At first, many schools announced it would last only a couple weeks. A year later, the unplanned experiment with distance learning continues for thousands of students who have yet to set foot back in classrooms.
Comfortable homes and private tutors have made it easier for those with access. Expectations are higher at some schools than others. And growing numbers of students are being offered in-person instruction at least part time.
But students of all backgrounds have faced struggles with technology, the distractions of home life, and social isolation. The Associated Press followed four students on a typical day to find out how they鈥檙e coping a year into the coronavirus pandemic.
It鈥檚 not quite 9 a.m. and Kristen King is on her living room couch, a Chromebook propped on a TV tray.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been challenging,鈥� says the 17-year-old junior at Americus-Sumter High School in Georgia. 鈥淚 like hands-on help from my teachers. We can鈥檛 really see our friends, like our school friends. We can鈥檛 really socialize with them. We can鈥檛 really do anything.鈥�
Her Advanced Placement English instructor puts on a recording of a speech President George W. Bush gave on Sept. 11 鈥� part of a discussion about tone in writing and speaking.
Kristen, who is not a morning person, fights off yawns, plays music to help her focus and messages with friends.
鈥淭he first 30 minutes of class, I won鈥檛 really be there,鈥� she says.
In Espa帽ola, New Mexico, Javin Lujan Lopez joins a video chat with his football teammates for study hall. It鈥檚 a way for the Pojoaque Elks football players to spend time alone, together.
His first class is finance. When the teacher asks how the owner of a lemonade stand might increase their profits, Javin types his answer in the chat: 鈥淩aise the price of the lemonade.鈥�
He moves on to his only other class of the day, physical education. The 17-year-old senior has a camera set up to show him on the porch, where he has a bench press and weights. But when the teacher announces the students don鈥檛 have to log their workouts, Javin says he鈥檚 not even going to go for a run.
He鈥檒l be exercising at football practice, and besides, his friends are online now, playing Call of Duty.
Barefoot and eating a bagel, 13-year-old Graciela Leahy settles in front of her iMac for a stretch of nearly six straight hours at her bedroom desk.
Her parents invested their first pandemic money from the government to create separate rooms for Graciela, an eighth grader at Ohio鈥檚 Columbus Gifted Academy, and her younger sister.
Graciela鈥檚 mom, Elisa Leahy, is quick to point out the privilege of having such flexibility, noting friends in Columbus鈥� immigrant community who have more challenging circumstances or primarily speak Spanish had a harder time navigating the transition.
Still, there are hiccups. In Graciela鈥檚 band class 鈥� now mainly music theory 鈥� the instructor yells at his cat and takes attendance, wondering aloud why a quarter of the class is absent.
Her English teacher is out with COVID-19, so another oversees the reading of 鈥淩omeo and Juliet.鈥� A classmate holds a baby brother during history class, where the teacher鈥檚 efforts to keep students鈥� attention include a video that imagines Napoleon Bonaparte playing 鈥淟et鈥檚 Make a Deal鈥� over the Louisiana Purchase.
At 11 a.m. Angelina Mistretta spins fidget toys as lessons stream through headphones, keeping her hands busy in hopes her mind will engage, too.
When in-person school stopped, the expectations that come with attending City Honors High School in Buffalo, New York, did not. On the 16-year-old junior鈥檚 schedule this year are International Baccalaureate literature, AP history, Algebra 2, an IB French class and an IB biology class.
The trouble is, her focus has been affected by anxiety and 鈥渁 severe case of I don鈥檛 want to,鈥� she says. A $25-a-session tutor helps with algebra, but she鈥檚 also behind in two other classes.
These days, her mother, Wendy, works beside Angelina on the living room couch. Each day Angelina must complete that day鈥檚 assignments plus one makeup task.
鈥淭here鈥檚 definitely a fatigue that鈥檚 setting in for all of us,鈥� Wendy Mistretta said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 exhausting doing this work day in and day out. And there鈥檚 a mental exhaustion when you don鈥檛 know how or when it鈥檚 going to end.鈥�
Around noon, Javin begins a marathon video game session. As he talks with his fellow players, his mother works nearby, each wearing earbuds and engrossed in their own conversations.
It鈥檚 her first day back as a payment processor for the state game and fish agency since getting COVID-19 in October. She still has lingering lung problems.
Javin isn鈥檛 sure what will happen after graduation. He鈥檚 considering a welding certificate program at the local community college. He applied to universities in New Mexico and Colorado but feels like the pandemic year didn鈥檛 allow him to put his best foot forward.
鈥淵es, it鈥檚 hard to apply because we鈥檝e been doing everything remotely and like they鈥檙e just going off of, off of, that and they鈥檙e not going off of, like, actually what you learn because like during remotely, you got some teachers that, like, they鈥檙e older and they just know like, the teaching, they don鈥檛 know all the new technology and stuff because it is new to them,鈥� he says.
On Monday, the state announced schools could reopen. Javin, who had spent the day snowboarding, made it to practice for the good news.
At 12:48 p.m., Kristen begins her fourth and final class, business communication. Like her other classes, it will end before its allotted 90 minutes are up.
The teacher announces a quiz. Students who were watching on their phones scramble to boot up their computers.
Kristen races through the quiz, then gets ready for a skit that is supposed to illustrate a form of distraction and how to control it. Students haven鈥檛 rehearsed the script they wrote, partly because they can鈥檛 hold an online meeting on their own using the school鈥檚 software.
Kristen says she has kept earning As and Bs this year, but it鈥檚 been harder.
鈥淚 feel like I鈥檝e learned less than what I鈥檝e learned in school,鈥� Kristen said. 鈥淭he work is more independent. We really have to learn on our own.鈥�
When Graciela鈥檚 science teacher divides students into virtual breakout rooms to help one another finish a worksheet around 1:10 p.m., no one says much.
Graciela uses some of that time to submit late math homework. Teachers are being lenient and there鈥檚 no consequences as long as the work gets done before the grading period ends.
鈥淚 procrastinated a lot last year, but I didn鈥檛 turn anything in late. I just waited until the very last minute to do it,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut now, there isn鈥檛 really the last minute. You can just do it whenever.鈥�
A new type of extracurricular activity wraps up her school day. She has a videoconference with classmates who are compiling quotes into a 鈥淒ear 2020鈥� video.
They鈥檝e picked an optimistic submission as a potential ending: 鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 defeat me. You helped me grow.鈥�