By Sam Bitman ’21 and Rebecca Benjamin ’21
Moorestown Friends School will move to remote learning starting Thursday, March 19, until Wednesday, March 25. This will start after Virtual MFS Orientation Day on Wednesday, March 18 and virtual teacher in-service days from March 16-17, according to an email sent out by Head of School Julia de la Torre to the MFS community on Thursday, March 12.
Additionally, Spring Break will start two days early, March 26 instead of March 28, as the school continues to be cleaned thoroughly. Friday, March 13, was the last day for face-to-face classes, extracurricular activities, and athletics. It was also the last day to take home any books, materials, supplies, athletic gear and/or any other essential items needed for remote learning.
“All of us at MFS recognize the burden that these changes may place on you and your family. We did not make this decision lightly and appreciate your support as we come together as a school community to stay healthy and safe. Moving to Virtual MFS won’t be perfect, and we will all learn about what it means to create community and learn in a virtual way. I hope we can extend patience and grace to each other as we make this change,” wrote de la Torre.
The sudden news didn’t come as a shock, as MFS had already announced the Virtual MFS Orientation Day on Wednesday, March 11, as concern around the coronavirus increased. Hundreds of schools around the world have shifted to remote learning over the past month in an effort to cleanse their schools and protect their students, teachers, and faculty. MFS’ decision was made just a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) named COVID-19 a global pandemic.
“With more and more news around the country and in our local area of events being cancelled, high schools and universities moving to online learning, including a number of Friends schools moving to online learning, and increasing concerns about the number of cases that were getting closer and closer to our area, the time seemed right to make an announcement that impacted people for Monday,” said Upper School Director Meredith Godley.
Virtual Learning
March 16 and 17 will be faculty/staff in-service days, giving teachers two days to train for virtual learning. Students will not have school on these days, however there will be a required technology check for all Middle and Upper School students on Tuesday, March 17, at 1 p.m.
March 18 will be Virtual MFS Orientation Day. School will be in session online from home on Wednesday, and will give teachers and students the chance to test out online delivery methods.
MFS Upper School Virtual Orientation Day schedule. pic.twitter.com/BGw9tya7hd
— MFS WordsWorth (@MFSWordsWorth) March 16, 2020
“When you do in-person learning, it is synchronous learning. When you do online learning, it is a combination of synchronous and asynchronous. The asynchronous aspect of learning plays a larger role when you do online learning,” said Associate Head of School and Academic Dean Chris Kimberly.
Kolaris expects the virtual classroom “to go fairly well because,” as he explained, “we are already using a lot of the tools we will be recommending.” Such tools include myMFS and Google applications, including Google Hangout.
“Everything’s moving fast, so, we are just trying to be ahead of everything, and making sure that everyone is safe, and that we are taking all the precautions we can,” said Kolaris.
During the two development days, Kolaris said, “[The faculty] are going to try and be consistent with what we can deliver to the students, and what would be the most beneficial to the students in this type of environment. It’s going to be a good two days getting everyone up to speed. It’s going to look different in a lot of people’s lives,” Kolaris continued, “and we’re just trying to get a baseline structure set up.”
Kimberly identified two factors that will determine the success of online classrooms. “We need to make sure that, one, all of our teachers are familiar with all of the technology necessary to deliver all of the learning opportunities. And two, we need to make sure that our teachers, the departments, and the divisions are thinking big picture and programmatically about how [they] make sure that . . . [they] can deliver on the objective that [they] had in place.”
Intensive Learning
All Intensive Learning programs, local and international, have been cancelled. The cancellation also means that the 2020 Intensive Learning has been lifted as a graduation requirement for all current Upper Schoolers.
“I think the decision to eliminate all activities was a recognition that literally from day to day this is changing. This is like ground that is shifting underneath our feet. And so, we said that with things shifting around so much, we can’t invent something from whole cloth if we don’t know if people are going to be here, so we said let’s just keep things consistent and predictable. That gives us a steady platform from which we can plan,” said Kimberly.
The cancellation of Intensive Learning was met with much dismay as Godley noted, “[The community’s] disappointment is real.” She admitted that she “can’t replicate [those learning experiences] with regular classes.”
Joaquin Estevez ’20 is one of the many members of the senior class who is frustrated over the cancelling of Intensive Learning. “I was mad. I have [been] waiting until my senior year to go away and that just got taken away. I was excited to go,” said Estevez, “and then it just collapsed.”
Parker Kimberly ’20 said he is looking for clarity about what went into the school’s decision to cancel Intensive Learning. He remarked,“There was an email sent out regarding the possibility for students who did not feel comfortable traveling to stay behind and do an alternative Intensive Learning. And then, that decision [was] revoked and now no one has that right.” This led Kimberly to ask, “What was the rationale behind coming to a complete polarized decision?”
Seniors are not the only ones who feel extreme disappointment about the new circumstances.
English Department Chair Debra Galler said she understands the disappointment stemming from cancellation of Intensive Learning, but she “doesn’t really see another option” in regard to taking precaution with the spread of COVID-19.
Athletics
It had been previously stated in the March 11 email that practices would be held for Upper School Athletics during the school’s three days of in-service, being held on March 16-18. Now, effective March 16, all sports will be cancelled. Friday, March 13, was the last day of athletics until April 6.
In her letter to the community, de la Torre wrote: “[The administration] will be in touch with you on or before Wednesday, April 1 with an update on how we plan to resume learning, athletics, and other activities after break.”
This suspension of athletics for the interim has put into question the play of ten Upper School athletic team scrimmages and the Girls Varsity Lacrosse team’s season opener against Clearview.
Athletic Director Danielle Dayton said: “Our goal and our hope is to try and reschedule as much as we can. But our non-league games are going to be dependent on what happens with [the Friends School League].”
In regard to Interleague play, Dayton explained that, along with the other members of the Friends School League, they are “trying to plan out different scenarios to see what we can do, with hopes to get the Friends League schedule in.” She noted that solidifying the Friends League schedule is the athletics department’s “first priority”and then “pepper non-league games in around that.”
Many members of the Friends School League, such as the Shipley School, the George School, and Friends Select have also suspended athletics and have transitioned to online learning.
Regarding state play, the NJSIAA released an updated statement on March 12 that stated: “At this stage, given there is no official interscholastic play, decisions regarding all co- and extracurricular activities – including practices and scrimmages – rest with individual school administrators.” Dayton said she “hop[es] they are going to make accommodations” to the requirements to be eligible for the state tournament, and “is expecting and anticipating that [the NJSIAA] are going to be coming out with some revised guidelines for the spring.”
As the potential for the cancellation of the spring athletic season looms, senior Bella Runyan ’20 said, “it’s extremely sad thinking about the fact that I won’t be able to experience my last sports season at MFS ever.” Since her freshman year, Runyan has been a part of the school’s varsity soccer, basketball, and lacrosse teams. After dedicating so many years to the MFS athletics program, Runyan explained, “I will miss my senior night, my last game, and many other ‘lasts’” if the season were to be cancelled. Despite the sadness, she said she “understands why the school is taking these precautions.”
Senior Jasmine Phillips ’20 shared Runyan’s frustrations with the suspension of the spring sports season. While Phillips said that, after hearing spring sports were suspended “the news was extremely disappointing,” she is taking an optimistic approach. “I feel it is best to just be patient and hope that we are back on the fields in three weeks in order to begin the season even stronger than we did earlier this week.”
During this time of disappointment and frustration, Dayton said she finds that it is important, more than ever, to rely on the teamwork exemplified in athletics. “Sports teaches us about teamwork. And if there is ever a time for us to be teammates, even though we are not giving each other high-fives and we’re not actually standing on the field together, we are all teammates in this. Teammates take care of each other, and teammates do things for the greater good of the team. I think that if we can take that whole philosophy and that whole concept and apply it to this situation,” Dayton explained, “I think we’re going to be okay.”
Emergency Childcare
The school intended to offer free emergency childcare on March 16 and 17 during the typical school hours of 8 a.m. – 3:10 p.m. for children in grades preschool through eighth. In response to recommendations from the Burlington County Health Department, however, MFS is no longer offering these services.
The MFS Coronavirus Response Team sent a message to Middle School and Lower School families stating: “The county health department has advised that public schools close to students beginning Monday, March 16 and we are following this recommendation.” The Response Team concluded their memo with this message: “We recognize that this may cause a significant inconvenience for some families. Thank you for your patience and continued support, and we wish you a smooth transition to Virtual MFS.”
Impact on Graduating Class
With all of the precautions the school has been taking in response to the rapid spread of COVID-19, the senior class has experienced much disappointment, beginning with the cancellation of their last Intensive Learning experience to the indefinite suspension of their final athletic seasons.
“[The Class of 2020] more than most, have experienced incredible disappointment in these past few days. What you thought the end of your senior year would look like is going to look completely different, and where things are headed still remains unpredictable. You have complete permission to be disappointed, sad, and perhaps even mad at the world around you right now,” said de la Torre in her letter to the community. “I hope you will join me at some point soon in refocusing on the things we can control.”
The Senior Class is starting their day with a dance party. pic.twitter.com/kfmpqaWjhi
— MFS WordsWorth (@MFSWordsWorth) March 13, 2020
One thing the class could control: the tone of their potentially last day of school before senior project. The senior class took to the halls early on Friday morning, greeting each other with a dance party outside of the college counseling offices. Cassi Kennedy ’20 explained, “my grade is really connected and sentimental, so we wanted to do something fun. If this is the last day of senior year, we wanted to make the most of it.”
What Does the Future Hold?
Moving forward, the administration has implemented virtual learning for the foreseeable future. Additionally, March 25 has been identified as the final day of the third quarter and two days have been added to Spring Break.
Upper School Dean of Students Will Miller announced in the Student Life Activities Update he sent out on March 12 that “as of this very moment, we are moving forward with the planned prom date, senior project month, and commencement ceremony until further notice.”
BREAKING: Tentative Upper School Virtual MFS Schedule has been #leaked pic.twitter.com/P3yyZ8UQ1W
— MFS WordsWorth (@MFSWordsWorth) March 13, 2020
The schedule for virtual learning, created by Director of Scheduling Michael Omilian and Division Directors will follow the same A-F day rotation, however the classes each day will be built around the C day schedule. Each day will start at 8:40 a.m. with a 20 minute “Optional Advisor Morning Circle.” After the morning circle, students will have two classes, each 45 minutes long with a 15 minute break in between classes, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.. This will be followed by a 45-minute “Flex Period,” which will give students and teachers time to take a break from their devices and recollect themselves. The Flex Period leads into an hour long lunch period from noon to 1:00 p.m., and then students will have their third and final class of the day from 1:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. Once the final class ends, specific departments will have open office hours from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., in which students may meet online with teachers in these departments for any questions or concerns they may have.
Students will not have to report online to any study halls, and while P.E. classes won’t be meeting live, the Physical Education Department has shared a document from the Online Physical Education Network. MFS hopes that students will take the time to add physical activity to their schedule.
For Meeting for Worship, students have the option to join via Google Hangout or have their own form of Meeting for Worship. Attendance will not be taken during this period, but the school highly recommends participating in a Meeting for Worship in some capacity.
“The learning times are not intended to be used to their fullest in every discipline. For some it will be a short check-in and for others it will actually be a lesson for the full period. Much of the learning will be asynchronous, which means it is not done in those blocks of time. We have decided to call them learning blocks as opposed to class in an effort to clarify that,” said Godley.
Acknowledging the tremendous amount of uncertainty surrounding school, Miller wrote to students: “Remember, you and I are only in control of two things: (1) How we prepare for what might happen. (2) How we respond to what just happened.”
Associate Head of School and Academic Dean Chris Kimberly stated, “Our goal is to get the information into your hands as soon as we can. We are just trying to make sure that we do it right. It is that balance between timely notification and making sure everything is coordinated and clearly communicated.”
NOTE: Head of School Julia de la Torre was not available for comment when interviews were conducted.
