Learning in the pandemic: How two families are coping
In September, families across the Buffalo Niagara region faced new challenges as the 2020-2021 school year began amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Some parents in suburban districts sent their children back to classrooms as part of a hybrid remote/in-person learning format. Families in the Buffalo Public Schools did not have that option, and many had to adjust to having their living rooms and dining rooms turned into classrooms as their children attended school remotely.
The Hardy family, of Buffalo, found frustrations slowly mounting after the school year began in Sepptember as high-school sophomore Briyanna struggled with falling grades and first-grader James, who has autism and is in a special-needs class at Arthur O. Eve School of Distinction, showed little interest in sitting still for remote learning.
The Smith family, of Arcade, begin their hectic days at 4:45 a.m., waking up to get three boys, Phineas, 9; Bennett, 7; and Jensen, 4, ready and out the door by 6:20 a.m. Phineas and Bennett spend four days a week in the classroom at Pioneer elementary, and one day a week learning remotely at home. Jensen attends pre-K five days a week at Early Bird Child Care.
Read and see their stories here.
(2) updates to this series since Updated
For the past three months, I have been privileged to capture slices of home life at the Hardys as the family has had to adjust to remote instruction amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
School during the pandemic has been a challenge for the Hardy family, whose children are attending Buffalo schools entirely virtually. The fol…
Buffalo News photographer Sharon Cantillon has spent the past few months following the Hardy family – Jasmine, the mom, Robert, the dad, and k…
Buffalo News photographer Sharon Cantillon has spent the past few months following the Hardys of Buffalo as the family – Jasmine, the mom, Rob…
As part of a Buffalo News project about learning during the pandemic, News photographer Harry Scull Jr. spent time capturing images of the Smi…
The Smith family, of Arcade, joins thousands of other families in Western New York in navigating the challenges that come with sending their children to school during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said that remote learning during the pandemic was a "mistake" that especially affected working women.