NEW ALBANY, Ohio — Marburn Academy in New Albany just joined the growing list of schools in central Ohio shifting the start of school from in-class or hybrid learning to all-virtual.
“This was not the decision we wanted to make, but it was the decision we needed to make right now,” Eldrich Carr told families in an email sent out Monday. Carr began July 1st as Marburn Academy’s new Head of School.
It’s a difficult decision many school leaders are struggling to make given the daily change in Covid-19 numbers.
“After consulting the Board of Health directly, having much internal dialogue between leadership, division heads, and with support from our board of trustees, Marburn is enacting “Level C”, distance learning, effective August 18th for at least four weeks,” Carr added.
Marburn is different than other traditional schools. Since 1981, Marburn has served students with dyslexia, ADHA and other executive function challenges. Carr says for those reasons, the in-person learning is critical for students who learn differently.
“In any of those circumstances, it’s nice to be side by side, helping correct the student,” he explains. “It’s nice to build those deep rich relationships that help our students thrive socially and emotionally.”
Parents like Jacki Raabe agree. Her son Davis, who will be a junior this year at Marburn, has dyslexia and joined the Academy when he was in the 2nd grade.
“In person learning, especially for these kinds of kids, interaction and facial expression is so important,” she says. “We knew that we needed a school that could teach him the way he learned.”
Last Spring when Ohio schools went virtual, Raabe says it didn’t work well for her son because he didn’t have that in-person, face-to-face interaction with teachers.
“It’s very hard to see a child remotely get disorganized,” she explains. “You don’t know what their home environment is looking like, you don’t know if they are feeling overwhelmed and that is something you have to read in person.”
Whenever Marburn teachers and staff return, which is in at least four weeks, they will wear face masks with clear plastic shields so students can see their facial expressions. Students will be provided with the same PPE. Marburn is also making sure desks are properly distanced with markings on the floor to manage that 6-feet of space. Temperature checks will also be taken as students get dropped off by car or bus.
“It’s like any other school year where students will have to learn a lot of routines,” Carr says. “There’s just a lot of safety built into those routines now.”