Earlier this month, three The Morgan School students sent administrators a letter outlining concerns about their mental, physical, and academic wellbeing that the students have felt is being ignored during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the district has been working with the students on those issues.

In early December, Morgan seniors Francesca Tino and Vanessa Horan and junior Hailey Baldwin sent a letter to Superintendent of Schools Maryann O’Donnell, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Marco Famiglietti, Board of Education Chair Erica Gelven, and Morgan Principal Keri Hagness, science teacher Christopher Luther, school social worker Maureen Tranquilli, and guidance counselors Myriah Rodowicz, Joni Zdunczyk, and Christie Williams-Kahn.

The letter explicitly states the students deep concerns about the way the district has handled school during the pandemic and the way students are forced to cope with so much uncertainty. The letter can be viewed with this story on zip06.com.

Facing the Unknown All Alone

When the virus arrived in the area in March, school was promptly moved to remote learning for the remainder of that year. This school year, students have been forced to shift back and forth between remote learning and in-school learning. The students began school remotely, shifted to a modified in-school model in October, then moved back to remote learning, temporarily, as positive COVID-19 cases increased in the school system and community at large.

When in school, the students have been divided alphabetically by last name into cohorts in which one cohort attends school for Monday and Tuesday before doing distance learning on Wednesdays to Fridays. Meanwhile, the other cohort does distance learning Monday through Wednesday and in-school Thursday and Friday.

Even when they were in the building physically, school is anything but normal because nearly half the school isn’t in the building at the same time. Additionally, the students have to abide by new protocols aimed at reducing the spread of the virus and keeping them safe, but, at the same time, these protocols reduce the normalcy and bonds that students feel for each other and the school community.

The toll of the uncertainty that comes with living and attending school during this time inspired the students to let the administrators know what they are feeling.

“The three of us had been talking about how we barely got out of bed on the remote school days and how so many of our daily routine habits simply faded away once we moved to online learning. We also talked about experiencing a large lack of motivation and enthusiasm with our school work and day-to-day activities” Tino explained to the Harbor News. “We thought it was just our friend group at first until we texted collectively nearly 70 students from the freshman class to seniors asking how they’re doing personally with at-home learning. We received the same negative response from all of the students, but one.”

Baldwin said that she has noticed the mental health of her peers suffer to the point of being a detriment to accomplishing their expected schoolwork.

“We see these effects range from severe breakdowns, anxiety attacks, an intense lack of motivation, hopelessness, deep concern for oneself and others, and aimlessly completing academic work with uneasiness, not knowing if this will be long lasting,” Horan said.

Tino pointed out that student’s physical health is also suffering with sports and extracurricular activities canceled.

“Students are becoming apathetic and numb to their own hopelessness since it is merely being brushed aside and categorized as something that is not as important as other difficulties during these times,” Tino said.

Tino said that she and many of her peers felt the pressure of large amounts of homework, deadlines, and the challenges of communicating via email.

“We would like to remind you that in person, it takes us seconds to ask a question and seconds for a teacher to respond. That has drastically changed to minutes to write an email and minutes, hours or days to receive a response,” the letter sent to administrators stated in part.

Tino said that the students she, Baldwin, and Horan contacted mainly expressed that they were overwhelmed by the work that teachers were assigning them and a lack of empathy from some of the same staff members.

“Another concern that has risen amongst our peers is that they feel as if the education system is almost normalizing online learning, saying that it shouldn’t be too difficult to continue with online learning since we have been doing it since last March, but this is not the case and we are not any more accustomed to it,” Tino said. “

It’s not just in the schools where the students feel alone.

“We have never felt more out of touch with the larger Clinton community. Growing up in Clinton, we have taken part in Christmas in Clinton, leadership conferences, church fairs, theatre performances, sporting events, fundraisers, etc. Now all we have left to focus on is our school work—in isolation,” said Horan.

“We feel as though the larger Clinton community may not know that the students and teachers in the Clinton Public School system are struggling in the way that they are right now. Before we asked our peers in Morgan, we didn’t even realize the number of students that were relating to us in the ways that we were struggling,” said Baldwin.

The Schools’ Response

Since becoming aware of the students’ concerns, the Morgan administration has taken steps to make sure the students know they are being heard.

“Upon receiving the email, I immediately reached out to the students to let them know that we are here to listen and to help. Since my tenure at Morgan began, student voice has been an integral part of the culture of our school. I believe it is critical for students to feel a sense of belonging and feel comfortable in sharing their ideas and concerns with us especially now,” Hagness said.

Hagness said that the school has agreed to cancel the midterm exams to alleviate some of the stress students are under and schedule a number of meetings with teachers, students, and support staff to continue the conversation.

“One of the ideas that has come from these discussions has been focused on supporting student and staff emotional wellbeing by designating time in our schedule to allow for stress reduction. We are looking to offer a series of activities (such as yoga, kickboxing, painting, guitar club etc.) during the school day that staff and students can participate in to help them connect, and enjoy time together. We are calling it ‘Wellness Wednesdays,’” Hagness said.

Teachers have also been increasingly reaching out to their students to assess workloads and how the students are coping, she said.

Moving forward, the letter writers said they would like to see classes that were more lecture based and aimed at material actually covered in class instead of material the students had to learn on their own through supplemental learning.

“We hope to create a positive learning environment that practices sympathy of students and does not normalize the conditions of remote learning. We were not raised to be on computers for the majority of our day and we hope to accomplish a balance between the learning we were conditioned to engage with and what we have to adapt to,” Horan said.

Hagness said that the fact that the students felt comfortable coming forward with their concerns is a positive sign.

“Morgan is truly a supportive place and we consider ourselves family. I am fortunate to have students who will share with us how they feel and when they need help and support. That openness is what makes Morgan a special place. I believe that ongoing communication with students and staff will be the key to helping our school navigate during this difficult time. The way we address concerns needs to be done together and this is happening now, our school is a family and we are committed to listening and helping each other,” Hagness said.

“We want to make sure that everyone knows that we are all in this together. Through our email we were able to share and express the emotions and struggles students and teens are currently facing. However, we are certain that teachers, faculty members, and parents are also facing very similar difficulties. As long as we continue to communicate with each other, work together to make this prolonged process move a little faster, and maintain a sense of unity within our community, we will all overcome the current hardship,” Tino said.