By Leah Katz ’21
The decision to send Beverly students in grades 7-12 back to school on September 29th with a hybrid plan came as a surprise to many. A recent survey of nearly 50 BHS students has revealed that students here at the high school feel apprehensive and cautious about returning in person. Many respondents felt moderately happy with the original decision to return remotely, but this majority trended downwards to moderately unhappy regarding the return to hybrid. Thirty out of the 50 students surveyed feel that BHS is unprepared to return in-person, and that they will be unsafe in the building.
These students largely fear that their peers will not follow the safety rules in school, and continue to participate in large gatherings outside of school. One respondent sums up the situation: “there is no way to guarantee that we can remain safe.”
Following the safety concerns, many students are distressed by the overall lack of information and successful communication. An overwhelming majority of 44 out of 50 students agreed that information has been shared ineffectively during this fluctuating time of uncertainty. One member of the class of 2021 explains how “we haven’t gotten much information about the school year and when we do it’s always super short notice.” Others expressed concerns regarding sanitation within the building, and the lack of guidelines and protocol for transitioning between hybrid and remote when necessary.
One noteworthy result of this survey shows that while a majority of students want to remain under the hybrid model for the full school year, very few believe that this is a realistic possibility. This indicates that despite our best intentions and efforts, it may simply be the safest option for everyone to remain at home.
There are very mixed feelings about learning virtually, but most expect little success and a quick return to fully remote learning. Some fear more students will drop out or fail, while others have done exceedingly well in online classes. These responses, however, are reminiscent of how students feel about school in general: some are bound to learn better with different methods.
