COVID-19

On March 13th, 2020 COVID-19 went from a distant classroom discussion to reality. After the parent of a Masco student was infected during a business conference, Masco decided to close for one Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to clean the school and ensure the students’ safety (Harvey “Masconomet Closed, 3/13/2020”). Only a day later, the school was officially closed for two weeks (Harvey “School Closed March 15th to March 29th”). With students at home, the school scrambled to find a solution. COVID-19 cases were increasing, so in-person school was canceled for the rest of the year (WCVB). Masco used Blackboard Collaborate, an online classroom portal where students could learn remotely. During this time, students had two classes per day, each 1½ hours long (Delani “HS REMOTE LEARNING PLAN VIRTUAL CLASS ASSEMBLIES & NEW SCHEDULES ”). Grades were based on a pass/fail system and finals were canceled (Delani “High School 2nd Semester Grading”). Graduation was held outside on the football field on August 1st instead of June due to Covid-19 restrictions. Students and guests brought chairs and spread out 6 feet apart. After graduation, students paraded from the football field to the field hockey field (Delani “GRADUATION INFORMATION”).

After summer vacation drew to a close, Masconomet students returned for the 2020-2021 school year remotely. School began on September 21, 2020, three weeks later than a usual school year, to give teachers time to prepare and learn how to teach remotely. Online classes resumed with a 4 period per day schedule. Certain fall sports were restarted but the sports deemed “high risk” were pushed to a “Fall II” season in between the winter and spring season (Delani “School Opening Letter”). In October, the school committee deemed it was safe enough for students to return to school, but limited the number of students in the building at a time. The school was split into two “cohorts”, cohort A and cohort B, the cohorts would alternate their days at school. Students also had the choice to stay fully remote, which was labeled cohort D (Delani “Hybrid Learning Information and Cohort Assignments”). Students who chose to return in person were required to follow strict rules to ensure safety. The high school had one-way halls and stairs with arrows directing which direction to walk in. Students had to spray down their desks after each class ended. They also had a fifteen-minute mask break during the fourth period of the day where students could leave the building. Lunches were held in the field house and students had to sit in alphabetical order six feet apart in rows. School started at 7:35 with the first period and students who arrived earlier than 7:20 waited under a tent beside the school (“Hybrid Learning Student Protocols”).

In the October meeting, the school committee also decided to change to a seven-period schedule, more reminiscent of the normal schedule. Many students did not like the new schedule and a petition was formed to bring back the four-period schedule. There were a total of 1,114 signatures from the Masco community supporting the petition (McCall). In November the school committee compromised with the student body, not to switch back to the former schedule, but to create a new “What-I-Need” (WIN) period that acted as a free period for students to contact teachers and get school work done. The new WIN period was received well by the students of Masco, many commenting that it decreased the stress of the long workday (Waters). In May, Masco removed the hybrid system and gave the students the choice of in-person or remote school. Students who chose in-person school were required to come to school every day (Harvey “Masconomet Reopening Update”). Only a few weeks after the school opened at full capacity was what would normally be the start of senior internships. Due to the pandemic, 2021 internships were canceled. Masco’s solution to this was creating online “Senior Workshops” where students would listen to presentations by workers in different careers. In June, Masco hosted graduation for the Class of 2021 which took place under an enormous tent on the football field. Graduating seniors reflected on their challenging year and all the memories they shared (Convey).