Back to School never looked like this!

…Well maybe it did back in 1918, but very few of us can remember that far back. The Spanish flu was terrible, but we were more agrarian back then. Now we are more urban, more exposed, and Covid-19 is more deadly.

It is safe to say that 2020 school year is a bit different than most. Parents have been wondering if they would even re-open in the fall. And now it seems they are opening, but every school district is doing something different. You need to pay attention and check out the school website.

Every school website has a different plan to deal with a Covid-19 outbreak. Some schools are very reactionary and others are more ‘business as usual’. A nephew in Missoula MT is sending his elementary kids to a reactionary “hybrid” school with every Monday off, online Tues-Wed, and in-school attendance Thur-Fri. Here in panhandle Idaho, there’s a complicated contingency plan in case of an outbreak, but for now the kids are back in school every day with their masks.

I thought it would be Idaho with the hybrid school since Washington state is a woeful neighbor! But it is Missoula MT- a place that has had relatively few cases – that is more careful.

And then there are people who are home schooling. People home school for different reasons – auto-immune disease, consistency in schedule, and even convenience. Lucky for kids, there are many options.

One thing is certain – no one is going to forget back-to-school 2020 for a long while!