Coronavirus Coverage - Education

Many New Hampshire high schoolers are back in the classroom for in-person learning five days a week for the first time since March 2020.

Haleigh Swabowicz is a senior at Nashua High School South, which until this week had been in either a remote or hybrid learning setting. She shared what it was like to return to school full-time — for the first time, again.

As of this week, nearly all schools in New Hampshire have fully reopened. Until now, it’s been a patchwork of different reopening plans, depending on the district. And for the Scopel Shofner family, in Barrington, it’s been a complicated year: the parents work at two different high schools, while their two kids go to other schools — each with a different approach to the pandemic. I checked in with that family via Zoom last night.

We speak with NHPR reporters about the latest coronavirus news, the return to full-time in-person school this week, and an investigation into a Manchester-based video hosting website. We also talk with a summer camp director about how she's prearing to bring camp back safely this year. 

Air date: Friday, April 23, 2021. 

Many New Hampshire school districts are back in the classroom this week for full-time, in-person learning after more than a year of hybrid or remote classes.

Gov. Chris Sununu is ordering all New Hampshire schools to fully reopen, five days a week, by April 19. School leaders were caught off guard by this decision last week, and some districts are scrambling to make sure they're fully prepared to meet that deadline. 

A year ago, people flocked to vacation towns in states like New Hampshire to flee COVID-19. For some, it was just a brief escape. But others settled into a rural lifestyle.

The question now is how long these newcomers are going to stay.

A year ago, New Hampshire schools shut down for what many thought would just be three weeks. Now, schools across the state are reopening fully. NHPR's Sarah Gibson visited Deerfield Community School, where teachers and students have been spending a lot of the pandemic outside. And as they return, many are hoping that doesn’t change.

As school staff across the state are vaccinated, many districts are considering a return to fully in-person learning. We ask how these decisions are being made, what the hopes and concerns are, and what changes to education might be here to stay. 

This show is part of NHPR's COVID & the Classroom coverage. 

Air date: Thursday, March 25, 2021. 

Some of the first teachers in the state received their COVID-19 vaccine shots Friday, as New Hampshire eyes fully reopening more schools.

NHPR Education Reporter Sarah Gibson visited one of the vaccination sites in Dover to get a better look at the process. She joins NHPR's Ed Brouder to discuss where the state is now at and what is next in the vaccine scheduling process.

On Tuesday, the Manchester, New Hampshire School District announced tentative plans to expand in-person classes from two days a week to four, starting in May. And at Manchester West High School in Manchester, that experiment is well underway.

For over a month, staff there have been encouraging students who are learning English as a second language and others needing extra help to come in four days a week.

And getting students re-engaged a year into the pandemic is a massive effort.

Governor Chris Sununu's executive order requiring schools to open for in-person learning at least two days a week goes into effect on Monday.

With most districts already open two to five days a week, the order has made a difference for only a handful of mostly charter schools and a few traditional public schools that had stayed remote because of concerns about COVID safety.

  It’s been a busy week in New Hampshire news, as the state crosses into its second year of the coronavirus pandemic. We’ll talk about the latest vaccine news, about controversy at the Statehouse over bigoted remarks from lawmakers during virtual sessions, and much more.

This show is hosted by NHPR's Annie Ropeik, who covers climate, energy, the environment, and the Seacoast.

Air date: Friday, March 5, 2021.

It’s school budget season in New Hampshire - and this year, the numbers are more convoluted than usual.

There's a strong push across the state to get students back in the classroom. In Nashua, where schools have been mostly remote since April because of COVID-19 concerns, a group of parents is fighting the school board to resume in-person learning.

NHPR's Morning Edition host Rick Ganley spoke with one of those parents, Wayne Georgiana, about how his family has been handling remote learning for about ten months now.

The past year has been a living civics lesson for our country: two impeachments, a tense election, a split U.S. Senate, and an insurrection at the Capitol. We talk with two New Hampshire educators about how they’re bringing these realities into their classrooms, and how students are tapping into this moment. 

Looking for lesson plans, activities, and podcast episodes for students? Check out Civics 101. 

Air date: Monday, February 1, 2021. 

A group of parents in Nashua is looking to remove multiple members of the city's Board of Education, citing frustrations with the district's decision to forgo in-person learning for most students.

Students with special needs and those in grades K-2 have been given the option of a hybrid learning model, but the majority of students have been fully remote since April. Board members say community transmission of the virus in Nashua remains too high to send students back at this time.

Morning Edition host Rick Ganley spoke with Heather Raymond, president of the board. 

A continuación, encuentra las noticias del lunes 25 de enero.

Escucha haciendo click en el audio o léelas en esta publicación. 

Una nota: Lo escrito es nuestro guión para nuestras grabaciones. Tenlo en cuenta si ven algunas anotaciones diferentes.

Fase 1b de vacunación contra el COVID-19 empieza mañana en New Hampshire

A partir de la mañana del martes, el estado empezará a vacunar a los miembros elegibles para lo que se conoce como la fase 1b [uno be]. 

As we approach the end of a tumultuous year, NHPR is checking in with some of the people we spoke with early on in the pandemic, to see how things have changed. It’s part of a series we’re calling "Hindsight.”