BOSTON (WHDH) - Students and staff members in the Boston Public Schools are cleaning out their desks and beginning to make the transition to remote learning on their last day in class before a six week shut down due to the coronavirus emergency.
Many parents came to the schools to pick up laptops and other supplies so that their kids can keep up with their studies at home.
“It’s bizarre, It’s so overwhelming right now,” Grandparent Nicole Herring said. “It’s a lot to take in but, everybody’s safety counts.”
For now, teachers will be posting lessons online and providing worksheets for kids to pick up in central locations like YMCAs and community centers.
“I’m going to be on my computer, well, I got a computer today,” seventh-grader Michael Burns said. “I’m going to be working on school work.”
School officials said they are not forgetting the students who rely on their schools for breakfast and lunch.
Boston Public School workers handed out lunches to students at the Eliot School in the North End and officials in Lawrence also passed out food to their students.
“We are trying to have an all hands on deck approach to this,” Boston Public Schools Senior Adviser Rob Consalvo said. “Making sure students are fed, making sure we are providing the educational materials both in hard copy as well as technology.”
Parents said they know that these next few weeks will prove challenging.
“It’s kind of stressful because we are trying to figure out how we’re going to go on with our day to day lives,” parent Yolanda Caban said. “I actually work in a shelter and you know, now I am trying to contemplate should I stay home?”
As of March 16, more than half of states have opted to shift to remote learning in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.
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