Tri-Cities private schools 1st to tackle virtual classrooms during the shutdown

It’s nearing 9 a.m. on a Wednesday when Stephanie Rippstein sits down behind her laptop in an empty classroom.

As the faces from her fourth-grade class at Bethlehem Lutheran School start appearing in small boxes on the screen, she greets them.

“Hi Brook, Ethan, and there’s Aaron,” she says as they log in to the Zoom meeting. “So far we have 14 people.”

It’s not the way the teachers in the small private Christian school in Kennewick with students in kindergarten through eighth-grade want to teach their students. However, with schools across the state shut down to slow the spread of the coronavirus, it’s the only way they will have class this year.

While the public school districts are still implementing plans for distance learning, private schools, like Bethlehem Lutheran, Tri-Cities Prep and Christ the King, made the switch to teaching online shortly after the closures went into effect, using Zoom and Google Classroom.

Rippstein teaches her normal curriculum, but now she has to focus her “classroom” time on subjects better taught live such as math and reading.

“With math it helps to have some examples that are actually shown and some actual interaction, and for kids to ask questions,” she said. “For reading, I rely on discussion.”

Three hours of her time teaching is live, and she counts on students and parents to help her with the remaining three hours.

“Parents are a very integral part of making this work especially in our younger grades,” said Principal Lisa Stueve. “They need to be there with their student in order for them to be able to get on.”

Christ the King in Richland is operating similarly with its 365 students. The school enrolls students in preschool through eighth-grade.

Younger students have access to recorded lessons mixed with class meetings using Zoom or Google, and allows the children to see each other every day.

Children in higher grades are going online with their teachers every day using Google and Zoom. One of the highlights for the students is they don’t miss out on special classes like gym or music.

“It’s the new frontier,” said Dean of Students Gail Armstrong. “We’re trying to get the kids to understand that as well. ... We’ve got an amazing staff that chooses to be in Catholic education. They really rallied to the occasion.”

Able to move quickly

When rumors about the closures began to circulate about closing schools to slow the spread of the coronavirus, administrators at Bethlehem Lutheran and Tri-Cities Prep started planning for the transition.

Matt Potter, the dean of student formation at Tri-Cities Prep high school say teachers are getting creative in distance learning.

Although the school already was using Google Classroom, they made sure each subject was offered. Google Classroom allows the teachers to assign work, upload videos and answer student questions.

The work at Bethlehem Lutheran started in February when Stueve came up with a framework of what it would look like. The teachers each contributed their ideas.

When Stueve brought the plan to the school board, they said they absolutely wanted to keep educating students during a potential closure. Hours before Gov. Jay Inslee ordered all of the schools closed, the school board had already signed off on the plan.

“It’s an opportunity to teach our students resilience and when things get thrown at you, first turn to Christ and then keep moving forward,” Stueve said.

The private schools in the Tri-Cities are much like other ones across the country. With small enrollment, they are better positioned to pivot to teaching online with distribution of some tablets and computers.

Armstrong has heard similar messages from Catholic schools across the country, she said.

“We’re getting some really awesome stuff that these kids are doing at home,” she said. “There are a lot of neat things going on. ... We are continuing to assess the students.”

All of the schools’ leaders echoed that the situation isn’t ideal. They would rather have the students in class, learning from the teacher and from their peers.

Armstrong, like many of the other instructors, misses having students in the classroom. While she does get to see them through Google and Zoom, it’s not the same.

“I’m looking forward to going back and pickup up where they left off,” she said.

Parents turned teachers

With students out of school, but not done with class, parents are also being thrust into becoming teachers.

Tiffany Saffell has two children enrolled in second- and fourth-grade at Christ the King School.

Now she is helping them while her husband works from home in the den. She never planned on running a homeschool, she said.

“It’s challenging. I haven’t been in fourth grade for a while,” she said. “Thank goodness that we have technology. It would be hard to prior to this. ... Twenty years ago, it would have never happened. I’m glad that we have technology that makes education possible. I couldn’t imagine it if we didn’t.”

Her children start their day at 8:30 a.m. and typically finish their lessons by lunch time, then spend their afternoon working on music, athletics or reading.

While Saffell’s kids miss their friends and going to school, they understand the importance of staying separated.

She notes concern that they miss out on the chance to learn from their peers, and that they have to learn subjects like math the way she learned it rather than the way its taught in class.

“They miss their friends and their teachers,” she said. “Music is fine and all, but it’s not singing in the class with your friends. I think it’s a loss of community. They have been with some of these kids since preschool.”

For now, they are waiting to find out if the worst of the coronavirus will pass before summer.

“It’s been a very unique situation,” she said. “It feels like we’re in limbo and waiting to see what will happen.”