Private Schools Coping During Pandemic

While public schools are watching for the governor’s mandates, private schools have taken the pandemic into their own hands.

Crossville Christian School Head Andy Aikens said as a private school, they used this to shut down their school before the mandate.

“I was in close conversation with our administrative staff here as well as a doctor that is a part of our organization,” Aikens said. “We were receiving a lot of information of processing it as a faculty and administration, and we thought it was a pretty easy decision to close. Not only was it reasonable, but it was really a way of demonstrating love to the families we serve and to the community.”

The last school day scheduled is May 21. Aikens said summer programs may become available to students who are in need.

Aikens said school administrators and teachers are already discussing options for next semester.

“So what we’re trying to do is trying to prepare well,” Aikens said. “We’ve had meeting where we’re planning for our return, where we’ll strategize new ways to do that well. One example is we’re going to do that is implement a hands free environment in our facility. That’s just one concrete thing we’ve thought we can do.”

Highland Rim Academy Head Nick Duncan said it’s been tough for both private and public schools.

“It’s been hard not to be together,” Duncan said. “But we’re also getting a lot of feedback from our parents that they’re enjoying [this extra time with their children]. Those that have the ability, we have some families of course that have two parents working and it’s more difficult. For those of our families that have at least one parent home they’ve enjoyed having more of an active role in their student’s learning.”

All learning has moved to distance learning, some online and some through the parents. Duncan said Google Classroom, synchronous class through Zoom, and available teachers to call have been used.

“Take advantage of the time, I know there are a lot of bugs but there are also a lot of features with this time,” Duncan said. “For a lot of folks, there’s family time that we probably won’t ever have again. A lot of us are getting to spend time with family in larger amounts than we normally would.”

Duncan said Highland Rim is accredited through a third party that the State Board of Education approves of. Their recommendations follow the governor’s recommendations and the school can choose to follow or deny.