Since San Francisco public schools closed on March 16 in response to the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, Lourdes Alarcon has been in quarantine taking care of her 8th grade son and 5th grade daughter. She has also been watching a friend\u2019s 2-year-old son during the day so that she can continue working at a local market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alarcon says that the tasks of providing childcare, maintaining a home, and making sure her kids keep up on their studies have been a huge lift. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re a single mother out there you really need some support, not only from the teachers but from anybody in the community that can send you some love,\u201d Alarcon said,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
San Francisco Unified School District opened classes via Zoom teleconferencing on Monday, April 13. Alarcon was relieved to have her children back in regular learning sessions with their teachers, and her kids were excited to see their teachers and classmates again. But she says that even with virtual classes beginning, having her kids learn from home over the computer hasn\u2019t been perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen they\u2019re going to the teacher it\u2019s a different feeling and energy,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re human beings, even if the technology tries to fulfill all the needs, the presence of a teacher is something else, it\u2019s something that has a soul.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Alarcon also mentioned that technology and language have been barriers even more than usual for her family and other families trying to access online learning as well as administrative business with the district. She says she is helping about 10 other families navigate enrollment for next school year as well getting onto Zoom classes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard because they couldn\u2019t deal with the school system, and now it\u2019s even worse because they cannot deal with the education online,\u201d she said. \u201cI cannot deal with it and I\u2019m good at English, tell me about the Spanish speaking families?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SFUSD Board Vice President Gabriela Lopez, who also works for the Mission Neighborhood Centers, says the school system\u2019s focus should be to take every step with empathy and leniency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still helping families get adjusted to this process and supporting them in understanding the technology, getting access to it in general,\u201d she said. \u201cI continue to emphasize the need to understand that we\u2019re all learning through this together, we\u2019re all adjusting, we\u2019re putting in our best efforts. And unfortunately the first show of this will probably not be everything we want it to be. But that\u2019s where we get the feedback to keep building and keep learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frank Lara teaches a bilingual Spanish-English 5th grade class at Buena Vista Horace Mann Community School in the Mission, which is where Alarcon\u2019s children go. He shares Alarcon\u2019s concerns that virtual classrooms are not a proper replacement for the real thing, but stresses that it is equally important that the school system tries to preserve the social relationship it had to the families it served. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of talk about equity and social justice. In San Francisco what was making that somewhat successful was the schools themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cWe provided a shelter for families that didn\u2019t have homes, we provided a food bank, we provided parent development. And now the one thing that seemed to be helping is gone, and you can\u2019t replicate that virtually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Mayor London Breed\u2019s office announced on April 9, that following the district\u2019s decision to close schools until the end of the school year, San Francisco\u2019s emergency youth and child care centers will remain open until at least the end of the academic year, providing the children of essential workers as well as low-income families childcare and three meals a day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lopez believes that this measure will fill in for some of the most essential services that schools usually provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInitially the reason why we didn\u2019t close sooner was because we were providing food and childcare, that was the main concern from families,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lara said that though systemic short-comings are affecting families more than ever now, they are symptoms of underlying problems that have always existed but are being exposed in new ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur school serves 70 percent free and reduced lunch which is the measure of poverty in schools, so our school had a lot of economic needs to begin with,\u201d he said. \u201cNow we\u2019re seeing that a lot of these families were laid-off work, they\u2019re struggling to pay rent, many of them still work, whether they\u2019re called essential workers or they\u2019re workers who are trying to eek out a living even in unsafe conditions, their children are having to be at home and that\u2019s a reality we have to face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the struggles in the past few weeks, Lopez sees some hope in how communities and the school system have stayed resilient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s become an opportunity to explore how we can accommodate and support everyone during this time, and not to forget that when we do get to where we get to in the future, we had the ability, we all stepped up,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re getting resources and funding, we\u2019re connecting with city agencies, we\u2019re connecting with community-based organizations. All of that combined has created this community-driven work, really coming together.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lara echoed a similarly hopeful idea: \u201cIt is a moment to reflect on the importance of social programs that uplift families, that\u2019s much more important than the stock exchange, it\u2019s the well-being of our families, and we\u2019re seeing that in public schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alarcon, in addition to helping out other families with childcare and access to school resources, was heartened by the support she has received from local organizations like Parent Voices and Horizons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to support my community, and I\u2019m realizing that we\u2019re all so strong. Oh my goodness I realize we are so strong,\u201d she said. \u201cI have faith that we\u2019ll get through it, it\u2019s just another challenge.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
*Editor\u2019s note: Joseph High is a journalism student in SF State\u2019s Journalism 575 Community Media this spring. Taught by professor Jon Funabiki, the class is a collaboration with El Tecolote. Since San Francisco public schools closed on March 16 in response to the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, Lourdes Alarcon has been in quarantine taking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":43447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[18556,18588],"coauthors":[18585],"class_list":["post-43445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-covid-19-en","tag-jour-575","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n