Switzerite: Safely Re-opening & Micro Schools

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Safely Re-opening & Micro Schools

Of all of the articles I've been reading on safely re-opening, the ones I find most compelling are those that focus on outdoor learning and micro schools.

I'm going to share some links here, but I would be very grateful if you share others that you find.

Outdoor Spaces are Essential Assets for School Districts’ COVID-19 Response
Green Schoolyards website

Why Outdoor Education May Be the Key to Reopening Schools Safely
interview with Sharon Danks, CEO and Founder of Green Schoolyards America, and Craig Strang, Associate Director for Learning and Teaching at the Lawrence Hall of Science

A proposal for what post-coronavirus schools should do (instead of what they used to do)
Washington Post - April 8, 2020

Micro-Schools May Be the Future of Education
Alliance for Self Directed Education - April 23, 2020

We can reopen schools — if we’re willing to rethink how they operate
Washington Post - July 13, 2020

We missed one chance to open schools safely. Here’s the new, more expensive, option.
Washington Post - July 16, 2020

"... More difficult decisions will be faced by states between those parameters, at yellow and orange risk levels. States that reopen schools at these levels of covid-19 community spread will be attempting something not yet achieved anywhere in the world."

Key Metrics for COVID Suppression from Harvard Global Health Institute

Risk Level Green - On Track for Containment
less than one case per 100,000 people

Risk Level Yellow - Community Spread
1-9 cases per 100,000 people

Risk Level Orange - Accelerated Spread
10-24 cases per 100,000 people

Risk Level Red - Tipping Point
25+ cases per 100,000 people

6 key ingredients to creating an outdoor classroom
District Administration - July 16, 2020

Schools Beat Earlier Plagues with Outdoor Classes. We Should Too.
The New York Times - July 17, 2020

School in a coffee shop? A different approach to teaching and learning during the pandemic.
Washington Post - July 17, 2020
This is a fantastic article, so I hope you share it with everyone you know!!!

Our homeschool co-op operates as a micro school and it's been very successful and is at capacity (capacity being 10 students). So I'm putting my energy into helping other micro schools start up in our community.

Not only is this idea of meeting in small flexible multi-age groups in community-embedded places, while teaching and learning with an open relevant curriculum and a focus on safety and communication, a model that serves children very well in a pandemic, it's a model that serves them very well all of the time! So I hope that a silver lining in all of this is that our country as a whole starts to take progressive education more seriously.

Tomorrow, as it just so happens, Victoria Hackett at Outdoor Classrooms will be leading a short workshop called Make the Transition to Outdoor Learning. Her workshops are excellent and she's been working hard this summer to create several dozen topics, all focused on teaching and learning outside. I highly recommend them! If you can't attend the live session, she always records them and makes them available. Each is $15.