This fall, parents who were able to send their children into the classroom – whether a full day or via hybrid model – lined up their children’s backpacks and pencil cases the night before their first day of classes. Also sitting among that pile of new school supplies was 2020’s newest necessity required for in-person school days – a mask.

While the CDC requires that masks be worn this fall while in the classroom and out in public to help keep COVID-19 at bay, this new normal does not arrive without its challenges.

One of the biggest challenges with mask-wearing is that faces are covered, therefore making social cues less reliable and sometimes difficult for children to interpret.

With the school year well underway, here are some helpful tips on how teachers and children can connect with one another when faces are not fully visible.

Topics: teaching, elementary school, social and emotional learning, Coronavirus

In September, as the air gets cooler, kids load their new notebooks, folders, and pencils into their new backpacks. When the first day of school finally arrives, parents shuttle their children out the door and cross their fingers for smiles and a great first day. This year, however, back-to-school looks vastly different as the country is still dodging COVID-19 minus a vaccine.

Topics: back-to-school, parenting, tips, Coronavirus, COVID-19

In our brand new podcast, Academically Speaking, Laura Perillo — Oak Knoll's Marketing Content Strategist in the Office of Marketing and Communications — sat down with new Lower School Guidance Counselor Melissa Nelson on re-entry anxiety in children as they return to campus this fall under COVID-19 restrictions.

Topics: elementary school, parenting, separation anxiety, tips, mental health, Coronavirus, COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced countless changes since March. Absent of a vaccine, and with the start of the school year just weeks away, parents everywhere are wrestling with the fact that the return to the classroom is going to look very different this fall.

Topics: education, students, student advice, social and emotional learning, mental health, Coronavirus, COVID-19

As New Year’s Eve celebrations occurred throughout the globe to usher in 2020, clusters of cases of pneumonia in people began popping up in China. By January 30, nearly 10,000 cases of COVID-19 were reported in at least 21 countries including the first in the United States on January 20. 

Topics: mission, Coronavirus, COVID-19

Since COVID-19 began to spread across the globe and states began to mandate stay-at-home orders, the light at the end of the tunnel has become clouded for many. Although some questions have been answered by state and local health officials over the past few months, some things – such as when students can return to classes and sports – are still up-in-the-air. 

Topics: parenting, Coronavirus, COVID-19

On March 6, 2020, the last day of classes, I vividly remember running to my car as soon as classes were dismissed. I was in a rush to an appointment after school that I could not miss, and I did not give my friends or teachers a last goodbye. In my head, I figured we would be back in school. Now, 10 weeks later, it is my biggest regret that I did not give my teachers or friends one last hug. 

Topics: high school, student advice, Coronavirus, COVID-19

Before the global coronavirus pandemic came into play earlier this year, parents everywhere were guided by experts to set limits on their child’s screen time each day. However, in a rare twist of fate, COVID-19 stay-at-home orders meant that children and parents were left scrambling with no choice but to rely on virtual technology even more to attend work and school from home every day.

Topics: technology, mental health, Coronavirus, family

As COVID-19 quickly spread throughout U.S. communities in the beginning of 2020, social distancing orders forced family and friends to get creative and tech savvy in order to stay connected with one another. Now, for at least another four weeks in the state of New Jersey, residents have been ordered by Governor Murphy to stay at home and schools will continue remote learning until at least May 15, 2020. So, with an even longer extended period at home now, you might be looking for new and fun ways to keep connected while physically apart from friends and family outside your immediate quarantine crew. 

Topics: parenting, activities with kids, tips, things to do, Coronavirus, family

Senior year in high school usually brings graduation, proms, senior trips, awards banquets and so many more last chance opportunities to bond with friends before entering the real world. Many high school graduates, if asked, recall high school with a nostalgic twinkle in their eyes, fondly remembering carefree times spent with friends.

Topics: high school, students, parenting, Coronavirus