What Do Students Think About Bard During the Pandemic?

By Alexa David-Lang ‘22

Since it has been about a month since school started, I decided to ask some students what their thoughts were on the learning situation right now. I put up a couple of polls on our Instagram (@thebardvark, go follow us), and asked a series of questions. Here are the results:

(Keep in mind that this is a very small sample size of the BHSEC population since the people who answered the polls were only people who follow our Instagram, and also only people who decided to answer, so this will not represent everyone’s opinions). 

Of the people who answered the polls, 78% said they were doing blended learning and 22% said they were doing remote learning. This is a little different from what Dr. Lerner has mentioned in his emails - he usually says around a third of students went remote - but it’s pretty close. Surprisingly, of the individuals who responded, 100% said that they were happy with their choice of either blended or remote. Students did not feel strongly inclined to switch if the opportunity arises, being satisfied with their respective choice. When I asked why people were happy with their choice, most of the students who are doing blended said it gets them up and moving. They said they enjoy the small amount of social interaction that they get from blended learning and that it’s way better than just sitting in front of a screen all day. The students remotely learning said they opted for virtual school due to health reasons. They said that it wasn’t really worth going to school and risk getting infected because, while in-person school is kind of like normal school, in-person school still has a long way to go. 

Both those who are doing blended and remote learning said that they enjoy the number of free periods that have come with this strange schedule. It allows them more flexibility to do work as well as time to relax during a stressful day. 

Students doing remote learning, particularly the 9th graders, noted that it is harder to get closer to people over Zoom. It’s not as easy to form friendships that you may have for the rest of high school when you’re in a different location than someone else and are only meeting them virtually for the first time. However, aside from these polls, I noticed that there have been larger numbers of 9th graders at club meetings and there were many of them as well at the club fair. Perhaps this will lead to prolonged engagement in clubs by underclassmen as a way to form connections that they would otherwise be making in person.

Students doing blended learning explained that on the days they’re going into school, they sometimes feel like they’re treated like little kids. Obviously, precautions have to be taken to prevent the spread of the virus, but it can feel like your freedom is taken away when you’re a high school student who has to line up on dots before entering the school building. One of the most common things that I used to see at BHSEC before the pandemic was many Year 1s and Year 2s hanging out in the library during their free periods, doing work, playing games, and just chatting. It feels very strange to not have that culture anymore. 

Something else I’ve noticed outside of these polls is that the in-person days occasionally become similar to remote ones. What I mean by this is that many students were excited to come into school and finally be able to go to class without having to stare at a screen, along with seeing everyone in person only to be let down by some kinks that haven’t been worked out yet. For instance, teachers who are working remotely but have classes in person. That means students are coming to the school building, possibly taking public transportation and risking getting infected by being there, just to watch their teacher on a screen. Additionally, if the projector in a classroom doesn’t work and the teacher wants a shortcut, then they’ll just have everyone join a Zoom meeting, share their screen, and use it as a whiteboard. It can feel very pointless and frustrating to come into school when these instances occur. 

Overall, people are feeling okay about school right now. They’re happy with their choice of either blended or remote learning, even if they know that it’s not perfect. People realize that faculty members are still figuring out what to do, but there are some components that are a little disappointing. So hats off to you BHSEC, you’re doing a pretty good job so far. Well, I guess this is just in terms of blended or remote learning and not about the workload or how sympathetic and helpful teachers have been during these weird times, so maybe more on that later.