Ever since Covid-19 marched into our world things have gotten worse. We’ve pretty much lost all outside of home activities like going to the mall or the movies. We’ve also faced some surprising things like toilet paper being a rare item to find in your local supermarket and people enjoying taking a walk more than ever before. 

But what about the schools? How are the schools and, more importantly, students handling this? 

Most schools have either decided to stay closed and do distance learning schools for the rest of the year or have closed until early May at the earliest – though this will probably change.  MCPS had a very long third quarter as it was extended well beyond its original end date,  and fourth quarter is now a couple of weeks in with a Pass/Fail (Incomplete) grading system in place. Students and teachers seem to be used to distance learning by now, though some are having a hard time or are just totally out of it and do not know what is going on. Some students work well online and don’t miss actually being with teachers in class much, while others really miss the interaction and help. 

One student, a ninth grader at PB says, “Online learning is much better.” Another student, also a ninth grader at PB, feels differently though, stating that “it is confusing and harder to keep up with.”

Another student, a tenth grader, says, “It’s better to organize stuff and keep track of what assignments I need to do. And I like working in my pajamas.”