There was no wearing of new outfits and carrying a backpack full of school supplies, no running to the bus stop, no tears from parents waving their sons and daughters off to their first day of school, and no face-to-face greetings to friends and teachers they hadn’t seen all summer. The 2020-21 school year is the year of the pandemic and like many school systems, Chesterfield County Public Schools opened with online classes.
More than 58,000 students in 62 schools – 38 elementary schools, 12 middle schools, 11 high schools, and a technical center – signed on to their Chromebooks with Rapid Identity last Tuesday for the first day of school with only a minor hiccup. The school division’s web system started to have problems around 8 a.m. After the middle school students signed on at 7:30 a.m. with no glitches, elementary and high school students began to sign on for their 8:30 a.m. start. With the number of students logging on, the system slowed to a crawl, leaving parents frustrated and students late for their first period classes. According to administration, they were able to work with Amazon Web Services allowing Rapid Identity to double their capacity to process information by about 9:30 a.m. By 10 a.m., the system was nearly at full functional capacity, and students were joining their classes.
In her first week of virtual class my granddaughter, a senior in high school said she is frustrated and hates it. “I hate that I have to show my face, and my teacher doesn’t know anything about technology,” she said about one of her classes. “I didn’t get any assignments last week because [my teacher]struggled with the new program. Plus, we used to get our assignments on our old system using Google, and now we are using Canvas which requires an extra step. It use to be so simple.” She said her friends also voice frustrations.
My grandson, a sophomore at Matoaca High School, seems to have fallen into the groove of virtual cloasses to close out the first week of school. With headphones on, he listens, takes notes, and interacts with his teacher and classmates. What he likes about virtual classes he said,” I don’t have to get up so early.” His bus pickup time would be 7 a.m., and he would ride to Thomas Dale High School, followed by another bus trip to Matoaca’s Specialty Cwenter. Currently he goes to the computer at home.
Another grandson attending school for the first time, didn’t have much to say about virtual school. I could tell the excitement he had as he looked forward to attending kindergarten just wasn’t there.
Not a lot is different for the upper grade students accustomed to using computers in their classrooms, but the much-needed in-person teaching for the lower grades is being lost or filled in by a parent. What is truly lost for all ages is the social aspect. Students will return to their classrooms and when they do, it will be like the first day of school.
As for what the school system says: “Chesterfield County Public Schools is providing an additional layer of support for students and families needing assistance with Chromebooks, Canvas, the my.ccpsnet.net learning dashboard, and resetting passwords with a live Technology Help Desk they launched last Friday.
“The Technology Help Desk will continue to be open Monday through Friday of this week from 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Families can call (804) 639-8689 for support. Support is available in other languages as well.
“Team Chesterfield staff members will be available to answer questions about the school division’s virtual learning tools, provide support for navigating the school division’s learning management system (Canvas), and connect families to resources that will best support their technology needs.”
