Throughout the whole school year of 2020-2021, many changes were made for the school year and many kids and teachers had to adapt to the changing environment due to covid-19. Covid-19 was a virus that hit America in March of 2020, and it caused the schools around the country to adapt and move to online-only learning structures forcing students and teachers to stay at home.

This large shift in society and school led to a big difference in learning. At the beginning of the school year, Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) decided to shift to a block schedule and shorten the length of the school day. This was because the virus was very stressful and impacted many students within the school system. FUSD decided not to stress out the students further by sending them to long school hours with all their classes and homework. This change in the school system of a block schedule was very important and good for the students and their mental health because it gave students more time to do their homework and it gave students more time to breathe during their classes.

This change was good for me because it lowered my stress levels throughout my junior year, and it made my AP classes more digestible because I only needed to focus on half of them every day. This change in class schedules was amazing for students and teachers in general. The school day was very short in the first semester of online learning, and it only went from 9-12:30, but FUSD decided to change that for the Spring semester, which was a good idea because it helped students learn more throughout the year, and it helped teachers teach their students more because of the elongated class times. Many students were frustrated in the change to longer classes, but overall, it was a positive change that helped many students learn more and gear for AP tests.  

In the 2020-2021 school year, students were not allowed on campus for most of the year, but that changed as Fresno began to show fewer positivity rates of the virus. This change occurred on April 6th, and it was the first time in the school year that students were allowed to go back on campus. This was a very big change and many students decided not to return in person because they believed that it wasn’t right for them. This shift in online learning showed that many students preferred to be online more because they have more time, and they get to do more in the day since they are at home and can do whatever they want when the school day ends.

The addition of in-person school was good for many students who needed help and more one on one time with teachers, and it helped improve the grades of many students who lost motivation through the pandemic. The addition of in-person school was a necessary change for people who needed that extra boost in motivation to finish off the school year strong, and it was also nice for teachers as well because it brought them closer to their students than they were before. It made teachers and students feel more comfortable with learning, but some students were already extremely comfortable with online learning, so the hybrid option was amazing for both groups of students. 

Overall, the school year of 2020-2021 brought about a lot of shifts education-wise and community-wise on the Edison campus. It was a very tough year for most students, but this time away from everyone was great for students to grow, mature, and reflect upon themselves. This was a very different year for teachers as well and now everyone appreciates how amazing in persona and social interaction was at school every day.

This change also made people value the little things in life such as seeing your friends and hanging out with the people closest to you. This was a very insightful school year for many, and it isn’t one to forget because it changed the lives of so many people and it helped shape how people view the world, and overall, it brought everyone closer together.