Students made their way back onto the Wye River campus for student orientation Monday, Aug. 31 ready to take on the school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wye River Upper School Interim Head of School Dave Mullen greeted small cohorts of students with a temperature check and a hearty “welcome back” to all students entering the building.

During student orientation new and returning students had the opportunity to catch up after a six-month absence, though with masks and social distancing, it was a unique approach to the school year.

Breaking the ice to the new school year included socially distant kickball, answering trivia questions, playing WRUS Bingo, and talking to teachers about the upcoming school year. Students have the option of attending in-person with cohorts on a rotating basis or to be online full-time. All students will do some distance learning this year, so that the school is prepared if it becomes unsafe to attend in person.

“As we track the cases and positivity rates in the counties from which we draw, we’ll decide whether to expand to having in-person instruction up to three days a week or cut back to all remote,” said Mullen.

While class is in session, desks are spaced six feet apart and students and teachers are required to wear masks. HVAC filters have been upgraded, each classroom has a UV and HEPA air filter, and a deep cleaning is done each night.

Staff members and students will be sanitizing between classes, and hallways and stairways have been designated as one-way to minimize contact.

While soccer is on hiatus for the fall, running, yoga and fitness will still be options for the Wye River sports program, both in-person and online.

“Teachers have engaged in a great deal of professional development both over the summer and during our in-service days,” said Mullen. “We’ve upgraded our internet connectivity, and put together Makerspace and art kits for students when they are working remotely.”

WRUS senior Coale Lenox expressed excitement about the new school year.

“I know it will be easier in some ways because we are allowed to stay in the comfort of our home, and email teachers if we have any questions,” Lenox said. “I am really looking forward to seeing what it is going to be like to have my full year online; and those challenges ahead and how I am going to overcome them.”

WRUS freshman Bridon Lucas is also looking forward to the hybrid school year, but is hoping to go back to school full-time. He hopes to make new friends and to participate in school activities to get the full WRUS experience.

“I am just waiting for things to play out,” Lucas said. “I am also making sure that I can do something to help people because this stuff is not just affecting the school, it is affecting all of us.”

Lucas added this hybrid model is “amazing, and how people are working through it is a step forward in Corona in my perspective. I’m looking forward to being able to see new people and hopefully be able to make new friends.”

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Wye River Upper School has opted for the modern approach to continue their program through remote learning.

On Thursday, March 12, Gov. Larry Hogan, in consultation with Dr. Karen Salmon, State Superintendent of Maryland Schools, announced that schools were to temporarily shut down.

Although the school had a half-day scheduled for Friday, March 13, students were instructed to stay home and sign in to the Blackbaud Learning Management System at 9:30 a.m. that day.

From that point on, WRUS knew they had to move quickly to pivot from physical presence to remote learning. As the weeks passed, this new form of teaching augmented the students’ agenda. Although there were some initial glitches, WRUS continued providing the required lesson plans.

Adapting to such measures fit perfectly into the tools the curriculum had already been using for a number of years.

“As I look back I realize that the design of our program had positioned us for success in this unique challenge,” said Chrissy Aull, Wye River Upper School Head of School. “We have implemented (a system where) every student has a Mac and the school had invested in a powerful central digital platform the summer before. We are tech savvy and everyone had existing expertise using these collaborative digital tools.”

Programs like Google Meet and Google Documents were essential to moving forward. Google Meet is the main platform the school has been using for their synchronous classes as it has a user-friendly interface.

Blackbaud LMS has been the main hub for everyone to use as it offers the curricular content, assignments, assessments and grades. This tool is also the main hub used for teachers, students and parents to communicate.

“As a school we had already been using both of those resources, so it made the transition to remote teaching and learning so much smoother,” said Matthew Cowan, assistant Head of School. “We are fortunate because we have managed to sustain the continuity of learning in all our core and elective academic classes. Students engage in four, 60-minute, synchronous classes per day and we have not had to miss a single class.”

While some facets of the lesson plan have stayed consistent, others have stalled or fallen by the wayside during the extended quarantine period.

“There are still areas of the curriculum that we cannot cover as robustly due to this disruption,” said Cowan. “For instance, logistically and in consideration of safety, students are unable to conduct the labs in science classes, and our theater production also had to be canceled because there’s just no way to produce such a thing remotely.”

Other programs on hold, Cowan noted, included spring physical fitness.

While such changes could discourage students from the groove of an academic year, the reception from the WRUS community has been positive.

According to Aull, she could not be “prouder of what their students are made of.”

“We know our students (are) hard working and resilient and that is a trait that students with learning differences often develop through the years,” said Aull. “I hope they and their families have a new appreciation for all that is really important in their young lives such as relationships, family, and mentors who stick with them.”

Aull continued to say that decades from now, it will not be the grades they earned that will be remembered, but the extraordinary way in which their school community made this work.

Joshua Hansen, an 18 year-old senior from Centreville said the transition was initially slightly difficult and got easier with time. As he prepares for a virtual graduation Wednesday, May 20, he regards this experience as nothing short of memorable.

“I have always appreciated my time in school, maybe now more so than ever because I won’t be able to see my fellow seniors and teachers for quite a while,” said Hansen. “WRUS has helped me overcome obstacles and made me into the person I am today. I have many accomplishments that I probably wouldn’t have in a (traditional) public school.”

Wye River Upper School is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is focused on students who learn differently discovering through innovation, developing with rigor, and celebrating their strengths while preparing for success in college, career, and life. Students who attend Wye River come from eleven Maryland and Delaware counties including Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Howard, Prince George’s and Caroline, and accepts students on a rolling basis. For more information visit www.wyeriverupperschool.org or call 410.758.2922. 

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The Board of Trustees of  Wye River Upper School are pleased to announce that David Mullen has accepted the offer to become the Interim Head of School, effective July 1, 2020.

Mr. Mullen brings over forty years of experience educating, building and leading schools. He holds a M.Ed. in Administration and Supervision from the University of Maryland and is retiring from The Nora School after nearly 30 years as their Head of School. Nora is a small college preparatory high school with a mission to nurture students who “think differently,” similar to Wye River.

Wye River Board of Trustees Chair Alexa Seip shares: “It is crystal clear that Dave Mullen is the right person at the right time for this job as Interim Head of School. His wealth of experience and leadership in the world of education will serve WRUS well.”

David Mullen led the Nora School through a permanent move which involved a large capital campaign, the purchase of land and construction, and bank financing, a process not foreign to Wye River. He then expanded student enrollment by 50%. Notably, he guided his faculty and staff through several successful accreditations from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the Maryland State Department of Education. He also utilized his extensive training to implement a successful mindfulness and meditation program which helped Nora’s students better manage stress, anxiety and depression.

Mullen shares “I’ve long admired Wye River Upper School from afar…I appreciate the work that Chrissy Aull has done to move Wye River to the forefront of Maryland schools, and want to help them maintain that momentum as they search for a permanent Head of School in the coming months.”

Mr. Mullen’s expertise and wisdom position him well to lead Wye River Upper School in the upcoming school year as they hold a national search for a permanent Head of School. Seip notes, “Dave’s positive demeanor will bring a purposeful mindfulness during this period of transition for Wye River that will be welcomed. We look forward to his presence on campus and in our community.”

Wye River Upper School is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is focused on students who learn differently by discovering through innovation, developing with rigor, and celebrating their strengths while preparing for success in college, career, and life. Students who attend Wye River come from eleven Maryland and Delaware counties including Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, Howard, Prince George’s and Caroline, and accept students on a rolling basis. For more information visit www.wyeriverupperschool.org or call 410.758.2922.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Talbot Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here