Winter Omicron Wave Causes Surge in Absences
Due to the Omicron variant, there has been an increase in student exposures resulting in more absences.
By Mia Howell
Due to the Omicron variant, there has been an increase in student exposures resulting in more absences.
By Mia Howell
On Jan. 18, San Jose Unified School District sent out an email informing the community that due to the rapid increase in exposures and positive cases,they wouldn’t be sending out individual classroom or school wide advisories for the following week. The email stated the following:
“For this week, Tuesday, January 18 through Friday, January 21, this letter will be your notification of a COVID positive case at your school or work location and in your classroom or work area. We will not send individual classroom or school wide advisories this week because our entire community would receive both letters each day.”
Since coming back from winter break,there has been a noticeable surge in student absences school-wide. Numerous students have been out with COVID-related illnesses, exposure to the virus as well as other common colds and flus. Over the past two weeks, 200-300 positive cases have been reported per day in SJUSD.Even with several safety precautions in place, it is expected that everyone has been in a classroom, on a break, or sharing space with a COVID positive person every day for the last couple of weeks.
Due to the uptake in absences, teachers have had to change their lesson plans, so that students don’t fall behind. According to Tomas Nieto, 9, Spanish teacher Eberardo Gonzalez changed the lesson plan for that day so that the class could take a break from their current unit, on account of all the missing students.
“We watched a movie in Spanish class instead of doing work, because Gonzalez didn’t want the absent students to be left behind,” said Nieto.
Teachers have been doing the best they can to accommodate the students who are missing school because of illness. Math department co-chair Aruna Renduchinatala has found ways to keep her students from falling behind at home.
“They are doing the best for what is required for everybody to be healthy. It’s that scenario where they have to stay home to follow the rules,” said Renduchintala.
Some students have found doing school from home to be relatively easy. Aside from missing friends and social interaction, they find the academic portion simple.
“It’s pretty easy for the most part, but if the teachers give new material it gets more difficult since you have to learn something completely new by yourself,” said Makena Thigpen, 9. “All of my teachers put the notes we took that day on Canvas, so it’s nice because I don’t have to come up with my own notes.”
Teachers like Renduchintala have been making it easier for students at home to stay on track of things and not get as overwhelmed.
“I started recording the class videos,whatever I’m teaching. Luckily I have a Surface Pro, so I can actually record while I’m writing it down and upload the video for them,” said Renduchintala. “If a student misses a week worth of school and can come back with only one day of lessons to catch up and clarify their doubts, they will be back on track.”
While there are students who have found it easy to stay on top of school work while at home, others have found it to be more challenging.
“Some classes were definitely harder than others to catch back up on, but thankfully many of my teachers are good about posting notes and descriptions on Canvas. However,some do not and that makes it hard to figure out what you’re supposed to do,” said Annalyce Upton, 11. “Staying on top of work wasn’t very fun to do as you’re basically stuck in your own room doing work. I could definitely tell that doing everything at home by myself made me get burnt out a lot faster than normal.”
In addition to students finding it difficult to learn from home, it is also affecting their mental health. Several students have found that not having much social interaction is a big downside to doing school from home.
“I’m lonelier again and don’t really feel like I have anyone around to distract or help me. I often felt alienated from things since I wasn’t caught up,” said Theoni Sarakinis, 11.
Students taking honors or AP classes have also found it to be hard especially because of the lectures, debates, and discussions that take place in these classes. Additionally, the large workload makes it difficult to keep up with the students who are in class.
“It was difficult trying to keep up with all my classes, and missing lectures andPowerPoints we did in class for activities was rough,” said Duncan Warren, 11. “In a class like APUSH where you have to be there to fully understand everything, it becomes a pain trying to do assignments from home.”
There have also been some fears of going back to online classes. Even with mask mandates in place and high vaccination rates, other schools in the area are going back to online. Miranda Prijatel, 9, had to stay home from school after being exposed to COVID.
“I don’t think it would be smart for us to shut down, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. Some of my friends that go to other schools are back online,” said Prijatel.
“For this week, Tuesday, January 18 through Friday, January 21, this letter will be your notification of a COVID positive case at your school or work location and in your classroom or work area. We will not send individual classroom or school wide advisories this week because our entire community would receive both letters each day.”
Since coming back from winter break,there has been a noticeable surge in student absences school-wide. Numerous students have been out with COVID-related illnesses, exposure to the virus as well as other common colds and flus. Over the past two weeks, 200-300 positive cases have been reported per day in SJUSD.Even with several safety precautions in place, it is expected that everyone has been in a classroom, on a break, or sharing space with a COVID positive person every day for the last couple of weeks.
Due to the uptake in absences, teachers have had to change their lesson plans, so that students don’t fall behind. According to Tomas Nieto, 9, Spanish teacher Eberardo Gonzalez changed the lesson plan for that day so that the class could take a break from their current unit, on account of all the missing students.
“We watched a movie in Spanish class instead of doing work, because Gonzalez didn’t want the absent students to be left behind,” said Nieto.
Teachers have been doing the best they can to accommodate the students who are missing school because of illness. Math department co-chair Aruna Renduchinatala has found ways to keep her students from falling behind at home.
“They are doing the best for what is required for everybody to be healthy. It’s that scenario where they have to stay home to follow the rules,” said Renduchintala.
Some students have found doing school from home to be relatively easy. Aside from missing friends and social interaction, they find the academic portion simple.
“It’s pretty easy for the most part, but if the teachers give new material it gets more difficult since you have to learn something completely new by yourself,” said Makena Thigpen, 9. “All of my teachers put the notes we took that day on Canvas, so it’s nice because I don’t have to come up with my own notes.”
Teachers like Renduchintala have been making it easier for students at home to stay on track of things and not get as overwhelmed.
“I started recording the class videos,whatever I’m teaching. Luckily I have a Surface Pro, so I can actually record while I’m writing it down and upload the video for them,” said Renduchintala. “If a student misses a week worth of school and can come back with only one day of lessons to catch up and clarify their doubts, they will be back on track.”
While there are students who have found it easy to stay on top of school work while at home, others have found it to be more challenging.
“Some classes were definitely harder than others to catch back up on, but thankfully many of my teachers are good about posting notes and descriptions on Canvas. However,some do not and that makes it hard to figure out what you’re supposed to do,” said Annalyce Upton, 11. “Staying on top of work wasn’t very fun to do as you’re basically stuck in your own room doing work. I could definitely tell that doing everything at home by myself made me get burnt out a lot faster than normal.”
In addition to students finding it difficult to learn from home, it is also affecting their mental health. Several students have found that not having much social interaction is a big downside to doing school from home.
“I’m lonelier again and don’t really feel like I have anyone around to distract or help me. I often felt alienated from things since I wasn’t caught up,” said Theoni Sarakinis, 11.
Students taking honors or AP classes have also found it to be hard especially because of the lectures, debates, and discussions that take place in these classes. Additionally, the large workload makes it difficult to keep up with the students who are in class.
“It was difficult trying to keep up with all my classes, and missing lectures andPowerPoints we did in class for activities was rough,” said Duncan Warren, 11. “In a class like APUSH where you have to be there to fully understand everything, it becomes a pain trying to do assignments from home.”
There have also been some fears of going back to online classes. Even with mask mandates in place and high vaccination rates, other schools in the area are going back to online. Miranda Prijatel, 9, had to stay home from school after being exposed to COVID.
“I don’t think it would be smart for us to shut down, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. Some of my friends that go to other schools are back online,” said Prijatel.