School is going to look very different this fall for most students. It’s increasingly clear which areas of the country will have remote schooling, and which areas will try to have some in person learning. As conversations move towards the logistics of remote learning and in-person schooling, we have compiled a list of resources (thank you to anyone who helped crowdsource these on twitter!) for parents and school districts. The list below offers general advice resources as well as some more specific resources for parents.
Write to us here if you know a good resource that’s not included in this list.
Big Picture Resources
University of Washington Global Health summary of how schools are reopening in fifteen countries.
UCSF Grand Rounds Video: The State of the Pandemic, Opening the Schools, and the Outbreak at San Quentin State Prison (July 9, 2020) reviews the current state of the pandemic and discusses the issue of reopening of schools.
Don’t Forget the Bubbles compiles pediatric research and resources.
Kids and COVID-19 from COVID-Explained, our explainer covering the disease risk in kids and transmission among children.
Resource Rundown on ParentData, Emily’s newsletter this post is based on!
General Advice
Resources for Resilience–School Edition is a compilation of materials from Alexa Carver on state guidelines, resources, and data.
Mass General Hospital COVID-19 School and Community Resource Library is a comprehensive review of many, many details of school reopenings. It includes, for example, a section on bands (wind instruments are less risky than singing; brass is the least risky).
School Response Toolkit from TNTP allows you to browse resources for navigating extended school closures during the coronavirus outbreak and planning for reopening.
Chiefs for Change has some great resources for places planning to reopen, including these extremely helpful slides on scenario planning and these slides about managing schools during the pandemic and decision-making.
The Center for Public Research and Leadership at Columbia has compiled this set of standards and a model plan for remote learning, based on Connecticut schools.
This video from Dr. Emily Frank (a UCSF pediatrician, adjunct professor at Merritt College, and teacher for Oakland Unified) is designed for educators and discusses the basics of COVID transmission, existing research about transmission among children, and a harm reduction reduction framework to keep students and staff safe.
The American Camp Association field guide provides information about implementing CDC risk reduction recommendations for day and overnight camps.
Symptom Tracking
Fever tracking app from WeeCare for AI scanning of digital temperatures. The app also allows users to report symptoms, but it costs money.
Ruvna is a simpler (no AI) symptom tracking app for schools.
Online Learning
SchoolClosures.org is staffed by volunteers (including parents and teachers) and was created for the pandemic. The site has clear, doable advice for teachers about optimizing remote learning.
Microsoft is (obviously) more established than SchoolClosures.org, but they also have some helpful resources for remote learning.
PearDeck is recommended by many as an add on to Google Slides. It’s a way to keep kids more engaged with ongoing assessments.
The National Summer School Initiative partners with schools to provide resources for distance and online learning.
Resources that focus on younger children
‘A Better Fall is Possible’, The Atlantic, discusses reopening elementary schools.
Data suggesting that younger kids are less likely to get sick, and seem less likely to transmit the virus.
Child Care and “Pandemic Pods”
How to Form a Pandemic Pod, advice for creating a pod, but not directly related to schooling.
Swing Education allows you to find a K-12 teacher to create your own in-home learning pod.
Care.com for finding child care providers.
Winnie.com to search for school age care and learning support.
CareVillage helps parents connect with nearby families to form pods for homeschooling, playdates, babysitting and more.
The Lane + Flex Academies are working to put together alternate child care options for the fall to supplement school schedules with tutoring, enrichment and play in the DC Region. The fundraising page can be found here.