The Lower and Middle School have been in-person since the beginning of the school year with small questions of the Lower School and Middle School quarantining due to COVID-19 cases. Starting on April 19, the high school fully returned to the Parker campus, all day, five days a week. Prior to April 19, the high school was hybrid. Now the building has 400 more occupants, including faculty and students. This uptick in people has resulted in the majority of classrooms being filled to maximum coronavirus capacity. 

Eighth grade English Teacher and Parker parent David Fuder has conflicted feelings about the Upper School’s return. “Honestly, I have mixed feelings,” Fuder said. “It’s been wonderful to see former students and advisees after more than a year apart, and seeing my Upper School colleagues has been equally great.” 

Mr. Fuder is also a Parker parent to a high schooler, so he has multiple perspectives about the situation, “Speaking as a parent, I know how much students have missed the normalcy of school and the need for face-to-face, or mask-to-mask interaction with peers and adults. Yet, I’m well aware of the risk this places on the community, as we have a much larger presence of bodies in the building.”

When the Upper School returned, it caused the Lower and Middle school students to shift back to the traditional learning spaces used before the pandemic. “It’s been great to be teaching in my classroom again — and the other eighth grade classrooms — as it’s allowed me to see and hear my students more effectively and to feel that intimacy in learning that was lacking for most of this school year,” Fuder said. “For the Lower and Intermediate students, they are now learning as full classes rather than split. So yes, the impact is real, but with potential for positive outcomes.”

Fourth grade teacher Mirium Pickus, in regards to her general feelings about the High School being back, said, “I am so happy for them! It’s been a whole year for most of them and I am glad they could make it work for the last couple months.” 

With planning the return of the Upper School, the Administration and Medical Subcommittee had to consider the impact it would have on the Lower and Middle School, and how classrooms and space in the building would have to change. These decision makers also had to consider arrival and departure times for the students. Lower and Intermediate school grades have been affected by this. “Because of the Upper School return, we have been impacted by combining two pods into one class, so that’s a structural change,” Pickus said. 

Before the Upper School returned to Parker, the Lower and Intermediate School classes were split up into pods, meaning each class was split into two different classrooms in order to keep the numbers low in each classroom due to CDC guidelines that required six feet of social distancing. After February break, this rule was changed by the CDC to only three feet of social distancing. When talking about day-to-day impacts, Pickus said she doesn’t “expect many day-to-day impacts as I think the school is attempting to minimize any interactions.” 

According to Fuder, when the administration and the medical subcommittee were planning to bring back the Upper School, they did not ask for the opinion or perspective of the Lower, Intermediate, or Middle School teachers. Since the Lower School classes aren’t impacted by the return of the Upper School, their teachers didn’t need to prepare them for it other than informing the students of combining the two pods into one class. 

When asked whether or not the Upper School will stay in person for the rest of the year, Pickus said she “hope(s) they stay in school. I know some are able to get vaccinated. I think it would be great for Upper School students to be as mindful as possible about their responsibilities around social distancing. I also suspect some impact may be a matter of good or bad luck, too.” Eighth grade history teacher Stephane Nishimoto-Lorenzo shared a similar view as Pickus. “It has been so good to see the high schoolers in person. I’ve enjoyed being back in room 345.” According to Nishimoto-Lorenzo the return of the Upper School hasn’t dramatically affected the Middle School. One of the things that has changed, however, is the schedules to accommodate cross-divisional teachers. 

Regarding the unknown of whether or not the Upper School will stay in school for the rest of the year, Nishimoto-Lorenzo said, “I do think the high school will stay in-person, especially with JK-8 having made it through the school year…I know teachers supported the return of the Upper School through all the work they did to move their classrooms. Shout out to the maintenance crew for making it all happen with their hardwork and dedication.” Teachers are thrilled to have the Upper School back but they are aware of the risk factor it brings to the community.