I am amazed at how well the teachers are adapting, and also the students.”

BHS Principal Joe Hurley

Who could be more proud of their educators right now?”

Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore

A veteran Barrington High School teacher said preparing for class and delivering instruction has never been more difficult than it is this year.

He said the challenges include mastering technology that is completely new to many and peppered with unexpected glitches; balancing the needs of the students sitting in front of him in class with those logged on at home; and grappling with new online classroom software that was introduced just a week before the start of the school year.

And those challenges, said the longtime BHS teacher, are compounded by the fact that educators and students face a series of strict health and safety protocols: mask-wearing, social distancing, stringent cleaning requirements, and more.

But despite the challenges, the teachers are persevering, said Barrington High School Principal Joe Hurley.

"I am amazed at how well the teachers are adapting, and also the students," Mr. Hurley said, during a recent interview.

"It’s just, to me, I’m amazed every day at how hard they’re working to make this way of teaching work for our students. Putting our students in the forefront each and every day. To see that, it does make you proud."

Mr. Hurley said he takes time each day to visit classrooms and see how students and teachers are handling the new learning environment, and what he witnesses is very encouraging.

He described a recent classroom visit — the teacher had about eight students in class and another dozen logged in at home. The students, Mr. Hurley said, were working in groups, in-person learners communicating and collaborating with those at home, while the teacher managed all the groups in break-out sessions.

"To balance that is pretty amazing," the principal said.

Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore said the work taking place inside Barrington High School classrooms is even more impressive when considering that there is no professional development available to teachers for this type of education delivery. Teaching with the hybrid model of education (some in-class learners and some distance learners) is a new frontier, different even from last spring's entirely remote learning.

"We're learning each day, and we're using the state professional development days to review," Mr. Messore said, adding that some teachers have taken on leadership roles, helping their fellow educators find new successful paths to teaching.

"Some of it is being addressed in faculty meetings — what's working and what's not working," he said.

The superintendent said he has been impressed time and again by teachers and their students during the first two months of the school year.

"Who could be more proud of their educators right now?" he said. "It’s what Barrington teachers do. They confront a challenge and put 100 percent into it. All of them want to do the best job they can to meet the needs of the students."

Canvas

About a week before the start of the school year, the district rolled out a new online classroom platform called "Canvas." The software replaced "Google Classroom" which had been used by the district for a number of years.

The timing of the change, said some teachers, made a difficult start to the school year even more daunting. In addition to navigating the new protocols and hybrid model, high school teachers were also pressed to understand and implement Canvas.

Mr. Hurley and Mr. Messore acknowledged the challenges presented by the shift, but added that teachers have done a nice job making it work. Mr. Hurley said the high school had created new "Canvas Ambassadors" — those are staff members who feel they have a stronger grasp of the platform and can share that knowledge with other teachers.

Mr. Messore compared the first two months of Canvas with the roll-out of the Common Core curriculum. He said that when some teachers struggled with that, the assistant superintendent Paula Dillon created groups that helped teachers best adjust to the shift.

Teachers are helping each other during common planning time periods and on professional development days.

Scheduling challenge

Barrington school administrators said some unexpected issues have surfaced with the class schedule.

Advisory periods designed for one purpose have created large gaps of open time for some students both in school and at home.

Meanwhile, physical education classes for students who are on remote learning days increase the amount of free time afforded to the students.

There are also 15-minute gaps between classes built into each school day. That time allows teachers to clean desks, but the extended break is so long that some students find themselves walking laps in the building just to fill the empty time.

Mr. Messore said he understands the concerns surrounding the scheduling issues at Barrington High School, but wants parents to know that work is under way to make changes.

"I know people are worried about down time with students. And we'll address that," he said.

In fact, the district announced some upcoming changes recently. Toward the end of an email to BHS parents discussing changes to some Monday schedules, Mr. Hurley added that the district was altering its advisory periods: "Further communication will be sent regarding adjustments for Monday, November 30th and beyond, as well as our advisory periods. We have received feedback regarding these components of our schedule from teachers and parents, and will send out an adjusted schedule that addresses these concerns. We hope to have the follow-up communication to you by the week of November 16, 2020."

Mr. Hurley and Mr. Messore said it is typical for the district to make adjustments to the schedule as the school year progresses. Mr. Hurley said that was also the case in the spring, as officials changed the distance learning approach after its initial roll-out.

The challenge, he added, was ensuring that students who receive important supports during the advisory periods can still be serviced after schedule changes are made. There are a number of factors involved — special education, busing, response to interventions, as well as working with the teachers' union.

Mr. Hurley said he would like to see the time serve to benefit all students in the district.

"It’s never going to be 100 percent," he said. "But I know there are adjustments we’re making."

Mr. Messore said a full in-person learning model for all students would serve as an optimal adjustment, but that cannot happen in Barrington. He said the building is simply too small to allow for 100 percent of the students and all the staff to return to in-person learning.

"It comes down to spacing, keeping students safe," he said.

Mr. Messore said some districts have been able to bring back all their high school students for in-person learning. He said South Kingstown has a very large high school building and a declining student population — those two factors allowed for the shift to full in-person.

"I don’t think we could do it safely. It would be a huge concern for staff and for students," he said.

Currently, about 22 percent of the student population at Barrington High School is doing full distance learning, the remainder uses the hybrid model, splitting time between in-class and at-home.