Just eight weeks ago, on Sunday, March 8th, Dr. Paul sent an internal video to the Manzanita staff discussing the growing spread of coronavirus, and reviewing protocols and considerations moving forward. He sent an updated version of that video to Manzanita parents the following Wednesday, March 11th, which was the same day that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a “Global Pandemic.” Friday of that week (March 13th), Manzanita School dismissed students early from the Big Rock Campus. This was the last time we were all together at the same location. Five days later, on Wednesday March 18th, we launched Manzanita Bridge Virtual School.

During this time, our programming has supported students’ personal development, academic learning, nature connection, and community connections. We have been steadfast in our commitment to our Schoolwide Learner Outcomes (listed below) in the conceptualization of our programs, while also recognizing that: (1) learning in times of crises must look differently; (2) screens are a challenging medium for engagement; and (3) families are experiencing considerable upheaval and turmoil that requires our flexibility and responsiveness. In addition to our student programming, Manzanita has provided weekly opportunities for parents to convene in formal and informal settings online, and has continued to send both visioning and pandemic updates in our weekly bulletin, The Manzanita Message. We have also established a COVID-19 information page on our website, which you can access here.

This report describes the current programming and scheduling of all MNZ Bridge classes and includes an explanation of where we are prioritizing instruction in these unusual times.

National Research on School Closures

A number of rigorous national surveys have been conducted over the past 8 weeks, of teachers in public and private schools nationally. The majority of teachers do not have daily interactions with their students, and less than 10% of teachers report multiple daily interactions with students. At the end of March, nearly a fifth of respondents reported zero interactions with their students since the school buildings had closed. Still, by April 8th, more than 60% of teachers reported interacting only weekly, at most. Also, the majority of reported interactions were by email, not through video-conferencing. It is therefore rare for teachers nationally to be offering instruction and interaction on a daily basis to their students, and to do so in ‘real-time’ through video conferencing. While only 16% of districts and teachers reported being “ZOOM-bombed” in which there was an inappropriate access to their ZOOM classes, a large number of districts prohibited the use of ZOOM due to the perceived risks. This, despite the company upgrading many of their security measures. Nationally, only 6% of high school teachers have interacted with their students via video-conferencing. On average, teachers are reporting that upwards of 21% of their students are effectively ‘truant,’ not participating in school at all at this time. Manzanita has not experienced truancy since launching Manzanita Bridge. All students are present and accounted for. You can learn more about the results of this study at this link.

Results from national survey of public and private school teachers, March and April, 2020

In consideration of these unusual times, with respect for our Schoolwide Learner Outcomes, and acknowledging the unique structure of virtual learning, all student work and engagement at this time falls into these five categories:

1. Academic Learning –620 minutes weekly, and comprised of Unit of Study, Daily Sit Spt Journaling, Numeracy, Literacy, Independent Study Blocks, Cultural Studies for 4th-8th, and Spanish for High School.

2. Embodied Learning –385 minutes weekly, and comprised of Stewardship Class, Naturalist Class, Stewardship Projects, Nature Connection, and Sit Spots.

3. Creativity, Movement, & Choice Learning –175 minutes weekly, and comprised of Visual Art, Vitality, Drawdown Arts, and Explorations.

4. Community Connections –235 minutes weekly, and comprised of Morning Check-In, Class Council, Community-Wide Assembly, and Closing Gratitude.

5. Personal Connections –90 minutes weekly, and comprised of Office Hours, Moxie Block Meetings (High School only), Stew Mentor Office Hours, and Naturalist Mentor Office Hours.

The time allocations for instruction within each of these five categories are shown in the table below. This table is followed by more detailed descriptions of each of the five areas of instruction.

OVERVIEW: Our Instructional Minutes Online and Offline

When looking at instructional minutes in the table above, you can see important priorities and emphasis for our MNZ Bridge program.

During the regular MNZ school day (that is, when we were on campus), we were in school from 8:30am-3:30pm. Accounting for lunch, recess, and passing periods, our total instructional time was approximately 5½ hours daily. Adding homework to this, MNZ students on average experienced about 6.5 hours of schoolwork daily, before the lockdown. During this pandemic however, this total number has changed. Presently, our instructional minutes comes to 5 hours daily, with 3 hours of it online, and 2 hours offline. (NOTE: this total is averaged across the week, remembering that Tues. and Th. have less screen time than M-W-F). This means that during the pandemic, students are experiencing 30% less schoolwork, in terms of ‘time on task.’ How MNZ Bridge has prioritized the allocation of minutes is also different. Due to the impersonal nature of digital learning, 10% of our ‘on-screen’ time now at MNZ Bridge is dedicated to one-on-one meetings with mentors (via Office Hours) to support our students in sustaining connections to their teachers and mentors, and the important feeling of ‘belonging’ which research shows is essential to healthy adolescent development. Similarly, with respect to ‘embodied learning,’ (Stewardship and Nature Connection) which are central to our Schoolwide Learning Outcomes,’ we have addressed this commitment through the introduction of one-on-one Stew and Naturalist office hours, regular Stew and Naturalist class sessions, and carefully monitored independent work outside of the ZOOM rooms. While our direct instructional minutes for Numeracy and Literacy during MNZ Bridge are less than they would be during on-campus learning, they remain considerably more than most other public and private schools nationwide during this pandemic, where schools are reporting very limited video-conferencing as part of their regular instructional offerings (NOTE: this allocation difference between MNZ and other schools refers to ‘direct instruction’ in an online class, not independent work which students are doing on their own).

We now turn to a discussion of the specific instructional domains within each of the five categories above, describing what MNZ Bridge is offering within: (1) Academic Learning; (2) Embodied Learning; (3) Creativity, Movement & Choice; (4) Community Connections; and (5) Personal Connections.

Academic Learning

As noted above, this category includes five diverse academic areas. Additionally, there are independent work assignments scheduled on a daily basis for students. As educators, we are aware how the stresses and traumas of these times will impact students, and in particular how emotional disruption can impact normal capacities for academic learning. Leading researchers are describing the importance of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) at this time. Manzanita is grateful for our ongoing commitment to providing these personal support systems, as we describe below. You can read some of this important research on Social Emotional Learning, and the traumas of pandemic for students here and here.

Sit Spot Journaling is conducted immediately after (or shortly after) the Sit Spot is completed, and is an independent activity. There are writing prompts developed by each class’s teachers (usually the naturalist in collaboration with the Unit of Study teacher). Sometimes students also draw or sketch as part of the reflection. Students submit their journal entries for review by teachers (15 minutes daily, Academic and Creative Learning).

Unit of Study class is held 2-3 times weekly (twice one week, three times the next). Unit of Study in the second semester at Manzanita is focused on The Great Turning, an interdisciplinary class emphasizing cultural changes relevant to our contemporary situation as a community, with a special focus on changes which indicate general shifts in humanity towards more egalitarian structures. With the recent pandemic, teachers have been meeting to re-conceptualize this content so that they are addressing the current themes impacting our lives, looking in particular at such things as equity, and how the virus has impacted groups differently based on race and socioeconomics (125 minutes weekly, Academic Content).

Numeracy class is held three times over two weeks in grades 4 through 8, and twice weekly in high school. Our focus is on maintaining the levels of learning achieved thus far in the year. The introduction of new content has prioritized accessible material, as well as math knowledge that is relevant to these times, such as probability, statistics, and exponential growth (70 minutes weekly grades 4-8, 110 minutes weekly, high school, Academic Content).

Literacy class is held weekly. It has been redesigned to serve primarily as an adjunct to Unit of Study, where writing can support the interdisciplinary content of our science-humanities program. Additional writing happens through daily journaling, which is focused in experiences at the Sit Spot, and is reviewed by class naturalists and UoS teachers. (45 minutes weekly, Academic Content).

Spanish class serves grades 9 through 12, and includes activities focused on the methods of “Total Physical Response” (TPR), as well as vocabulary building and grammar (45 minutes weekly, Academic Content).

Cultural & Geographic Literacy class serves grades 4 through 8, and brings students into contact with diverse cultures through their music, rituals, home ecologies/geographies, foods, customs, and beliefs. (45 minutes weekly, Academic Content).

Independent Academic Blocks includes work that is assigned and completed outside of school hours, usually divided among Numeracy, Literacy, and Unit of Study (240 minutes weekly, Academic Content).

Embodied Learning

We are especially sensitive to the profoundly therapeutic role that nature connection can have for students in this time. We have dedicated considerable staff resources to supporting regular ongoing daily time in nature, as well as helping students initiate their own land stewarding projects at home. You can read more about the importance of nature for coping with stress here.

Sit Spots are a daily, independent activity completed outdoors, and involves students returning to the same location daily in their yard, on a balcony, or in a nearby natural space. This is an observational, still, listening activity. At times, there is a prompt for a specific noticing or reflection (15 minutes daily, Embodied and Experiential Learning).

Stewardship Class group meets weekly. This is a cross-grade-level group that has been together since the beginning of the school year. The group meets to discuss students’ individual projects at home, which range from gardening, to cleaning, to composting (50 minutes weekly, Creativity, Embodied Learning, Community Connections).

Naturalist Class meets weekly with the grade-level classmates. The group meets to discuss students’ nature connection work, to break down the Daily Sit Spot prompts, and to undertake nature connections practices in the home environment and report back to the group (50 minutes weekly, Creativity, Embodied Learning).

Stewardship Projects are undertaken weekly on an independent basis, off-screen and at home. The structure of these is dependent upon student capacities and home resources, and support for these is carried by the Stewardship mentor during the Stew Mentor Office Hours (105 minutes weekly, Embodied Learning).

Nature Connection is undertaken weekly on an independent basis, off-screen and at home. The structure of this nature connection work is dependent upon student the ecology of the home environment, and support for this work is supported by the Naturalist mentor during the Naturalist Mentor Office Hours (105 minutes weekly, Embodied Learning).

Creativity, Movement, & Choice Learning

We are grateful that Ms. Melissa is supporting students in stretching and movement, while Ms. Cecilie and Ms. Jenny are providing engaging creative lessons through the Visual Arts and Drawdown Arts classes. Additionally, we have created a choice-based Explorations class. Both our Office Hours and Explorations give students greater sense of autonomy, which research shows is very important for engagement in learning. You can read about that here. If you haven’t read about the correlations between the arts and learning, you can do so here.

Vitality class is held at least once weekly for all classes. Ms. Melissa provides directed stretching, core work, and cardiovascular exercises (45 minutes weekly, Movement).

Visual Art class is held at least once weekly for all classes. Ms. Jenny provides directed lessons, and independent work during each class. Student show or upload their work. One of these lessons was featured in a slide show during the MNZ Bridge Ceremony on April 24th (45 minutes weekly, Creativity).

Drawdown Arts class is held once weekly for all classes. This is a new offering which we added to provide a time for weekly work to address climate change during this pandemic, recognizing the correlations between coronavirus and human impacts on the natural world. Ms. Cecilie provides directed lessons, independent work, and creative projects during her classes (25 minutes weekly, Creativity, Academics. NOTE: This class meets for 45 minutes, of which 20 minutes has an academic focus, and 25 minutes a more creative focus. For this reason, it appears under both categories of instruction, with the minutes divided appropriately).

Explorations class is an elective that meets each Friday, and which provides students with a chance to be in smaller, cross-grade-level groups, and to connect with a favorite mentor, while engaging in self-selected projects (60 minutes weekly, Creativity, Community Connections, Academics).

Community Connections

During the pandemic, we have continued to build powerful mechanisms for students to see their larger school community in the Schoolwide Assembly, and have small group interactions with their classmates during morning and afternoon check-ins. Additionally, beginning after Spring Break, we have build regular weekly Council into the schedule on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This more extended block allows for in-depth sharing of stories with classmates. There has been growing evidence that feelings of loneliness and isolation among youth are becoming increasing mental health challenges during the time of the pandemic. We are grateful to support regular feelings of inclusion and group connectivity, even in this virtual medium. You can read about some creative uses of ZOOM here.

Morning Check-In happens at the beginning of every day, within the Unit of Study, grade-level ZOOM classroom. Students usually share briefly about a recent experience and they may share a gratitude (10-12 minutes daily, Community Connections)

Class Council happens twice weekly. This is a more formal means of building connection and facilitating the student community. (30-40 minutes, Community Connections)

Community-Wide Assembly happens three times weekly and involve all students and all staff coming together in one big ZOOM room. There are announcements, student work profiles (usually ‘how-to’ videos), inspiring messages, and some academic content with followup assignments. These are usually hosted by Dr. Paul or the high school students, and provide an opportunity for school-wide connection around program changes, important protocols, and current information (45 minutes weekly, Community Connections, Academic Learning).

Closing Gratitude represents the last 10 minutes of every day, when grade-level peers come together with their Unit of Study mentor for a closing gratitude (50 minutes weekly, Community Connections)

Personal Connections

In an early survey of our students during the pandemic, there was considerably favorable support for our use of “Office Hours” at Manzanita Bridge. We have since expanded this format to allow Stewardship mentors and Naturalists time to meet with their students in this more personal setting.

Office Hours are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and students sign up to meet with a mentor for 10 minutes, one-on-one on each of these days. Students who are identified as struggling in any area (attendance, emotionally, academically), can be booked for double slots with specific mentors. Office Hours are a significant commitment of our school at this time, as we find that one-one-one connections are very important to the emotional lives of students. There is choice for who students will visit during office hours. Additionally, we maintain active digital files on all students, noting any challenges they may be having. Mentors review these documents before holding office hours so they can support students around specific issues. All 25 mentors slotted for Office Hours at Manzanita see 3-4 students on each of the three days, for an average of over 220 one-one-one mentoring meetings each week (30 minutes weekly, Personal Connections).

Moxie Block Meetings are held for the high school students only, with their MXB mentors. These meetings are generally held during Office Hours, and are usually double-blocks (20 minutes) at a minimum (20-30 minutes weekly, Personal Connections, Academic Content).

Stew Mentor Office Hours are held with individual students and with small groups from the cross-grade-level stewardship team. These meetings help to trouble-shoot and brainstorm for the home-based stewardship projects, and to build connection with the Stew mentor (15 minutes weekly, Personal Connections, Community Connections)

Naturalist Mentor Office Hours are held with individual students and with small groups from their grade-level class. These meetings help to support home-based stewardship nature connection work, and to build connection with the Naturalist mentor (15 minutes weekly, Personal Connections, Community Connections)

The weekly schedule below shows where each of the instructional areas appear during the course of the week. We appreciate the importance of routines and consistency for students during this difficult time, and we have sought to make limited changes to this schedule. You can learn about the importance of routines here and here. 

Conclusion

During this global pandemic, we have all been restricted to our homes, venturing out for necessary activities like shopping, to move our bodies for exercise, to play with our children in the fresh air, and to attend work in essential jobs. At Manzanita, we are grateful to leverage technology to stay connected as a community, and to support our unique programming for our students.

That said, converting Manzanita School to an online program has faced challenges not typically found in other schools. Many of Manzanita’s “Schoolwide Learner Outcomes” (SLOs) –which answer the question of ‘why are we here as a school?’- are directly contrary to screen-time and require intensive personal mentoring. Nature-connection, land stewardship, and the tending of a student’s ‘intrinsic gift,’ to name a few, all suffer in the absence of land, space, and direct human contact. Our 12 Schoolwide Learner Outcomes (SLOs) are arranged into three categories: (1) Core Academics; (2) Embodied Learning; and (3) Guiding Principles/Central Questions. Only the first of these is quickly amenable to digital learning, and meeting this challenge has propelled our creativity as a virtual school.

We are aware that students are feeling anxious and uncertain, they are lonely and restless, cooped up and frustrated. Adding to this list, parents experience the reality of financial uncertainty, caregiver exhaustion, and an existential-type crisis as we adults attempt to predict an uncertain future by understanding a complex present. Nothing is particularly easy.

As a team of educators and mentors, we have considered these many realities in deciding how Manzanita Bridge Virtual School should look, and what it would offer to students and families.

The teachers and administrators at Manzanita are discussing all of this regularly, in long, after-hours meetings, during Spring Break and weekends, pushing through the haze of ZOOM-FOG to hold this precious school and beloved community closely in our hearts and effectively in our ZOOM Rooms, while simultaneously working to tend ourselves and our families. We have made concrete decisions to provide a very specific schedule of activities and assignments to keep students engaged, connected, learning, and hopeful. We are proud of our successes and our ongoing evolution, and we trust you can feel our abiding love, commitment, and dedication.

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Parents, please look out for a brief survey coming your way as we collect some of your experiences during this time of Manzanita Bridge Virtual School. —Thank you!

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NOTE: You can view and/or download a PDF version of this report at this link.