reflected Frankie R. ‘22, who was supposed to go on the Scotland trip. “I’m obviously disappointed because I wanted to go, and I was excited, but I think it would’ve been a really frightening situation to be there.”
While spring break’s unknowns remain ambiguous, there can be a positive to take from it. “If you can get away from negative news,” that can be a benefit, shared Vikki, “because everyone needs a mental break.” At this time of heightened stress for all, not only with the virus but the end of the quarter as well; a healthy and rejuvenating break might be the best treatment for the Grace community.