Jericho schools are providing all of their 3,200 students with five days a week of in-class instruction as they open Thursday morning — the first of Long Island’s 124 school systems to start classes amid continued anti-COVID safeguards.
Jericho’s use of universal on-site learning is in marked contrast to its approach at this time last year when the district, like many others in the Nassau-Suffolk region, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with a “hybrid” approach. That form of scheduling included in-school classes every other day for secondary students, along with remote instruction at home on other days.
In addition, Jericho last year offered a fully remote option accepted by hundreds of families.
For its kickoff of classes this week, Jericho is not offering a remote option for either secondary or elementary students, except in rare cases of medical necessity. Instead, district officials are emphasizing the academic and social benefits of face-to-face contact between students and teachers.
“Obviously, we are excited that we are bringing everybody back on the first day of school,” said Henry Grishman, the district’s longtime superintendent and a former president of the New York State Council of School Superintendents.
Grishman went on to describe the disadvantages of remote instruction, which according to national experts caused many students last year to make less academic progress than in the past, especially in math.
“That is not a healthy way for a kid to be receiving instruction,” the Jericho schools chief said. “It’s not emotionally healthy for a kid to receive it, and I also believe there’s a detriment to the breadth and enrichment that exists within a classroom where there’s kid-to-kid interaction, where there’s teacher coordination. That form of instruction is far better for our kids.”
Jericho, which began offering universal five-day-a-week instruction in April, is not alone. Many other districts have announced plans on their websites for similar schedules this year, including Herricks and East Williston, which open Tuesday, as well as Central Islip, Great Neck and Miller Place, which open Sept. 1.
Across the region, local districts have set seven different back-to-school dates altogether, stretching to Sept. 10. Wednesday’s date will be the biggest, with 44 systems due to start classes that day, followed by Sept. 9, when 38 systems will start.
In Jericho, as elsewhere, both students and staff will be required to wear masks within school buildings. Visitors will be limited and required to complete temperature scans and health checks. All athletics will resume in the fall, but assemblies, field trips and conferences will be placed on hold and reviewed on a monthly basis.
The highly contagious delta variant has emerged nationwide this summer, but since May, children 12 and older have been able to get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Moreover, in Nassau, the average seven-day infection rate has remained relatively low compared with regional conditions at this time last year.
Familiarity with health precautions taken since the pandemic first struck in March 2020 has convinced some teachers and other school workers that this year’s school openings will be relatively smooth.
“Students are getting used to wearing masks in schools,” said Alyssa Lionetti, a teacher of social studies and special education in Jericho, who was interviewed at an orientation session earlier this month. “They know that it is safer to wear them in schools.”
As they reopen, schools are relying largely on guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control. One CDC recommendation is that schools maintain a 3-foot social distance between students in class, as compared with a 6-foot interval previously employed.
The less restrictive guideline is making it easier for districts such as Jericho to bring more students back to class on a daily basis, especially in high schools and middle schools, where space was tight in the past.
Jericho teachers speak on the year ahead
A diverse trio of teachers newly hired by the Jericho school district talked to Newsday about their expectations and concerns for the coming year. Jericho’s school year begins Thursday.
Andrea Hernandez Gallegos, 33, Spanish teacher, formerly taught at schools in Mexico and the Bronx: “I worked very hard in the last school that I was to try to create a community and a sense of learning that, yes, it is a Spanish class, it’s a language class, it’s supposed to be fun. But I liked that my students feel that they are learning something and that they actually will use it, even if it’s just to go and order tacos at a store, at a restaurant. Before leaving my previous school, a student emailed me and he said, ‘Oh, I’m sad that you’re leaving, but I was hoping to share with you that I was able to order food at a restaurant in Spanish.’ “
Alyssa Lionetti, 24, teacher of social studies and special education, formerly taught at a private academy in Suffolk County: “I’m really excited, because in this environment, it’s a smaller group of kids. So I really have the ability to differentiate, to meet those individual students’ needs in my classroom … I really enjoy teaching about the French Revolution, because it’s right in the start of the school year. So you’re able to really create engaging lessons with my students right from the start of the school year.”
James Yoon, 26, band teacher, formerly served in a U.S. Army band: “Well, there will always be a constant awareness and sense of caution, given the fact that we were just and are still in a pandemic. … But one thing that I want for my students and expect from them as we jump into the school year this year is to rekindle or kindle a love of music. I know that a lot of students this past year or two may have lost their interest in it, because they weren’t in person. It was either remote learning or hybrid learning in music. Very difficult, very difficult to do remote. Can be done, but very challenging.”
