Coronavirus Coverage - Education

More school districts are announcing positive COVID-19 cases, prompting a handful of schools and over a thousand students to go to remote learning plans this week.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos visited New Hampshire on Friday to meet with school leaders, teachers and students in Bedford, but her visit was curtailed by a newly confirmed COVID-19 case in the district.

A nationwide shortage of remote learning resources during the pandemic means the states’s largest school districts - Nashua and Manchester – are short thousands of Chromebook laptops.

The Nashua School District already distributed about 7,000 Chromebooks this fall, but some families have started remote learning without computers at home.

A coronavirus outbreak among students at Windham High School will force that school to remain remote for at least the next week.

The school was supposed to reopen with a hybrid model on Wednesday, but news that sixteen students had tested positive for COVID-19 prompted the school to change its plans last minute and reopen with a remote model.

As the school year begins, New Hampshire Public Radio is asking students, teachers and parents to share their stories of what education looks like during coronavirus. 

Click here to tell us your story about the classroom and COVID-19. 

This is part of our initiative COVID & The Classroom, covering what it's like to return to school in unprecedented times.

This week, we asked people: “How is ‘back to school’ different for you this year?” 

Here’s what we heard:

The state’s online charter school is getting $7 million in CARES Act funding, in response to a massive spike in enrollment during the pandemic.

The Exeter-based Virtual Learning Academy Charter School (VLACS) offers online classes to students in New Hampshire. Demand for VLACS classes tripled over the summer as families looked for options to remain remote this school year. Despite hiring more than 70 new teachers, VLACS says thousands of potential part-time students are still on the wait list.

A school year like no other is underway in New Hampshire.

By mid-week, most districts had reopened with a fully in-person, hybrid, or remote model, and families, teachers, and students were getting a first glimpse of what education during the pandemic could be like for months to come.

New Hampshire schools can continue offering meals to all young people under 18 free of charge for the rest of the calendar year.

Schools have had more flexiblity to provide meals and receive reimbursement from the federal government since the USDA issued waivers during remote learning last spring.

The Manchester School District is re-examining its plans to offer a hybrid model to kindergarten and first-grade students, citing a shortage of teachers willing and able to return to in-person teaching.