On October 13, 2020, DMAE held its annual Back to School Night for parents and guardians to meet their child’s teachers. Only, this year, the event was held virtually due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. After much consultation, Principal Benjamin Suro, his administrative team, and Superintendent Robert Kravitz collectively decided to provide an “asynchronous” resource that parents and guardians could access whenever they would like to. 

“The decision [to conduct Back to School Night] was made to go virtually so that we can continue to prioritize the health and safety of everyone in our DMHS community,” Mr. Suro said.

Starting October 13, parents and guardians were able to access videos that their child’s teachers had prepared and uploaded prior to the event. To do so, they simply had to go to the school website and find a dropdown menu for Back to School Night. A list of all DMHS teachers’ names then appeared in alphabetical order. Parents could then find different teachers’ videos upon clicking their names.

“I really appreciate the teachers who took time out of their day to create informative videos for parents and students who were curious about how this year’s virtual curriculum would work,” junior Anais Lee commented.

In the uploaded videos, teachers introduced themselves, shared their grading policies, and told parents and guardians their expectations for the new school year. While many parents and guardians found the videos to be enjoyable and convenient, many also experienced technical difficulties along the way, from having a video that would not load or play, to not being able to find a teacher’s name on the list. 

According to sophomore Laura Almanza’s mother, “The concept of the videos was an amazing idea because I was able to meet my child’s teachers this year, but on the set time and day not all the videos were available to watch.” 

However, despite these obstacles, having a virtual Back to School Night ensured the safety of both parents and faculty amidst this Covid-19 pandemic. As we continue with remote learning, the school plans to continue to hold real time and asynchronous events moving forward to connect everyone in the DMAE community together in this time of uncertainty.