Close Apart

It started off far away: news of an outbreak in Wuhan, China, and a shut-down city in early 2020. It got closer as travelers returned home to US cities and unknowingly carried the virus with them. Then, in late February, a local case. A rector was diagnosed mere miles from the Cathedral Close, and the congregation, with NCS ties, had to quarantine. Within days, an outbreak was upon the District, and on March 11, 2020, NCS, St. Albans, and Beauvoir closed their campuses for an early spring break amidst the rapid spread of COVID-19. In no time at all, life as a Close community changed. 

Rather than switch off emails and relax over spring break, NCS administrators quickly set to work preparing for the inevitable arrival of remote learning as local health officials worked to contain community spread of the virus. They worked closely with schools in Washington state and in other countries, where the virus had already made its impact, to devise how best to conduct remote learning. These conversations led to the development of NCS’s Remote Learning Plan, which was unveiled to the community on March 26. And as spring break came to a close, faculty and staff engaged in professional development seminars to get up to speed on the technology and tools they would need to teach from afar.

Meanwhile, the NCS community came together during a time of global uncertainty to support one another through video chats, workout challenges, socially distanced walks in the park, and group text chains about bread-baking, bracelet-making, and more. Images of such moments were shared on NCS’s social media with the hashtag #CloseApart, which received dozens of submissions over spring break as the country began going into lockdown.

Americans became acquainted with working from home (if they were lucky) and adapting to the video conference app Zoom, which would soon become ubiquitous. NCS teachers, meanwhile, had an additional challenge: determining how best to adapt their excellence in connecting and encouraging students in the classroom to a very different environment. Online teaching and learning, it quickly became clear, would require different skills.

More innovation would be called for as the campus closures stretched out, eventually for the remainder of the school year. Art shows, student plays, Cathedral services, seniors’ final projects, and musical performances all moved online. Other traditional events, including Flower Mart, Reunion, Writer’s Day, and the Performing Arts Banquet, had to be canceled in light of the health threat such in-person gatherings posed. Even Commencement ceremonies were delayed and then reworked to protect health and safety.

Over the summer, NCS leaders dedicated themselves to planning for how school would resume in the fall, despite the unpredictability of the pandemic. More than 100 faculty and staff, meanwhile, undertook professional development to improve their facility with and understanding of online teaching, intent on preparing for whatever the coming year would ask of them. Other employees deepened their connection with students through a new program called Summer Virtual Experiences. Their mini-courses focused on cooking, baking, kombucha-brewing, backyard chickens, global studies, tours of China, and more.

On July 1, NCS announced its plan for 2020–2021: a blending-learning model, with each class split into two cohorts that would alternate between a week on campus and a week at home, doing remote learning. Building safety was a primary area of attention through the summer, and tents were installed throughout the campus to serve as places where people could study, eat, and gather outside.

However, as COVID-19 continued to spread throughout D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, it became clear that a safe return to classrooms was further away than anticipated. On Aug. 7, the heads of NCS and St. Albans announced that the schools would begin the school year in remote learning, even as they introduced new, “Remote Plus” elements that invited students back to school grounds in small groups to be with one another and their teachers.

As the NCS community continues to navigate this difficult time, the following pages reflect the many ways in which students, faculty, and staff stepped up to the challenges associated with a global pandemic and created a safe, healthy, and engaging learning environment while at home.

Pivot is the Buzzword
One of the unexpected advantages of remote learning was that it provided NCS faculty and staff with newfound flexibility around the education they provided students. Rather than see online instruction as a barrier, teachers found creative ways to educate.

Prior to the Middle School’s final 2019–2020 trimester, English teacher Adison Lax and social sciences teacher David Sahr decided to partner on a joint course on women’s rights, in recognition of the centennial of the 19th Amendment’s ratification.

“We wanted to take advantage of this unique schedule and collaborate in a way that wouldn’t have been possible before,” Lax said.

The new class built upon an 8th-grade field trip to the Library of Congress and the Alice Paul House that March, when the museums had special exhibits dedicated to the centennial. Though Sahr usually teaches a course on the history of women’s rights, the partnership with Lax allowed them to approach the subject in an interdisciplinary way. Sahr would provide the historical context of a certain period in the fight for women’s rights, and Lax would teach texts written by feminists during each period.

Lax drew from first-, second-, and third-wave feminists, including Sojourner Truth, bell hooks, Gloria Steinem, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and more.

The culminating project for the course centered around the Equal Rights Amendment, because “it bridges everything,” according to Lax. Students wrote essays in the form of a letter to their congressional representatives, either for or against the passing of the ERA. They used texts from the unit as context for their piece.

“I think it’s so good for the students to see their teachers learning from each other and being actively engaged in learning themselves. And to see the work they’re doing here is not in isolation. It’s all about developing their voice and their own understanding of themselves in the world,” Lax reflected.

In the Lower School, social sciences teacher Lydia Lewis saw an opportunity for her students to write something that future historians could read about this momentous time in history.

“I realized when we went into remote learning that all the ways that I taught  just weren’t going to work. Everything was up for grabs,” Lewis said.

Throughout the year, her students had been analyzing primary-source materials, and one of the last things they read before spring break was a young woman’s diary of traveling west on the Santa Fe Trail. As COVID-19’s impact on the world became clear, Lewis knew it would be the perfect lesson for students to document their own experience as 5th graders during an international pandemic.

From spring break to the end of the year, students would journal for five to 10 minutes each day. They could reflect on whatever was on their mind or pick from a list of prompt questions (What were they feeling? What were they afraid of? What were they hoping for?) and then sent the entries to Lewis.

“Relationships with siblings came up a lot, and the ways they dealt with parents working from home, too. There were a number of students who got dogs during the pandemic, so kids would journal about that or how they were scheming to persuade their parents to get a dog,” Lewis recalled. But the students also shared their fears amid the growing infection rates and the anxiety of not being able to hug grandparents and other loved ones.

She found that the journals served more than one purpose: “It was also helpful for me as a teacher because it gave me some insight into what was going on with them. In the classroom, you’re always scanning to see how kids are doing. You can’t really tell on a Zoom screen what’s going on.”

Lewis retired in June, but the new 5th-grade social sciences teacher Patti Kotrady has continued to have students journal about the pandemic this fall and what it means to be part of a living history.  

In the Upper School, social sciences teacher Mary DiQuinzio saw an opportunity in remote learning to expand her classroom. DiQuinzio had planned to wrap up a 10th-grade World Geography unit on Latin America by assigning and discussing news articles on the pandemic’s effect in the region. After posting the materials online, DiQuinzio heard from a student. Sofia ’22 said her aunt worked with Peru’s Health Ministry and was on the front lines of the country’s response; would DiQuinzio like a guest speaker for the class?

“Of course, I jumped at the opportunity, and our guest speaker joined us via Zoom from Peru to talk about the efforts and challenges Peru is facing in keeping their population safe,” DiQuinzio said. “It is very teacherly behavior to find teaching moments everywhere, and this is a perfect example. Both the pandemic and our ability to hear about it from someone thousands of miles away exemplify the realities and processes of a globalized world, a major theme in the World Geography curriculum.”

Likewise, the science department explored the impact of coronavirus with a guest speaker: Virginia Bell Basil ’09, a nurse in a medical intensive care unit in New York City. Deborah Virtue’s anatomy class had been exploring coronavirus topics such as immunity and respiratory systems, and Basil offered her perspective of the pandemic as a first responder, including her observations about supply-chain issues and trial medicines.

In addition to exploring coronavirus in science class, there was the question of how to conduct basic classroom exercises, particularly hands-on experiments. Virtue and 9th-grade physics teacher Abby Horning came up with a multi-faceted system that worked for them and their students.

“We used a lot of digital platforms, including an online lab system where students can control all the different variables. They weren’t necessarily doing hands-on manipulation of it, but it worked out well, and they could continue building their skills,” Virtue said.

Horning and Virtue also found success with a model they called “Open Mic.” Rather than teach over Zoom for hours each week, they flipped the classroom and made videos of their lessons for students to watch on their own time. Then, students had many opportunities to drop in for “Open Mic” office hours throughout the week and ask questions or get help with the material.

“Having kids come and go as they needed, it gave them ownership of their own learning. It allowed them to go at their own pace. It gave them the sense that there was no pressure to be there, but they ended up wanting to be there, both because they’d sometimes have questions, but more often because they knew it was an opportunity to connect with the community,” Virtue said.

Online “field trips” also gave students the opportunity to participate in activities they might not have otherwise. Latin teacher Kevin Perry arranged for an archaeologist, Farrell Monaco, to do an online demonstration of ancient Roman bread-baking. Students learned about Roman diets and how they varied by social class, occupation, or urban vs. rural setting, and then baked their own loaves of bread at home.

Across the school, NCS educators retooled their teaching in innovative ways and rose to an unprecedented teaching challenge.

The Show Must Go On
Teaching remotely required many educators to develop entirely new skills. The religion department, for example, brought Cathedral services to a new level by becoming quick studies of video and audio editing. The admissions team moved visit and revisit days online, adeptly telling the story of the school in new ways. College guidance staff turned what would have been an in-person college visit for 10th graders into a virtual program.

The spring calendar typically includes plenty of year-ending showcases by the music, art, and theater departments; how would they feature their students’ work at a time when gathering for a performance or show was impossible?

In terms of learning new skills, Director of Vocal Curriculum Christen Hernandez may take the cake for diligence. She produced a virtual choir performance for an April Lower School chapel service of “Seek Ye First,” comprised of more than 100 Lower School student voices. To accomplish this feat, she first recorded a piano “click track” in the computer music application GarageBand with an even, steady tempo. Then, she added vocal scratch tracks for each singing part: soprano 1, soprano 2, and alto.

“What I ended up doing was making a mini-choir of myself, where I sang two or three tracks of each voice part,” recalled Hernandez.

Each student downloaded the GarageBand project, complete with all voice tracks, to her school-provided iPad to practice her own singing part. The student would record herself singing while wearing headphones to ensure the recording took only her voice, and then upload the file online.

“I then have to go track by track and do my best to equalize the singing, if it’s too loud or too soft, and edit out any extra noises such as dings of microwaves or dog barks,” Hernandez said. “This part is both monotonous and very satisfying, because I really have to use my ears to isolate any errant noises and then go hunting through the tracks to find where it is and clip that teeny tiny moment out of the larger choir sound.”

Finally, she adds reverb to the track, giving the sound a glow, “almost like we’re singing in the Cathedral,” Hernandez said. She shared her work with fellow music teachers, who also found success with this technique and used it to virtually join students together in song for the Spring Music Festival.

In-person theater performances were canceled, leaving thespians in need of a new script. Theater teacher Chris Snipe leaned into the pandemic by having his Middle School students perform monologues from a newly created play: “Stranded: Views from Quarantine” by Stage Partners. The story follows 
passengers on a cruise ship who are quarantined because of the coronavirus.

“Students practiced empathy by stepping into the shoes of an array of characters, including a reformed thief, a disheartened magician, a highly stressed-out member of the housekeeping staff, and a frustrated vlogger on a comedic rant, to name a few,” Snipe said. “They delivered earnest and nuanced performances, capturing the emotional shifts as well as finding humor in the pieces.”

The students also learned how to use an online teleprompter and enjoyed manipulating their virtual Zoom backgrounds to create the illusion of being on a cruise ship.

Spring usually brings with it closing performances and shows, including the Dance Gala, art show, one-act theater performances, and the spring music festivals. Every single one of these events took place online in new and innovative ways.

Finding Closure
Members of the Class of 2020, many of whom began 4th grade at NCS in 2011, days after an earthquake dislodged pinnacles and buttresses atop the Cathedral, were rocked once again during their senior year. Many had been looking forward to end-of-year traditions on campus, such as Flag Day, the senior picnic, and walking down the Cathedral Nave at graduation, but instead found themselves facing months under lockdown, unable to spend crucial time together as a class. 

When NCS closed early for spring break, the senior class thought they would be back in a matter of weeks. But as the administrative team continued to monitor conditions, and each time a message delayed that return, students began to lose hope.

And finally, the moment came that they had dreaded. “I think in order to sort of cope with reality, I really tried to resist that possibility for a long time,” Emily Rogers ’20 recalled when she heard that NCS would be engaged in remote learning through the end of the school year.

Lucy Freemyer ’20, who had attended NCS since 4th grade, said, “This place means a lot to me. And knowing that I wasn’t going to be able to finish my senior year on the Close and with all the people who supported me, it was definitely sad.”

That disappointment led to increased focus on community time, however. Upper School Dean of Student Life Jessica Clark organized Friday afternoon celebratory Zoom sessions, where guests would join seniors for fun and games, such as interviews between “best friend” members of the faculty and staff. 

Seniors also found their own ways to stay together—through a virtual senior room reincarnating the beloved nook in Hearst Hall—and a regular Rose, Bud, Thorn debrief over Zoom where they shared personal highs and lows. They also celebrated with drive-by birthday parties and socially distanced get-togethers and posed for photos in front of the Cathedral when it was lit up for the Class of 2020. 

“As much as there is a part of me that wishes that I could have had certain moments that I was looking forward to with my classmates on campus, I do think we found a way to make it special in its own way,” said Rogers. 

On June 5 and 6, NCS hosted its first-ever virtual graduation ceremonies: an end-of-year awards ceremony to celebrate students who had received school prizes and to recognize the graduating classes from each division, as well as a diploma conferral ceremony. At the time, seniors did not know whether the Aug. 1 Commencement would happen and faced the possibility that their final farewell to NCS would be on Zoom.

“I watched it with parents in my backyard, and we projected it onto a screen. For so many years, I’d had this vision of what my graduation was going to be like. It didn’t really feel real, but I was glad I was able to enjoy it with my family, even in those circumstances,” recalled Freemyer. 

It was a relief for many when new NCS health and safety protocols allowed for a careful, socially distanced in-person graduation ceremony on Aug. 1 that combined elements of Flag Day and Commencement. Only 100 people were allowed to gather for the ceremony, in line with D.C. Health’s guidelines, so families tuned in via video livestream to take part.

For the Visionary Class of 2020, it meant the final close of their NCS chapter.

“The moment that I will never forget was processing into the Cathedral. It was so magical in a way. I didn’t realize how much I missed it. It felt like I was home again,” said Rogers.

This story originally appeared in the Winter 2020 edition of the NCS Magazine.