By Wiley Wood
Photo by Ann DeCerbo

When Virginia Coleman-Prisco told her school-age children that spring break was over, one of them piped up, “Does that mean we can go back to school?” The answer, of course, was no, school would still be online.

Going to Botelle School these days means sitting down at an internet-connected device at 8:30 in the morning, launching Google Meet, and joining your classmates onscreen for a live interactive session with your teacher.

The school was closed abruptly on Thursday, March 12, and will stay closed until May 20 at least. Summer break is scheduled for June 12.

Teachers scrambled in the wake of the shutdown to put together individualized packets for their students. These included assignments, study materials and personal items retrieved from the students’ desks. Parents were called in to pick them the packets up at curbside. 

Toward the end of March, with each student in possession of a school-issued iPad, or in the upper grades, a Chromebook, the teachers and administrators organized all the parents to take part in an online digital-resources help session. The next day, an all-school virtual gathering was held. Online instruction started April 1.

“It was a big relief,” said Ann DeCerbo, chair of the Board of Education and the mother of two Botelle students and a Regional 7 middle schooler. “The paper packets worked pretty well, but it was hard to keep everyone motivated to do their schoolwork.” She was grateful for the structure that the online classes provided: “My younger children had to be up by 8:30, with their teeth brushed and their hair combed, ready to take part in Morning Meeting.” And they were excited to see their friends, even if they all appeared in little boxes distributed across a flat screen. At least they could talk and crack jokes. For the first two minutes of some classes, students can make conversation freely before the teacher imposes order.

The morning starts formally with a recorded announcement from the principal, Lauren Valentino. The Pledge of Allegiance is recited, and any student with a birthday is recognized.

Valentino recently joined the early primary class online, as she does on a rotating basis with all grade levels. Lauren Montagna began by reading her prekindergarten and kindergarten pupils a story and asking questions. All 10 children got a chance to answer. “The first session is intended as a soft start to school,” said Valentino.

Debbie Tallon conducts her math class for the primary students (first and second graders) at the white board, demonstrating problems and explaining solving strategies just as she would in the classroom. Though the teachers have access to the school building, they are running their classes from home.

In the upper grades, one of the students often leads the initial discussion, outlining the learning goals for the day and laying out the topic under discussion. The sixth grade reading class is exploring nonfiction. Current topics, said Valentino, include genetically modified organisms, space exploration, the Titanic and girls’ education around the world.

The morning’s live “synchronous learning” sessions are interspersed with offline time when students read, do math problems or work on projects, handing in their work online. The curriculum includes art, music, physical education and science, as well as math and reading.

By noon, the day’s major instruction is over. After a lunch break, students are encouraged to work independently. It’s also a time when any students needing special instruction can interact with their teachers, all of whom hold virtual office hours for drop-in help. Teachers also reach out to students who are lagging.

Few elementary schools in the region are able to offer their students live virtual instruction. Botelle was uniquely positioned to do so because of the Board of Education’s decision four or five years ago to provide each student with an internet-enabled device. While some parents and onlookers questioned the wisdom of this practice, it allowed a seamless transition to distance learning at an early stage of the pandemic lockdown. Every child has a digital tablet and is familiar with its use.

Valentino points out that it has let teachers introduce new material to students in every subject, including math, while some schools are only reviewing old material. Still, she says, there will be plenty of catch-up to do in the fall. The daily schedule has been abridged, “because seven-hour days of distance learning are not appropriate for kids.” And the content has been tailored to the new medium and the reduced schedule.

A zero-increase Botelle School budget was presented to the Board of Finance on April 21. John DeShazo, a member of the Board of Education, said that this year’s shutdown would result in few savings, largely because of the governor’s order that all staff and service providers continue to receive their usual pay. Lower costs are expected next year in several areas—transportation and special education—and the savings have been reassigned to hiring a math interventionist. This was decided before the shutdown because of a new, region-wide math curriculum that is being introduced next year. Post-shutdown, the specialist is seen as particularly necessary to close any gaps between students in the fall. Student enrollment, currently at 72, is projected to dip into the low 60s within two years and to 49 the year after. Six full-time teachers currently teach Botelle’s eight grade levels.

Leslie Battis of the BOF queried the need for specialists given the small size of Botelle classes. Another board member, Nina Ritson, questioned the continued spending on curriculum resources. Chairman Michael Sconyers instructed the BOE to cut $50,000 from the budget and report back in two weeks. He also asked that teachers and administrators forgo any salary increase.

Sconyers referred the BOE to changes in the state’s Minimum Budget Requirement. Originally passed to prevent towns from balancing their budgets on the backs of the schools, the MBR has been relaxed this year to allow towns to seek relief as student enrollment declines. Yet schools in the area often increase their budgets even as they lose students. This year both Colebrook Consolidated and Regional No. 7 are posting 3 percent increases.

What worries educators most is that existing differences in school performance between students will likely be magnified on re-entry in the fall. Those students who have a natural aptitude and who are well supported by their families will continue to progress during the lockdown. Those who struggle and for whatever reason lack a strong support system will lag further behind. “Virtual instruction, despite our teachers’ best efforts, cannot replace face-to-face interaction and the in-time help that students get in a classroom,” said Valentino.

Botelle’s much-anticipated sixth-grade trip, which was to include a week at a Rhode Island natural sciences center and a whale watch, has been canceled. Whether the end-of-year awards ceremony and promotion will take place is still unclear. “It’s heartbreaking,” said Superintendent Mary Beth Iacobelli. She praises the teachers and staff for Botelle’s quick shift to online operations. The live all-school gatherings and virtual classrooms have preserved the school’s social environment and allowed limited but substantial teaching to occur.

“It is what it is, and we have to make the best of it,” said Principal Valentino. “And I think we are!”