Parents jump into virtual learning, saying they're committed to the process
/Survey responses came from parents with children enrolled in school across the area.
by Alexis Gutierrez
With the demands of health and safety during the Covid pandemic, DC public schools decided to go completely virtual for the first half of the 2020 school year. Words like “unprecedented” and “unconventional” don’t begin to describe the work families are having to do to ensure their children are getting the education they need.
Petworth News asked readers who are parents to school-aged children to respond to a short survey, and we got a great initial response of just over 40 people. (And to those that responded multiple times over multiple days, thank you for the comedic relief. We all are dealing with a bit of “Covid brain” at the moment, so in the interest of not double-counting, we removed the duplicate responses.)
Here’s a quick look at some of what we found in the feedback parents shared with us for how things are going, what they’re stressed about, and what they will do if the situation continues into the next term.
The Petworth News readership is geographically very diverse -- we had respondents as far west as Palisades, south as Park View, north as Manor Park and as east as Brookland.
Of those who responded, 55% are managing virtual learning by yourself with no other support. The other 45% will be or have formed “pods,” are using daycare, their own parents, a nanny or a camp to help them manage.
More than half of parents are doing virtual learning without outside support of family or “pods.”
Half of respondents (50%) have children enrolled in public school, while 45% are in charter schools and 5% of respondents have children in private schools. The vast majority of the respondents have children in elementary school, and respondents said all schools but one are are doing virtual learning.
When considering staying in DC or moving out to an area where schools are doing in-person sessions or to get help from family, 82.5% stayed in DC for this first term, whereas 17.5% left the area.
If things don’t change for the next term, 80% said they plan on continuing with their current plan if virtual learning is extended into the second term by DC Public Schools. If virtual learning is extended, 12.5% of respondents would consider moving permanently or temporarily either out of DC or back into the city (not everyone is here now.). 5% would choose to get additional help at home, and 2.5% would try to switch to a private school that is conducting in-person classes.
An overwhelming majority of respondents say they will stick with their current plans if virtual learning continues into the next school term.
Parents said three of their biggest concerns were managing the needs of their job along with the needs of their children’s learning. Concerns about socio-emotional development for their children was the second highest concern, followed by academic development.
While the sample size is small, it is interesting to see that 55% of the respondents are managing virtual learning themselves. It makes sense that the biggest concerns are managing their job and their kids’ learning, as well as socio-emotional development. With most respondents having elementary school-aged children, most therefore have younger children that likely need more help with virtual learning.
Currently, 80% are considering keeping the plan in place if virtual learning extends into the second term.
Things may change as the weeks pass and parents and students figure out what works, and what doesn’t. We will check back with our readers as the term continues to see how your plans may evolve. Best of luck with week three (only 9 more weeks left in the term)!
