The three kindergartners logged on. One was in pajamas. They squealed when they saw each other. The teacher, Epernay Kyles, greeted each of them by name. She said hello to the children who couldn’t log on to Zoom, the videoconferencing app, but were watching the class on a private Facebook Live stream. A few didn’t log in at all.
Then it was time for their 30-minute 9 a.m. class. The screens blurred when the children danced to their teacher’s songs. And sometimes, the camera could capture only their bellies when they jumped up to answer a question about vowels.
“I can break up this word,” Kyles, a teacher at Seaton Elementary in Northwest Washington, rapped to her students as they followed along. “Watch me break up this word.”
The District embarked Tuesday on its distance-learning operation, an unprecedented experiment that will test whether students can learn remotely while schools are closed as the country attempts to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
In D.C., closures will extended until at least April 24. In Virginia, schools are closed for the remainder of the academic year. Maryland school districts are still grappling with how long to stay closed.
The first day of learning in the nation’s capital highlighted the divide between those who had access to reliable technology and those who lacked it. It also showed how remote learning could vary by school and classroom. Some classes relied on paper packets, with teachers checking in on students during the day. Others had fully structured online courses, with schedules, attendance and quizzes.
“I am inspired today because we are back in school,” Lewis D. Ferebee, chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, said at a news conference Tuesday.
Kyles said her students were so eager to get back to class that she met with them on Monday. Parents requested she use Zoom so the children could interact. She also kept the Facebook Live stream — which does not allow students to see one another — because families can access that on their phones if they lack a computer with reliable Internet.
She will also follow up with students who didn’t log on at all. And she said school leaders on Tuesday sent more guidance on how to construct online courses, which she will incorporate into future lessons.
District officials on Tuesday announced plans to tackle the digital divide in the city. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said donors have already contributed more than $1 million to the privately established DC Education Equity Fund, which hopes to purchase tablets, laptops and WiFi hotspots for students in traditional public and charter schools.
Ferebee said the school system would distribute devices it already owns to high school students next week. The school system was initially hesitant to deliver the recently purchased equipment because of safety concerns.
Ferebee estimated that about 30 percent of the school system’s 52,000 students lack technology devices and reliable Internet. He said schools printed 74,000 paper learning packets. An additional 47,000 students attend charter schools.
“We would be overpromising if we said that we are going to close the digital divide in the middle of a global pandemic,” Bowser said. “We are going to do the very best we can to connect as many students as we can.”
Elizabeth Davis, president of the Washington Teachers’ Union, called on the chancellor to distribute more devices the school system owns — and not just to high schoolers.
“Every week that they don’t have computers,” she said, “is a week of lost instruction.”
Ferebee instructed teachers to be available for at least four hours a day to connect with students by phone or online. Mental health workers are being asked to contact students they know are struggling. And students will not be penalized for missing work.
Kristen Clardy, a math teacher at Ron Brown College Preparatory High School in Northeast Washington, said she will assign her students four short assignments a week. She will also host three math classes on Zoom each day, and she will host an “open” period when students can drop into her virtual classroom. Students are also able to complete the work on paper.
The first day was informal. Twenty of Clardy’s 80 students visited her classroom on Zoom. Others emailed and texted to check in.
She expects more students to sign in Wednesday. Students are craving the structure and want to socialize with friends, she said, even if it means “going to class.”
She promised her students that if at least 75 percent of them turned in their assignments over two weeks, she would play the video game NBA 2K20 with them.
“Everyone is being as flexible as they can be,” Clardy said. “For as much as they say they hate school when they are here, I think they are realizing how important it is from an academic and social standpoint.”
At Paul Public Charter School, a publicly funded, privately operated school in Northwest Washington, students have four periods of structured classes in Google Hangouts. During a U.S. history course Tuesday, students learned about presidents’ responses to the Great Depression. The teacher asked what made Franklin D. Roosevelt a unique president, and they typed in their answers for the rest of the class to see. The teacher posted a document on the screen for students to analyze. Teaching assistants are also in classes and can break off into smaller virtual rooms if a student is struggling.
Paul Public is working to connect students who lack Internet access. In the meantime, those students can connect by calling friends who place their phones next to their computers while the class is underway. Paul kicked off remote learning last Wednesday, and Tracy Wright, the school’s chief executive officer, said it had a 93 percent attendance rate.
“As much as we could,” Wright said, “we wanted to replicate the in-class learning experience for them.”
But for younger students, receiving an education remotely can be a heavy lift for parents. Markita Bryant — a paralegal and the mother of a third-grader at a D.C. Public Schools campus downtown — said her son is busy with academics most of the day. He has an online course in the morning and afternoon. Teachers also pop into virtual classrooms during the day to give him assignments.
But in between, Bryant is working to keep him on task and preparing his meals. She completes her own work responsibilities while he is sleeping or focused on his work.
“It was really beautiful today,” Bryant said. “It gave them a sense that we’re still together, and it gave them a chance to still build that bond with their friends. And it gave them hope, I think.”
Kyles, the kindergarten teacher, said she is still fine-tuning her lesson plans. She wants to figure out how to practice handwriting with students remotely. She said her students also need to learn how to read independently before first grade. She plans to collaborate with her co-workers in the coming days.
But for now, her students seem happy that classes have started and they can see their friends. After Tuesday’s morning meeting with students, Kyles allowed them to remain in the virtual classroom so they could talk to one another.
“Hi, guys,” one of the boys asked, “what should we do since we are all stuck at home?”