My young-adult children are increasing their vigilance of my wife and me regarding our COVID- 19 protective behaviors, demanding that we “don’t blow it now after all we have sacrificed this year to avoid getting COVID-19!” They want us to keep our guard up for another month or two as we await our turn for the vaccine. “No shortcuts, and beware of the new strains!”

Meanwhile, I have now received my first request from a North Star parent to consider re- opening our building to teens immediately. This parent has good intentions for their child and for other families, and seems to be influenced by the widespread cultural message to “Get the kids back in school immediately!” I worked to maintain reasonable civility, but I felt a surge of anger and defensiveness while swallowing my near exclamation of “No Way!” I believe I speak for all of the staff at North Star when I say that we really wish to be in-person rather than on Zoom, for ourselves as much as for the teens and families. But, “No.”

I enjoy my twice-per-month hikes with North Star members, and seeing them chat and even hold hands (gloved) warms my heart. All of us are craving this face-to-face interaction, no matter how frequently we see each other on Zoom. The past few months of cold weather have been particularly difficult, as socializing with others mostly requires walking, hiking, or other outdoor movement. Even the social activity of sitting around a campfire with neighbors has not been comfortable.

However, now that we have come this far and are hopefully close to widespread vaccinations, I am not willing to take undue risks for myself and my family (nor to risk the disapproval of said children), nor am I willing to request staff to do so, either. (Good news: two of the nine North Star Core Staff members have received their second vaccinations.) Even more, consider what re-opened schools are using for in-person protocols:

• Limited people per room
• Students staying in one room for the day
• Students staying with same cohort for the day
• Students facing forward, no group work
• Strong ventilation throughout the building

Given North Star’s building and room size, this would mean 1-3 people per small room. Our common room and studio might manage 5-8 people in rigid alignment? These safeguards do not mesh with our program nor our building. We are simply not ready to be indoors together again.

I am re-reading some of my earlier blogs describing North Star’s response to the pandemic:

• March 15: 2020: Keeping Our Distance to Flatten the Curve – now woefully innocent but otherwise reasonable.
• April 8, 2020: Learning About Online Learning – solid reflections that stand the passage of the year
• August 1, 2020: Safe Centers for Online Learning – this one remains my public policy recommendation. Please read it now as it still merits implementation by public and private schools. Alas, the North Star building is not suited to this proposal.

I wish our experiences were more informative and revealing, but as we all have experienced, there is no short-term solution to this pandemic. I don’t have much new to offer. What was true in the Fall is still true now. I look forward to Spring, and being able to offer some outdoor- only days at North Star again, as we did back in September and October. With a bit of luck, and with improved responses from our federal, state, and local governments, I anticipate being together in-person in the Fall.

For now, I say good-bye to February, and welcome March with all of its spring tidings.