Navigating A New Normal - Parent Information Day

While we are delighted - and feel grateful - to be back on campus with our students, one of the regrettable outcomes of having strict safety protocols in place is that we cannot welcome parents and visitors on campus as we would like to. Of course, for specific pre-arranged appointments, parents are welcome, but the traditional open campus feel that we once enjoyed sadly remains a future aspiration as we follow the science on COVID-19 and keep our safety protocols at the highest level. All of this effort is to minimize risk to our community and remain able to have on-campus learning.

Tapping into Creativity

So how to hold some of our yearly events and maintain a 'community feel in the meantime? Our recent Parent Information Day is a perfect example of the creative efforts that go into just that. On Tuesday, September 22, parents had the option to attend the Parent Information Day virtually. The first aspect of this virtual event was the varied and creative videos created by each homeroom teacher, specialty teacher, and department leader. They worked hard to create short videos to introduce themselves and explain what they do, how they teach, and what parents can expect their students to learn in their classes.

Meeting "Face-to-Face"

These were followed up by scheduled Google Meet sessions so that parents could talk directly to their student's teachers. These sessions were well attended, and the teachers appreciated 'seeing' many of the parents in their sessions. They were also recorded and uploaded to the same site as the introduction videos for parents to come back to if they need, or for those who couldn't join in on the live events. And though we missed the usual vibrant atmosphere of parent gatherings, meetings, and workshops, it was still terrific to welcome so many parents to the virtual sessions and to have the chance to connect, as partners, in the students' learning. 

This New Normal

As we settle into this new 2020-21 school year with lessons learned from a tumultuous spring, NIS continues to serve both the students' and parents' needs in creative and innovative ways. And in doing so, we are always striving to weigh benefits vs. risk, with the ultimate goal of remaining on campus for in-classroom learning. Along the way, we find that sometimes there are unexpected benefits, too! For example, the virtual open house will remain accessible throughout the school year. By logging onto the Parent Information Day site, parents can view the video presentations and sessions at any time. Hopefully, these will help our parents better understand how we aim to work together around our students' learning and well-being. No doubt, there will be other events that will see some creative altering in the weeks to come, and we genuinely appreciate everyone's cooperation!