We began our planning process by hiring our JQuest teachers in late spring to write curricula for the coming year, with three types of learning for each lesson plan / unit:
1) in-person learning
2) at-home learning, synchronous (i.e. “live” on zoom or some other similar platform)
3) at-home learning, asynchronous (i.e. activities students/ families can do at home on their own, not with a “live” teacher)
We also paid teachers for professional development, and we are spending time this summer trying to improve our ability to create the highest-quality, relationship-based online learning that we can.
We are already set up at JQuest with a track system, whereby students choose which learning track they want, so my intention for the fall is that parents/students will be able to select an in-person (outdoor) JQuest track or an at-home JQuest track. The tricky question is how to create those tracks. Here are some of the things I’ve been working on / considering:
1. Enrollment: How many students can we expect? Usually, we have a pretty good idea of how many students to expect in the coming year. We start registration in April, and by June, we have about 90% of our expected enrollment (with the rest trickling in throughout the summer, including families who move to the area and/or decide to join a synagogue as the High Holy Days approach). This year, we started registration in May, and our enrollment has been trickling in since then. Over the course of a couple weeks in July, the Assistant Director and I reached out to all the families who are unenrolled in JQuest '20-'21, but were part of JQuest in '19-'20, to ask about their plans. Here are some of the things we heard:
“If it’s going to be on Zoom, we’re not doing it.”
“If it’s going to be in person, we’re not doing it.”
“We’re going to take a year off.”
“I’m overwhelmed and can’t think about JQuest right now.”
As you can imagine, we are trying to make decisions about classes and hiring teachers, but our enrollment is very uncertain. Even those who have signed up know they can pull out (and get a full refund) if they’re unhappy with the choices we offer.
2. Teachers: What do teachers want? In addition to 1-1 conversations with teachers, we conducted a survey of teachers to understand their desires and needs. Given the current circumstances and their own individual considerations, do they prefer to teach in person? Online? What days/times could they teach in the coming year, if we need to think outside the usual JQuest schedule?
3. Space and Schedule: If we offer in-person learning, we want to keep group sizes small (10-12 students at most), and the groups outside as much as possible. We are brainstorming how to do that, logistically-speaking. What time will each group meet? Where on our campus can we set up outdoor classrooms? Can we use other off-campus outdoor spaces for our programming? For online learning programs, what times should we offer? How long is a reasonable length of time to expect students to participate in an online class (especially if they’re doing all their secular school classes online as well)? We want to keep the online groups relatively small, too, as it’s easier to engage when there are a smaller number of students in an online class.
4. What should we do about tefillah? Even if we offer in-person classes, we know we cannot do tefillah (communal prayer) in person, due to the risks of transmitting COVID-19 through singing. So when and how will we do tefillah this year? How will the (online) tefillah schedule fit in with the schedule of all the classes?
5. The chicken-and-egg dilemma: How many in-person and how many online classes should we offer? Which days/times? How many teachers do we need, and for how many hours? Our enrollment is uncertain, and parents do not want to sign up until they know what they’re signing up for. But we don’t know which / how many classes to offer, because we don’t know how many students to expect. At some point, we will just make a decision, put the options out there, and see what happens.
6. Flexibility is key: Even though we are planning for in-person JQuest options along with online options, we know that we might not be able to operate in person when we start in early October - whether due to county/state regulations, health & safety considerations by our synagogue leadership, or a whole host of other reasons. In that case, we may have to pivot to online learning for all students, which may mean a drop in enrollment. On the other hand, something may change that would allow us to pivot to a more regular in-person JQuest program (a COVID-19 vaccine, of course! Or an effective COVID-19 treatment, or fast/easy/cheap COVID-19 testing, or who knows what else). The future is uncertain, and we have to be nimble enough to make changes quickly and smoothly, at any point in the school year.
It is not easy being an educator at this time. It is not easy being a parent, either. We all need something stable to count on during these uncertain times, and even though it’s hard, I’m grateful to be a Jewish educator because Jewish education can be the pillar of strength we all need. Jewish learning and Jewish community have sustained the Jewish people for thousands of years - including through wars, pogroms, and pandemics. By connecting with each other, as well as with the holidays, themes, and texts of our tradition, we learn resilience, courage, strength, and patience. The deep well of wisdom in Judaism is especially meaningful when we face turbulence in our lives and in the world around us.
It may be complicated putting the pieces together, but I am committed to creating a Jewish education program that will be a wonderful year of creative learning and community-building, with extraordinary teachers and meaningful friendships. May we go from strength to strength!
3. Space and Schedule: If we offer in-person learning, we want to keep group sizes small (10-12 students at most), and the groups outside as much as possible. We are brainstorming how to do that, logistically-speaking. What time will each group meet? Where on our campus can we set up outdoor classrooms? Can we use other off-campus outdoor spaces for our programming? For online learning programs, what times should we offer? How long is a reasonable length of time to expect students to participate in an online class (especially if they’re doing all their secular school classes online as well)? We want to keep the online groups relatively small, too, as it’s easier to engage when there are a smaller number of students in an online class.
4. What should we do about tefillah? Even if we offer in-person classes, we know we cannot do tefillah (communal prayer) in person, due to the risks of transmitting COVID-19 through singing. So when and how will we do tefillah this year? How will the (online) tefillah schedule fit in with the schedule of all the classes?
6. Flexibility is key: Even though we are planning for in-person JQuest options along with online options, we know that we might not be able to operate in person when we start in early October - whether due to county/state regulations, health & safety considerations by our synagogue leadership, or a whole host of other reasons. In that case, we may have to pivot to online learning for all students, which may mean a drop in enrollment. On the other hand, something may change that would allow us to pivot to a more regular in-person JQuest program (a COVID-19 vaccine, of course! Or an effective COVID-19 treatment, or fast/easy/cheap COVID-19 testing, or who knows what else). The future is uncertain, and we have to be nimble enough to make changes quickly and smoothly, at any point in the school year.
***
It is not easy being an educator at this time. It is not easy being a parent, either. We all need something stable to count on during these uncertain times, and even though it’s hard, I’m grateful to be a Jewish educator because Jewish education can be the pillar of strength we all need. Jewish learning and Jewish community have sustained the Jewish people for thousands of years - including through wars, pogroms, and pandemics. By connecting with each other, as well as with the holidays, themes, and texts of our tradition, we learn resilience, courage, strength, and patience. The deep well of wisdom in Judaism is especially meaningful when we face turbulence in our lives and in the world around us.
It may be complicated putting the pieces together, but I am committed to creating a Jewish education program that will be a wonderful year of creative learning and community-building, with extraordinary teachers and meaningful friendships. May we go from strength to strength!
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