After almost two years of uncertainty and constant change, the 2021-22 school year marked a slow yet hopeful transition back to normalcy. Vaccines, masks, and weekly testing allowed the Riverdale community to consistently come to campus with fewer Covid-19 restrictions. However, just as students and faculty felt they could see a “finish line” towards a post-Covid-19 world, 30 new cases due to the Omicron variant caused the Hill campus to return to virtual schooling for three days before winter break. Seeing friends and teachers in tiny, virtual boxes again felt like a step backwards in our fight against the virus. For many people, remote learning dredged up the old sense of disconnection, loss, and instability, especially since the Riverdale community did not know if remote learning would continue after the break.
With increasingly fewer cases as vaccines and boosters helped to minimize Omicron transmission, students and faculty returned to campus after the new year. However, the repercussions of that brief virtual hiatus live on today. Specifically, after returning from break, students on campus were greeted with some classmates remaining home due to Covid-19 infection or contact, echoing the hybrid model of last year.
“Symptoms are key here,” said Assistant Head of School for Operations Dr. Kelley Nicholson-Flynn. “If someone is sick, they need to go home as opposed to fishing out every viral particle from a population of 1,600 people.” The administration also revised safety guidelines to require a negative test before returning to campus, higher-quality masks such as KN-95, N95, or surgical masks, the booster shot once eligible, and masking both indoors and outdoors. These updated health protocols allowed the community to return to school with Covid-19 under control.
The importance of in-person learning, Dr. Nicholson-Flynn acknowledged, goes beyond Covid-19. “Students need to be in school not only for learning and social and emotional development, but it is actually one of the safest places to be because Riverdale has all these protections in place,” she said.
While understanding that the administration is trying its best to keep up with the unpredictability of the virus, junior Priscilla Jiménez highlighted how students, without much control, are forced to simply trust that the school is creating these protocols in their best interest. Jiménez feels there has been a lack of communication, especially in response to the “seemingly random” remote day on Friday, January 14, when only parents received an informational email. She thinks “the administration has [missed] opportunities in the past to send out surveys or hold Zoom meetings where students could express their opinions on how [Covid-19] is being handled.”
Forced to adapt seemingly in an instant and return to a state many thought was in the rear-view mirror, the Riverdale community is now coping with the surge in cases and new protocols in different ways. While students understand the importance of new guidelines to keep everyone safe from Omicron, some are still upset that increased masking has exacerbated feelings of detachment between friends and teachers. As Jiménez recognizes, students are “hesitant to follow stricter guidelines not to be ‘rebellious’ but to be able to connect with their friends in such a pivotal part of their life.” Switching between remote and virtual days contributes to this disconnection between peers and can be disrupting to students’ routines, adding to their stress.
When talking about students’ mental health during Covid-19, many often overlook the mental health of faculty members as they handle switching between virtual and in-person teaching. While Mr. Randolph assured that Covid-19 at Riverdale was no higher than the baseline risk, for many teachers, returning to school after break was scary, especially since some have to think about the safety of their children at home. Students appreciate the ways in which many teachers are adapting their classes to fit a hybrid setting and reducing stress for students, all while keeping a positive attitude during difficult times.
The administration acknowledges this detachment and fear that students and faculty may feel and is trying to listen and respond to people’s needs. To minimize the financial burden of buying the higher-grade masks required by Riverdale’s guidelines, the school bought KN-95 and surgical masks for students and faculty. To help people cope with isolation and loss, Dr. Nicholson-Flynn recommends reaching out to Director of Student Life Ms. Christina Young and the counseling team.
Even though Covid-19 transmission is decreasing in New York, Omicron and other variants continue to teach the Riverdale community that the virus will likely be around for a while, maybe even reaching endemicity. Infectious disease doctor at the University of California, San Francisco Dr. Monica Gandhi said, “what an endemic phase of a viral infection means is that it’s not causing the terrible hospitalizations of the pandemic phase, but that we’ll have enough immunity of a population so it’s kept down to low levels.”
Recently, there has been controversy around viewing Covid-19 as endemic because to some, it means giving up on the fight to eradicate Covid-19 completely. To others, endemicity simply signifies the need to move forward and live with the virus using the necessary safety precautions.
While they acknowledge that the unreliability of the virus makes talking about the future difficult and speculative, Dr. Nicholson-Flynn and Mr. Randolph caution the Riverdale community from viewing the virus as endemic immediately. Mr. Randolph claims there are two aspects to endemic diseases: “One is that it actually becomes endemic, like the flu or colds. Another thing is the way people, in their heads, view the disease.” To Mr. Randolph, these are two criteria that New York has not arrived at yet. However, he recognizes how the Omicron scare has certainly brought the Riverdale community to a transitional phase, where people do not view Covid-19 as endemic yet. Riverdale is increasingly moving in this direction with the possibility of new variants like Omicron causing continual fluctuations in cases on campus. Dr. Nicholson-Flynn is careful using the word “endemic” with Covid-19 because she does not want to diminish the significance and danger of current endemic diseases like malaria.
Looking ahead, Riverdale plans to handle the unpredictability of Covid-19 by continuing to adapt their guidelines depending on the climate of the virus in New York and the Bronx. Mr. Randolph and Jiménez both remain on the “conversative” side when it comes to Covid-19 protocols to minimize transmission. Nonetheless, as people start gaining more immunity with regular vaccinations and boosters, Dr. Nicholson-Flynn is hopeful that Riverdale’s restrictions will continue to decrease, especially since they already have compared to last year.
However, as the Riverdale community grows tired with Covid-19 resurgences and variants like Omicron, it becomes easy to adopt an apathetic mindset towards the virus, possibly leading to resistance to safety guidelines such as wearing masks or submitting Covid tests. To prevent this mentality, it is important for Riverdale to be honest about the fact that many are drained and frustrated, which could lead to important conversations about mental health at Riverdale. Jiménez also suggests “having empathy for one another, recognizing that, even having been in a pandemic for years, there are still things that we are learning, and just remaining patient.” Ultimately, as Jiménez understands, the only way to reach a “finish line” with fewer public health protocols is for the Riverdale community to be the most cautious during these last stages of the pandemic.
