Rebecca Hill is the executive director of the Better Future Foundation, which is currently providing college counseling to a group of low-income students at Charlottesville High School. PC: John Robinson
While schools are closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, districts across the country have adopted alternative grading policies for the remainder of the academic year. Charlottesville City Schools’ middle and high schoolers who had a passing grade when schools closed on March 13 will automatically receive an A for each course, while those who weren’t on track to pass have been given online learning modules. Albemarle County has taken a different route, allowing high schoolers to choose between receiving a pass/fail/ incomplete or a letter grade.
For rising seniors applying to college this fall, these changes could make an already stressful process more challenging. How will colleges judge their academic performance during this unprecedented time? Will grades from this school year even matter?
According to college counselor Rebecca Hill, the answer is yes and no. It’s “still going to be necessary” for rising seniors applying to college to pass this school year. However, “because a lot of the school systems…have agreed to give students passes or A’s just for being able to complete work through March 13, final grades [won’t] have as much weight.”
While colleges will still take a critical look at students’ grades from before the pandemic, as well as the ones they receive in the fall (assuming schools are back in session then), they may place a heavier weight on other parts of their applications—including personal essays, extracurricular activities, and letters of recommendation—that demonstrate not just their work ethic, but their character as well.
Essay prompts, for instance, may ask students to describe what challenges they faced during the pandemic, and how they worked to address them, explains Hill. And students who found ways to help their community, such as grocery shopping for immunocompromised neighbors, might stand out among other applicants.
Colleges may also look for more ways students challenged themselves academically, both during the pandemic and throughout their high school careers,“whether that’s taking an online community college class [or] doing research for their own personal project,” says Hill.
But Hill acknowledges these changes may create more barriers for low-income students, who may not have the time or resources to be involved in their community or take on additional academic work.
Instead, they may have to work a part-time job, in addition to other responsibilities, in order to support their families.
“The jobs that work for them…don’t typically lend towards a lot of professional growth,” she adds. “But that doesn’t mean that…their essays won’t compel colleges to really think critically about what the particular circumstances were that they had to live through.”
Longtime counselor Parke Muth worries that college budget cuts could also put low-income applicants at a greater disadvantage. With universities currently “losing millions or, in some cases, billions from their endowment,” they may reduce their admissions staff, as well as offer less financial aid.
“If you say you’re going to look at [applications] holistically, but you have a smaller staff and resources, how do you do that?” says Muth, who worked in the UVA admissions office for over 30 years.
And at the many colleges that have gone test-optional for the next academic year (due to the ACTs and SATs being pushed back to June and August, respectively), it’s also unclear how schools will compare applicants with test scores to those without them, Muth points out. He encourages rising seniors to still take one, or both, of the tests—if they don’t get a good score, they can choose not to include it with their applications.
According to Adam Southall, a college counselor at Monticello High School, colleges have said that they aren’t going to hold students’ circumstances against them. While he is hopeful that admissions offices “will continue to do the same holistic practices they always have,” he remains concerned for marginalized kids.
“I have a feeling that it won’t be for another year that we see the educational fallout,” he adds. “Who got left behind?”
Jack Jouett teacher Heather Dow sits in her car outside the middle school to utilize the public WiFi. Dow lives in Greene County, and does not have a fast enough internet connection to take Zoom calls for work. PC: Zack Wajsgras
With Virginia’s K-12 schools shuttered for the remainder of the academic year, our city and county districts have moved into uncharted territory: figuring out not only how to teach thousands of students outside of the classroom, but also making distance learning accessible and equitable for all.
The districts say they are still developing formal distance learning programs, which will be rolled out after spring break, on April 13. In the meantime, some teachers in both the city and county have provided students with optional online modules and activities, reviewing previously taught material. Educators have also been using video conference services like Zoom and Google Hangouts to bring kids together.
Accessing these resources, however, is more difficult for some than others. Up to 30 percent of Albemarle County Public Schools students don’t have adequate access to the internet at home. And while Charlottesville City Schools do not have division-wide data on students’ internet access, its most recent CHS student survey indicated that 6 percent of households have no internet.
To bridge this digital divide, ACPS has boosted the WiFi signal at all of its schools, as well the Yancey School Community Center, allowing anyone to get onto the internet from parking lots. Several hundred cars have already been spotted taking advantage of this crucial resource, according to ACPS spokesman Phil Giaramita.
ACPS has also leased part of its broadband spectrum to Shentel, enabling the company to expand internet to more rural, underserved households in the area. With the lease revenue, it’s ordered about 100 Kajeet Smart Spots, which are “devices you can install in your house that will access the network of local carriers in your area,” explains Giaramita. Once they’re delivered, “we’re going to start distributing those to teachers [and students] who don’t have internet access at home,” and will order more as needed.
In the city, CCS recommends that students who have inadequate internet access connect to an AT&T or Xfinity hot spot, as both companies have recently opened up all of their U.S. hot spots to non-customers. The district is also distributing hot spots to students who are unable to use those publicly available.
Both city and county school districts are giving laptops to students in grades two and up who need them. ACPS also plans to distribute iPads to kindergarteners through second graders.
At CCS, learning guides are available online for pre-K, kindergarten, and first grade students with suggested activities that do not require access to the internet.
Despite these efforts, CHS senior Jack Dreesen-Higginbotham remains concerned about the city’s transition to distance learning. “I know they’ve been working on trying to set up hot spots for students, but I don’t know if it will be accessible to everybody. And [still], not everyone has a school-provided laptop,” he says. “My brother, who is in sixth grade, wasn’t provided one, so he’s had to use mine to do his work.”
However, Dreesen-Higginbotham’s CHS teachers, who currently use Zoom, are doing a “very good job at instructing their classes and organizing lessons, so that they can be inclusive to everybody,” he says.
After spring break, both CCS and ACPS will provide more formal online—and offline—academic instruction and enrichment for each grade level.
“We’re looking at finding specific solutions for individual families, whether online, offline, or a combination,” says CCS spokeswoman Beth Cheuk.
“Offline could simply mean working with kids by telephone, by regular mail. We’ve asked teachers to be creative, so that there isn’t any student who is disadvantaged by their access to technology,” adds Giaramita.
While students will learn new material through distance learning, there will be no grading (or SOLs). Instead, teachers will provide feedback on a regular basis.
To former CHS teacher Margaret Thornton, now a Ph.D. candidate in educational leadership at UVA, this is an opportunity for local schools to explore different types of evaluation systems.
“I hope that we can make lemonade out of these lemons, and re-evaluate a lot of our policies—grading is certainly one of them,” she says.
“We’ve [also] known for a long time that our standardized testing system has created a lot of inequality,” Thornton adds. “We can be rethinking assessments at this time, and how we can make it more formative and more useful in instruction.”
Both school divisions want to ensure that as many students as possible graduate or are promoted to the next grade level. Per guidance from the Virginia Department of Education, students who were on track to pass before schools closed will do so. But on April 6, ACPS announced that if distance learning is not “the best fit” for a student, they will have the option to complete the school year by attending classes in July, or (excluding seniors) during the next school year.
While ACPS’ lesson plans will not go into effect until April 13, Giaramita says one of its distance-learning initiatives has already been implemented: Check and Connect. Students will now be contacted at least once a week by a teacher, counselor, administrator, or principal to talk about their distance learning experience, what assistance they need, and what their internet access is like. So that no student is left out, this contact can take place by phone, email, video call, or even snail mail.
CCS has also asked teachers to connect with each of their students to identify which ones need additional support, regarding WiFi or other issues.
Such practices may be particularly beneficial to those who do not have parents at home to help and support them throughout the day.
“So many service workers are being considered essential, and are doing essential work. But that means often that their kids are going to be home alone without adult interaction,” Thornton says. “The relationships between teachers and students are [going to be] key.”
Other teachers, parents, and community members have expressed similar concerns for students with limited access to adult instruction and interaction, such as those from refugee or ESOL families. And with a significant amount of students without adequate internet access, some fear students won’t be prepared for the next school year.
“It is really hard to live in the county and not have reliable [internet] access. We don’t even have cellular service so we can’t utilize a hot spot,” says Jessiah Mansfield, who has a senior at Western Albemarle High School. “If we need something important, we have to go to Charlottesville to download it. I’m sure we aren’t the only ones with this issue, but it will impact our children.”
However, others remain hopeful that teachers will be able to help their students make it through the rest of the semester.
“As the crisis continues and escalates, so does anxiety for all. Learning should be suggested. Remember we are at home trying to work not working from home. Connecting with my students is just as important for them as it is for me,” says Libby Nicholson, a fourth-grade teacher at Broadus Wood Elementary School. “We are in this together! We got this!”
Many local grocery stores have taken steps to protect customers from contracting COVID-19, but some have been more aggressive than others. PC: Staff Photo
Shielding up
While many businesses have been forced to close due to the coronavirus, grocery stores are busier than ever—and their employees have had to continue showing up for work, potentially putting themselves at risk. On March 31, some Whole Foods workers stayed home in a nationwide “sick out” to protest a lack of protections, and call for benefits like paid leave and hazard pay.
In response, the company has made some changes, but conditions for both employees and shoppers still vary widely among grocery chains. We checked in over the weekend to see how Charlottesville’s stores stack up.
Plexiglass shields have been installed in front of the registers at most stores (Wegmans and Reid Super-Save Market say they are coming soon).
Cashiers wear masks and gloves at Whole Foods, while those at Trader Joe’s, the Barracks Road Kroger, and Reid’s currently wear only gloves. Employees at Wegmans and the Food Lion on Pantops have neither.
Social distancing markers have been installed to keep customers six feet apart in check-out lines in all stores, and most cashiers wipe down registers between transactions.
Of the places we visited, Trader Joe’s seemed to be taking the most stringent precautions, limiting customers to 20 at a time in the store. Employees wearing face masks and gloves sanitize each cart before handing it off to a customer, and cashiers have no physical contact with customers.
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For the record
As the virus has shuttered the economy, a record-breaking number of Americans and Virginians have filed unemployment claims. For one on-the-nose example of how bad things have gotten, head to the Virginia Employment Commission’s website—or don’t, because it has shut down, overwhelmed by the amount of new traffic.
Number of unemployment claims last week nationwide: 6.6 million
Number of unemployment claims last week in Virginia: 112,497
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Quote of the Week
“Voters should not be forced to choose between exercising their Constitutional rights and preserving their own health and that of their community.”
—Allison Robbins, president of the Voter Registrars Association of Virginia, in a letter urging the state to cancel in-person voting in favor of mail-in ballots for upcoming elections
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In Brief
Better late than never?
UVA announced on Monday that it will create a $2 million emergency fund for contract employees laid off during the university’s closure. The decision comes after student activists circulated a petition demanding action and C-VILLE Weekly published a cover story about workers laid off by Aramark, UVA’s dining services contractor. The article prompted two GoFundMe campaigns, which raised a combined $71,000 for the employees in a matter of days. UVA is also donating $1 million to the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation.
Booze news
The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority has begun allowing Virginia-based distilleries to deliver their products directly to customers. The state claims the new rule is aimed at helping distilleries maintain some income during the current economic freeze. While the policy will surely help the distilleries, it’ll likely be even more beneficial for the thousands of Virginians currently trapped inside with their families.
Spring (break) into action
This week would have been spring break for Charlottesville City Schools, so the district didn’t plan to offer grab-and-go breakfast and lunch for its neediest students. But City Schoolyard Garden and The Chris Long Foundation have picked up the slack by partnering with local restaurants Pearl Island and Mochiko Cville to provide 4,000 meals throughout the week.
Moving out
UVA will clear out three student residential buildings to make space for temporary housing for health care workers, the university announced this week. Students who left belongings when they were told not to return to school will have their things shipped and stored off-site by UVA. Students objected to the plan because anyone who wants to retrieve items before the end of the Virginia-wide state of emergency will be charged up to $100.
Activists hold signs over the bypass to advocate for increased state investment in public schools. Photo: John Robinson
“FUND OUR SCHOOLS” read the twinkling electric signs over the Dairy Road footbridge on the evening of January 29. Students, parents, teachers, and activists held the individual letters, making the simple demand that the state devote more money to public education. The message was met with a stream of supportive honks from drivers on the 250 Bypass below.
“We’re in this exciting moment where Democrats have control in both chambers,” said Brionna Nomi, education organizer at the Legal Aid Justice Center, which coordinated the demonstration. “So we’re hoping to make some movement on state funding legislation for public schools.”
In particular, the group supports bills in both the House of Delegates and State Senate that would repeal public education spending limits put in place after the 2008 recession.
The Charlottesville protest comes less than a week after hundreds of teachers from around the state rallied in Richmond to make similar demands. In Virginia, the state holds power over cities and counties when it comes to generating revenue and dispensing funds. Nomi says local districts have to pick up the slack for what the state does not provide, and that’s an undue burden. “We need to generate more revenue, and we believe that that’s the responsibility of legislators,” she says.
That burden was on display last week when the Charlottesville City School Board presented its annual budget request to City Council and the city manager.
In part because of state funding cuts, the board requested a budget increase of $4.5 million. But City Manager Tarron Richardson said he’d hoped the figure would be more like $2.1 million.
The city is trying to cut back its own budget, and the disparity between the school’s request and the city’s anticipated number is significant. “I want to help as much as we can, but that additional two-plus million will really impact us in terms of trying to close our gap,” Richardson said.
The city increased the school’s budget by $2.7 million in fiscal year 2019 and $3.4 million in fiscal year 2020, for a total of $57 million last year.
The school district’s request provides for the creation of a handful of new positions, including an additional orchestra instructor for Walker Upper Elementary, where one conductor currently teaches 199 students, and a “specialist for annual giving,” a new position that would solicit philanthropic contributions to the public schools. “That’s a position the board has desired for quite a number of years,” said Superintendent Rosa Atkins.
Hundreds of students are enrolled in a new engineering program at Walker, but Buford Middle School doesn’t have sufficient engineering faculty, so the district also hopes to hire someone to keep the program running as those students transition schools.
But the bulk of the requested budget increase—$2.8 of the $4.5 million—would go toward insurance and salaries for teachers and staff. “We are in the people business,” said school board member Jennifer McKeever. “So much of this is so they continue to be insured and able to live around here.”
Charlottesville’s skyrocketing property values have serious effects on the schools. Teachers need to earn more to live here comfortably, and the school district receives less funding from the state.
Virginia distributes money based on each district’s relative need, measured through a metric called Local Composite Index. LCI takes into account the value of property owned by each school district, and this year, CCS’s property value increased “about 23 percent,” according to Atkins. In the eyes of the state, CCS is less needy than other localities and will therefore receive less state money. That’s one reason the district’s request to the city was higher than Richardson’s ideal figure.
Council will have to work with the schools and the city manager’s office to close the gap between Richardson’s number and CCS’s request.
“I don’t have too many comments at this time, because we haven’t received the full presentation on our budget,” said Mayor Nikuyah Walker at the work session. “Once we have that meeting I’ll have a better understanding. Just in case people are wondering why I’m quiet.”
Those discussions will continue through the spring, but according to Atkins, the budget may not be finalized until June.
Meanwhile, the long-term future of the district includes a major school reconfiguration. Buford will expand to include sixth graders, elementary schools will add fifth grade, and Walker will become a citywide preschool. The district plans on hiring an architectural firm this month, but there won’t be a cost estimate for the project until 2021.
The city allocated $3 million to the project in its five-year Capital Improvement Plan, but some early estimates say the reconfiguration could cost as much as $58 million.
“We will not know how much the project will cost until it gets at least partially through the design process,” says Michael Goddard, a senior project manager with the city. “As of the present, no funds have been allocated for construction of the project. It will be up to city leadership to direct funding for construction.”
Correction 2/5: Updated to reflect that the city has not yet hired a design firm for the school reconfiguration process.
You see it splashed across social media— #selfcare. It’s one of the hottest buzzwords in wellness. (The hashtag appears more than 21 million times on Instagram.) Hashtags for #corporatewellness or #workplacewellness aren’t as sexy, but don’t let that mislead you. Corporate America has been in the self-care game for years.
Whatever moniker you want to apply to the concept, workplace wellness is defined as the company-sponsored practices that support and aim to improve overall employee health. Most employees spend at least a third of their life at work (or more than 90,000 hours, according to the book Happiness at Work), so it makes sense that many businesses and organizations are seeking ways to create a culture of health—both mental and physical—for workers.
Examples of workplace wellness programs include nutrition counseling, stress management resources, smoking cessation, health fairs, preventative screenings, workout challenges, walking clubs, on-site gyms, and employee assistance programs. It can even include offerings like in-office yoga classes, healthy snack and lunch options, nap rooms (Ben & Jerry’s, Zappos, and Nike have snooze-friendly on-site rooms and policies, according to the National Sleep Foundation), well-being days, dog-friendly workplaces, and office vegetable gardens.
Improved worker productivity, reduced absenteeism and “presenteeism” (when a worker is there, but not really there because they don’t feel well and are thus unproductive), morale boosts, higher employee engagement, a more connected work culture, decreased health care costs, and of course, healthier employees, are among the hoped-for outcomes of workplace wellness programs, as is, ultimately, an improved bottom line.
A wealth of research backs up the purported benefits of such programs, as well as their prevalence in the workplace. According to a “2017 Employee Benefits” report from the Society of Human Resource Management, roughly one-third of organizations surveyed “increased their overall benefits offerings in the last 12 months, with health (22 percent) and wellness (24 percent) benefits being the most likely ones to experience growth.” The main reason for increasing work wellness benefits (or benefits overall) per that SHRM report? To attract and retain top talent.
Another 2017 report, from Aflac, found that “employees who participated in wellness programs offered at their workplaces had higher levels of job satisfaction.” And a majority of millennials—the largest generation of workers in the U.S. labor force, according to the Pew Research Center— say they value workplace wellness. Nearly six in 10 say both “work-life balance and well-being in a job are ‘very important’ to them,” per Gallup.
C’ville area organizations are no stranger to workplace wellness, with some setting the bar when it comes to developing opportunities for employees to live their best, healthiest work-life.
Crutchfield’s holistic approach to workplace wellness
Photo: Martyn Kyle
Creating a “safe, comfortable and challenging” work environment is a top priority for Crutchfield Corporation, says Chris Lilley, chief human resource officer, as is one that supports wellness.
“We look at wellness holistically and include mental, physical, emotional, and financial health in our approach,” Lilley explains.
The consumer electronics retailer— which employs 615 people at locations in Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, and Wise County—offers such workplace wellness benefits as fitness event registration and Weight Watchers membership fee reimbursements, gym membership discounts at ACAC, Brooks Family YMCA, and UVA Wise Gym, seasonal wellness challenges, free annual flu shots, and standing desk or ball chair options, to name a few.
According to a 2017 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, dog-friendly workplaces have been shown to reduce rates of absenteeism and boost worker morale and productivity. Crutchfield—like many other companies such as Amazon, BISSELL, and Etsy— is on board with that policy, with dog-friendly workspaces at its Charlottesville headquarters and its southwest Virginia and Charlottesville contact centers.
“We have installed and actively maintain wooded walking trails on our headquarters property, where we also have a fenced dog run to support our employees who choose to take advantage of our ‘Dog Pawlicy,’ which allows them to bring their dog to work,” adds Lilley.
Employees can also take advantage of Crutchfield’s employee assistance program—EAPs are typically designed to help individuals with personal and work-related concerns, including mental, health, emotional, financial, legal, and other issues that could impact job performance. EAPs, in general, are employer-paid, and offer confidential access to a range of programs and services like eldercare support, health coaching, marital counseling, and substance abuse treatment.
In addition, the company offers a voluntary “Live Longer, Live Better” wellness program, created in consultation with the University of Virginia’s Medical Center, which further incentivizes and rewards good health. When employees visit their primary care physician for a physical exam, “depending on the level of wellness achieved as determined by the employee and the physician, the employee will receive a monetary award,” says Lilley.
Lilley adds that for Crutchfield, workplace wellness has been integral to creating an engaged, high-performing workforce—so much so, the company plans to add to its menu of wellness initiatives and partnerships, including mental health, to further develop its culture of wellness.
“Eliminating real and perceived stigma and disparate treatment for those dealing with mental health is an important step in that process,” Lilley says, adding that overall, efforts like these “are known to support a reduction in absenteeism, presenteeism, apathy, and loneliness which all deteriorate the employee experience in corporate America today.”
CCRi customizes workplace wellness
Photo: Amy and Jackson Smith
Commonwealth Computer Research, Inc., a C’ville-based data science and software engineering company with almost 145 employees, has created a collegial work atmosphere where on-site grilling, food truck days, and movie and board game nights with co-workers are routine–activities that set the tone for the company’s approach to workplace wellness.
Other fun wellness perks: A communal massage chair, which is “in our library area, so you can go close the door and turn the light off and get a little relaxation time,” says Julia Farill, CCRi human resources and recruiting manager.
Access to a wooded park with walking trails also gives employees a break when they need it. “That’s been great for wellness as well, especially for the folks here whose job requires really intense thinking and they’re working on the computer and staring at the screen. Being able to get out and walk around on the trail is huge,” she says.
Customizing workplace wellness as much as possible, and creating an environment where employees are listened to and heard works best for a growing company like theirs, Farill adds, because employee wants and needs are constantly evolving and changing over time.
“I like to try to understand that before we make corporate decisions about where we’re going to invest,” says Farill, “Because I think that it’s really crucial to take a look at who’s here, what they care about, what matters to them, and then allocate resources towards those things based off of what their interests are.”
If CCRi’s employees are into biking as a health and wellness activity–like they are right now, for example–Farill says she tries to figure out how the company can support that even more.
“We have an area set up to be able to work on your bike, so if you ride in as a commuter you can bring your bike in,” she says. “And we have an indoor bike parking area and a little table set up that has a bunch of bike tools so you can work on it. We also have a couple of loaner bikes if people wanted to go out for lunch or something like that.”
Gym and yoga discounts with places like ACAC, FlyDog Yoga, and Formula Complete Fitness are also standard, but because wellness is different for everyone, Farill will make sure she explores other employee interests. “I’ll ask them: ‘Hey, if you have a different interest—if you have a different type of gym or place you work out and you want us to try and contact them to see if they are interested in setting up a corporate partnership, then I’m happy to reach out.”
Farill says the company offers not one but two employee assistance programs. “Those programs are great because they are kind of a one-stop-shop for employees if you are dealing with something that’s going on in your life,” she says.
“The idea is that everybody at some moment in their life has something come up that’s hard to navigate, whether your child care fell through, you have a parent that needs more support, or you’re dealing with a financial issue, you have to do a trust or will or something,” she says. “So the idea of the employee assistance program is that you can just go there and say, ‘This is my issue, and what resources exist?’”
Having a customized workplace wellness program at CCRi is important, Farill says, because ”our people are absolutely the most important thing about our company.”
Supporting wellness in the workplace—whatever that looks like—is in “everybody’s best interest” and is critical to creating an environment where employees can flourish, she adds.
“As a company, trying to individually understand what matters to our people right now, and how is that changing and shifting, and what are we doing as a company to help people not just feel that they’re supported and appreciated, but understand that they really are—this is a big deal to us,” she says.
Charlottesville City Schools gives a boost to teacher and staff wellness
Public school employees have rewarding–but stressful–jobs. A 2017 issue brief from Pennsylvania State University and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reported that soaring stress levels “are affecting teacher health and well-being, causing teacher burnout, lack of engagement, job dissatisfaction, poor performance, and some of the highest turnover rates ever.”
The brief suggests that “organizational interventions” designed to help reduce teacher stress can help. Charlottesville City Schools employee wellness program, for example, was created to help employees not only get and stay healthy, but feel valued and cared for, says Laura Floyd, the district’s human resources coordinator.
While CCS’ wellness program is “something that we’re constantly monitoring to see how we can improve,” Floyd adds, current offerings include fitness promotions like discounted gym memberships to area facilities, including ACAC, Brooks Family YMCA, and Smith Aquatic & Fitness Center and Carver Recreation Center. If an employee joins and visits one of those gyms at least eight times per quarter, the school division will pay $29.50 per month towards the membership, in addition to the already discounted corporate rate.
“So it’s an incentive to not only join but to make sure [they’re] actually going,” says Floyd. The school system’s hike/ bike-to-work program similarly incentivizes employees with an extra stipend to get and stay active.
Like many other organizations, Floyd says a key element to workplace wellness is access to an employee assistance program; CCS offers theirs through a partnership with the Faculty and Employee Assistance Program at the University of Virginia. “That’s important to let people know if they need to talk to someone, they can do that. [FEAP is] completely confidential. It’s free of charge,” says Floyd.
Some of the best workplace wellness programs are ones that are derived out of an understanding of your employee population and what motivates and incentivizes them, adds Floyd.
“You have to get to know what works, and understand that there is not necessarily going to be a one-size-fits-all—you need to have some sort of combination of things that you can do to suit the needs of your entire population,” she says.
“Wellness programs are very costly, so you have to be willing to invest,” she adds. “But you are investing in your employees, and what better thing is there to invest in?”
Apps for workplace wellness
Yes, there is an app for that. If you need an extra nudge—or maybe even an assertive push—to motivate you to adopt healthy behaviors at work, look no further than your mobile phone. While these apps are for living well in general, they have useful applications for on-the-job wellness.
Headspace: “A few minutes could change your whole day.” (Subscription)
Who wouldn’t want to be Zen AF at work, ready to blissfully and mindfully handle any challenge that comes your way? The Headspace app just might be able to get you there. Headspace features meditation exercises designed to address things like personal growth, anxiety management, work productivity, and creating a performance mindset. In addition to a more focused mind and less stress, Headspace purports to help you sleep better, so you can wake up feeling refreshed for another day at the office. Try the free, 10-day beginner’s meditation and mindfulness course.
MINDBODY: Book a local fitness class, spa appointment, or wellness treatment. (Free)
MINDBODY may be one of the more ubiquitous wellness mobile apps out there. With MINDBODY, you can sign up for a wake-up-your-brain, pre-work “Rise and Shine” yoga session from Common Ground Healing Arts, an early morning motivational running class set-to-music from Tread Happy on Eighth Street, a mind-and-body strength-building barre class from barre.[d] on Water Street, and plenty more wellness options to fit your busy work-life schedule. (Note: The app is free, not the classes.)
MyFitnessPal: “Fitness starts with what you eat.” (Free)
Weight loss challenges and nutrition counseling are common components of many workplace wellness programs. MyFitnessPal, routinely listed as one of the best calorie-tracking apps available, is a solid app that can help you be more mindful of your dietary needs and jumpstart your physical fitness journey, especially if your work-life is all-consuming. Tap the app’s massive food database and document your daily food intake into the food diary, monitor your nutrition stats and weight loss, and access other food tools and insights.
Mental health in the workplace
While physical health is often the centerpiece of workplace wellness programs, a focus on mental health is equally important to fostering a happier, healthier, and productive place to work.
Experiencing mental health issues on the job “is the norm, not the exception,” according to a recent report that surveyed more than 1,500 U.S. employees. With depression-related absences alone costing employers about $44 billion a year, helping employees address these issues makes business sense, says Elizabeth Irvin, executive director of The Women’s Initiative in Charlottesville.
In the workplace mental health report, 61 percent of those surveyed said their mental health impacted their productivity levels, and in general, employees were reluctant to talk about the topic at work, especially with human resources or senior leaders.
So how can employers create a more resilient work environment that supports mental health?
First, businesses and organizations can create a culture where workers feel safe to reach out to their supervisors or co-workers if they need help, suggests Irvin.
“So often, peers in the work setting are the ones that are going to notice changes in people’s ability to perform their daily tasks…so having those relationships where there’s a culture of being able to ask for help or ask how colleagues are doing [is important],” she says.
Second, basic training, like mental health first aid (which teachs skills for how to help an individual in crisis) can help prepare employers and supervisors to support staff who are struggling when they do come forward.
“That being said, there are going to be situations that would be outside of basic training, and so that’s where your supervisors or your HR folks would just want to know local resources and know that they wouldn’t have to go through the situation alone,” Irvin says. “They can actually get on the phone with a crisis counselor and walk through the steps that they need to take for an employee.”
Locally, employers can rely on resources like HelpHappensHere.org or emergency services from Region Ten, which also offers mental health first aid training.
Nationally, Irvin recommends the American Psychiatric Association Foundation’s Center for Workplace Mental Health as a resource. “Just knowing that professional help resources are available [is helpful]. And then the Women’s Initiative offers walk-in clinics and support groups as well,” she says.
Unique local workplace wellness resources
Local Food Hub and 4P Foods: While the occasional doughnut or pizza order for the office is a nice treat, healthier, locally cultivated delivery options are available.
In 2015, the Local Food Hub launched its Fresh Farmacy Fruit and Veggie Prescription Program, created to provide community participants with more equitable access to free, fresh, healthy food.
“But we very quickly realized that lots of people out there would benefit from seasonal shares of local produce,” says Portia Boggs, associate director of advancement and communications at Local Food Hub. “And a lot of workplaces were interested in providing those shares as a way of supporting their employees, because there is so much data out there that supports [outcomes like] reduced health care costs that come about from eating healthy.”
Later, a workplace wellness program—paid for by the participating companies themselves—was added to the Fresh Farmacy fruit and veggie prescription initiative.
In June 2019, Local Food Hub merged its distribution operations with Warrenton, Virginia-based food hub 4P Foods. Now, Charlottesville-area employers who want to sign up for a locally- and regionally-sourced seasonal fruit and vegetable share and have it delivered to their office need to go directly to 4P Foods.
Meanwhile, Local Food Hub continues the original mission of Fresh Farmacy by working with organizations like the University of Virginia’s BeWell program, where they provide free, fresh fruit and veggie shares to UVA employees most in need of health support services.
“Along with that food, participants get nutrition information, information on where the food comes from, recipes, and storage and preparation tips and all sorts of things that are designed to give participants confidence when working with whole produce, and ensure that they have the skills that they need to carry on those healthy lifestyle changes after the program ends,” says Boggs.
PivotPass: Richmond, Virginia-based PivotPass—originally founded in Charlottesville but now available in both RVA and C’ville and anywhere in the U.S. and internationally—offers corporate wellness solutions to organizations. In Richmond and Charlottesville, that includes discounted access to a network of participating gym and fitness studios. Through a custom app, PivotPass is also able to collect anonymized fitness data and insights that enable employers to better measure employee wellness and engagement levels, and reduce company health care costs.
Participating local gyms and fitness studios include Bend Yoga, Hot Yoga Charlottesville, Iyengar Yoga of Charlottesville, Solidarity CrossFit, and The Yellow Door (yoga and fitness).
Local PivotPass clients include Apex Clean Energy, GreenBlue, and Fringe (“the world’s first fringe benefits marketplace,” based in Richmond).
Whether you want to try Crossfit, or spend more time practicing yoga, co-founder April Palmer says PivotPass not only gives employees the option and variety to do what they like when they like, but it also layers in an “accountability factor” to help keep them on track.
The best thing [about PivotPass] is it’s so versatile,” says Palmer. “It’s a wellness program that meets me wherever I am at the moment.”
Common Ground Healing Arts: Common Ground Healing Arts, a nonprofit community wellness center located inside Jefferson School City Center, offers a workplace wellness program dubbed “Ground Work,” consisting of services designed to help employees de-stress, improve focus, and enhance productivity.
Services include yoga, chair massage, auricular acupuncture, and mindfulness workshops, the latter covering such workplace-relatable topics as “overcoming challenges,” “eliminating overwhelm,” and “dealing with change,” among others. To participate, employees can visit wellness practitioners at Common Ground, or the nonprofit can come to your office.
Common Ground executive director Elliott Brown says the benefits of workplace wellness are well-established. “Studies show, and most everybody you talk to will say, that the less stress they have, the better they can work, the more productive they can be, the happier they are, the longer they want to stay,” she says.
Brown adds that because they are a nonprofit, accessing workplace wellness—or wellness services in general—from Common Ground is not overly costly. Plus, providing access to wellness services like these can have a big impact on the employee, “which ultimately comes back around and makes it worth your cost because you get it back in productivity,” she says.
Charlottesville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Rosa Atkins is among those appointed to the Commission on African American History Education. Photo by Eze Amos
Community leaders gathered at the University of Virginia October 28 for the first meeting of the Commission on African American History Education.
Charlottesville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Rosa Atkins is among those appointed to the commission, which was established by Governor Ralph Northam. The purpose, says Atkins, is “to recognize that the African American experience and contributions to the development of our country are significant and have not been fully told. [We want] to fill in those areas in which African American history has not been taught.”
The commission will review Virginia’s history standards and practices and make recommendations for enriched standards related to African American history. The group will also offer recommendations on what support is needed to ensure cultural competency among teachers.
Northam established the commission by executive order on August 24 during a ceremony to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in North America at Point Comfort in 1619.
“The important work of this commission will help ensure that Virginia’s standards of learning are inclusive of African-American history and allow students to engage deeply, drawing connections between historic racial inequities and their continuous influence on our communities today,”Northam said in a press release.
Charlottesville City Schools came under fire last year for a New York Times/ProPublica piece highlighting longstanding racial inequities in city schools. Atkins says such disparities exist throughout the commonwealth, and that telling the story of African American history could be empowering for black students.
“Once our students, teachers, and community have truthful information about who African Americans are in our country and their role, it gives a degree of value to African American people and the experiences they have had, and it empowers them to look forward to the future and do more in our country,” says Atkins.
An enriched curriculum, she says, will help “all of our students to know the beauty—and the ugliness—of our country and of our commonwealth…and to appreciate the diversity of contributions to who we are today.”
Northam has appointed 34 people to the commission, including historians, teachers, school administrators, and community leaders from across the commonwealth. Also representing Charlottesville is Dr. Derrick P. Alridge, a professor of education and director of the Center for Race and Public Education in the South at UVA’s Curry School of Education. Members serve without compensation.
The commission will meet at least quarterly over the next year and publish a report with its findings and recommendations by July 1, 2020.
Atkins recognizes that adding more African American history to the Virginia curriculum is not an end-all-be-all.
“There are other cultures and other groups of people who have not been included in the Virginia history…and that have to be included,” says Atkins. “This is just one part of that hole.”
The commission’s next meeting will be held on December 16 in Farmville.
T. Denise Johnson (second from right) at her alma mater, Charlottesville High School, with some of her mentors: former cheerleading coach Jackie Estes; mom Mary Johnson; and Reverend Alvin Edwards, a family friend.
Photo: Amy and Jackson Smith
When T. Denise Johnson was growing up in Charlottesville’s Westhaven neighborhood, she was one of the few black kids in her honors classes at school. Decades later, that’s a disparity that hasn’t changed—the city’s public school system has one of the widest racial achievement gaps in the nation. In both Charlottesville and Albemarle County schools, black students are less likely to be selected for the gifted program and more likely to be suspended or held back a grade, and these inequities have persisted for decades.
Last October, a damning article in The New York Times and ProPublica brought national attention to Charlottesville’s disparities. The city responded by holding a series of community forums, and has begun making significant changes.
These have included revamping its gifted program, Quest, and hiring Johnson to be its first supervisor of equity and inclusion. Johnson had returned to her hometown a few years ago to run City of Promise, an education-focused nonprofit that supports children in the Westhaven, 10th and Page, and Star Hill neighborhoods. We sat down with her before the school year began to talk about her own experiences in city schools, and the daunting challenge ahead.
C-VILLE: What’s the scope of this new role?
JOHNSON: As supervisor for equity, I’m charged with looking at all of our practices, policies, and procedures, and making sure that they are serving all of our students to max capacity.
So that’s pretty broad.
Yeah, it’s pretty broad (laughs). A lot of it looks like partnerships and facilitating. It’s so broad because it’s about creating a culture. I think Dr. Atkins and CCS were very intentional about not making it feel separate, because really and truly, equity is a way of life, it’s a culture, it’s something that everybody has to be practicing. So I sit at the table with a lot of different people doing various things, making sure we look at everything through an equity lens.
You grew up here.
I did!
What schools did you go to?
I went to Burnley-Moran, Walker, Buford, and CHS, Class of ’98.
That’s really great. To have someone in this position who actually went through the schools.
I call it a perfect love story, when you’re able to come back and serve the community that raised you. I consider myself forever indebted to Charlottesville, especially CCS. So when I got the opportunity to come back home, I was committed to making sure that I was able to serve those that were coming after me, it was very important.
What was your experience like as
a student in Charlottesville public schools?
I had a fantastic experience. I was in the Quest program, and an athlete—I was a cheerleader and ran track. I was one of the few students of color in the honors-level classes. That has remained consistent. But I also had relationships of various races, ethnicities, upbringings, things like that. The beauty of my education, I received so many relationships and opportunities, but also growing up in the Westhaven area, I was able to witness those that didn’t have the same opportunities. I know they were no less intelligent or capable than I was. So I’ve seen the greatness that education can be, and I’ve also seen those who weren’t able to be as successful as I was. And so I think that’s part of the work that I see myself doing, making sure that everyone is able to connect.
Why do you think it was different for you versus some of your peers?
I had some educators who became role models. I think it’s important to have people tell you that you can, in a space that gives you a lot of messaging that you can’t do certain things and that certain things aren’t for you. When you’re able to find a mentor or model in your space who says you can do these things, and not just you can, but let me show you how, I think that was what was able to leverage me to a different place.
I did have parents that cared, but they were working, and they worked hard. My mother was a Head Start teacher [when I was] growing up. But it was also those outside supports that were able to support me, even to this day.
Johnson (second from left) walking through her Westhaven neighborhood with her sisters and her mom. Photo courtesy subject
Who were some of those supports?
I had a fantastic cheerleading coach, her name was Jackie Estes; she was the one that actually introduced me to the college I eventually went to for undergrad, Virginia State.
Also Reverend Alvin Edwards, who was my best friend’s father, really was pivotal, just watching his leadership and his work within the community just model what leadership looked like. Being able to be around their family’s system of love and expectation was important as well.
And then there were so many others. We had a strong cohort of African American leaders during that time. There were just many people who were intentional about the expectations that they had of us, and me in particular, and there were those that challenged me when I wasn’t doing the best that I could.
Looking back, is there anything the schools could have done differently, either for you or others?
That was when tracking was huge, and I think Dr. Atkins is working really hard to address that. There were moments when certain cohorts of students would go one direction and another set would go a different direction. Kids early on learn expectation, and what we as adults believe that they can do. And so I think the higher the expectation, for all students, the more that students will accomplish.
Do you see the changes in the Quest program as helping to address that?
I think any time all students are able to receive a high level, what we call a gifted quality, of education, it would be for the greater good of every child. I think the intention is to make sure all our children are receiving that same enrichment and resource. And that’s never a bad thing.
You were a school counselor in Richmond for many years. How do think that informs your work or your perspective?
I’ve always been drawn to youth that needed more support. And so part of the reason I got into school counseling was because I wanted to be that person that I needed growing up.
I grew up not knowing about colleges and college readiness and things like that, but knowing that I wanted those opportunities, and I just needed someone to show me how to get there. I wanted to be that for other youth. So as a school counselor, I naturally worked with youth that reminded me of who I was growing up. And not just those children but all children, just making sure that I was able to have conversations that made them feel like they could be successful in the way they wanted to be.
Obviously, both city and county schools have struggled with equity issues for a long time, but the Times/ProPublica story brought national attention to these issues. What did you think about their coverage?
I think that story was a mirror for some of the work that needed to happen. When I was a director at City of Promise, we received a grant based on some similar disparities. But coming on this side, it made me see the work that had been happening, and also that we were ready to be intentional about working to fill those gaps that we knew were going on. And so I have seen both sides of it.
I think everything happens for a reason. And it’s not just that the article threw us into the forefront, it’s what happens after that. Anytime you are confronted with something it’s about what happens afterwards. And I think there could have been several ways the school system chose to handle it, but I think they handled it to the best of their ability. And making sure that there are a ton of positives that come out of that situation.
What was the reaction to that story in the Westhaven community?
It varied. I think overall there were many people that could see Zyahna’s point of view, that had lived and experienced it, not just current kids but people that had gone through the school system. I think that a lot of people could understand what she was saying and how she was saying it.
In general, you’ll find that a lot of adults’ perspectives have to do with their own personal experiences they had as children, and so we have to work for those people that don’t necessarily have great relationships with the school system.
I always say that people should expect action; trust is something that is earned through action, through doing exactly what you say you’re going to do. And so I think this is a time for the system to build and rebuild trust that may have been lost along the way.
Why did you think these inequities have been so persistent?
When you’re talking systems, and systemic issues, one thing isn’t in isolation. Systemic issues in education aren’t in isolation from affordable housing, from justice issues—it’s all tied together. And so I think looking at the history of Charlottesville, there’s always been a system of inequity in some form.
We’ve had these conversations before. Does it feel any different now?
It feels different to me. I believe that with the amount of students that we have, there’s no reason for us not to be able to make the systemic changes that we need to make. I’ve seen on the school side the leadership is being very intentional, and aggressive about the work and bold about the work they want to have happen, and so I am trusting that we’ll be able to accomplish the goals that we’re setting.
I always say that for me it’s not about pointing fingers. And I think it’s important to say it’s not about what the school system has done wrong. The school system is made up of the community and its members. And so while we are continuing to hold the schools accountable for their work, I think we all have to take ownership in making sure our kids are successful.
Photo: Amy and Jackson Smith
It’s seems like a potentially very daunting position to be in.
Yeah, but I’m so thankful for it. Under no circumstances did I ever imagine I’d be in this position, to be able to effect change in the way that I can. But I am incredibly blessed because of it. And I don’t consider it daunting, I consider it amazing work, that I feel privileged to do. And so I think as long as I have that perspective and know that I’m doing all that I can, I can feel comfortable in what we’re doing and being a part of the CCS team.
Do you think in terms of the other pieces, like housing and justice issues, do you see that also changing from when you were growing up here?
What I know is that everyone is working really hard to make things right. I’ve worked at a lot of tables to try to break down these inequities and figure out what we could be doing differently. So I know the intention is there, the desire is there. I want to believe the right people are at the tables to make the necessary changes moving forward.
I feel like oftentimes wealthier, white parents inject themselves pretty strongly into the debate, sohow do you make sure everyone’s voices are being heard?
That’s what it comes down to—no matter whether you’re wealthy and white or not, you just want your voice heard, and so the key will be bringing everyone’s voice to the table. And what I’ve found is that when parents didn’t have great relationships with the school, it’s because they didn’t feel like they were being heard. So just making sure that we’re being intentional about hearing everyone and taking into account how they feel, and using it to better the school itself.
And what does that look like?
It’s not just about electronic communication. A lot of times I just serve as a reminder about basic fundamental relationship things, like having verbal conversations with people. There’ll be a set of our parents who prefer surveys, a set who will benefit from text messages and phone calls, and there will be a set of our families who will benefit from door-to-door, community engagement.
We’re being very intentional about community engagement early on. We’ve started even this summer with back to school registration and making sure that we’re going into communities to engage with people. And also just having conversations with families about what method works best for them.
Are there any other things you were working on at City of Promise you could see bringing this to role?
One of the initiatives that I’ve brought over is going to be a division-wide mentoring and tutoring program, the Bring Back the Village network, which is rooted in the African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child. I know the importance of having a mentor, someone who is there to support you, to check on your grades, to make sure you’re doing well in school, not just academically but emotionally, and just being that liaison when you need them. And tutoring is important; at City of Promise we had started to build out after-school tutoring programs, but that’s something I wanted to carry over to make sure every school has their own tutoring hub.
Another big thing I learned on the City of Promise side is the need for partnerships—not just with the school system, but with other nonprofits and organizations in the city. There are so many people doing amazing things in Charlottesville, so on this side, creating a Community Care Coalition—that’s what I’m tentatively calling it—where all of our nonprofits and organizational players in the city are coming together to discuss the youth development that’s happening and support the kids.
There are so many different issues around equity—what do you
see as the most important things to address?
All of it. All of it. One of the things I also learned is that you can’t treat any one symptom in isolation. In order to effect real change, we have to do the hard work of fixing all of it, or attempting to address all of it, to do the work that we need to do.
It seems like you are pretty hopeful.
Yeah, I live in hope. I don’t think you can do the work we do without rooting yourself in hope. We all are in this field because we hope to instill in our kids that hope for a better tomorrow and making sure that they are equipped to handle the world that we leave for them. There’s no reason why any child, whatever their background, can’t be as successful as they want to be.
Bev Catlin hopes changes to Charlottesville City Schools’ gifted program will better serve all students. (Photo: Eze Amos)
Less than a year after Charlottesville City Schools were called out in the national press for longstanding racial disparities, the city is paying nearly $500,000 to help remake its gifted education program.
City Council approved the appropriation of $468,000 on August 5 to pay the salaries of six new gifted education teachers for the 2019-20 school year. It’s part of an overhaul of Quest—Charlottesville’s gifted program—that’s centered around establishing a more inclusive approach to both instruction and selection.
“For us to be able to be in classrooms with the frequency and regularity that we want [in order to] really have an impact for all children, the decision by the superintendent…was that we needed to add more gifted resource teachers,” says Bev Catlin, coordinator of gifted instruction.
Prior to this year, each of the city’s six elementary schools had one full-time gifted education teacher on staff; the new hires will now split duties with the existing instructors in an effort to provide more hands-on learning and attention to individual students.
As part of Quest’s new approach, students identified as gifted will no longer be pulled from their classroom for separate instruction. Instead, lessons traditionally given to these students will be extended to the rest of the class as well.
In October, The New York Times and ProPublica co-authored an article that highlighted the city schools’ racial achievement gap (one of the highest in the nation), and pointed out that white children made up more than 70 percent of Quest despite representing only 43 percent of the student population. The story linked these disparities to Charlottesville’s history of school segregation, and declared that the current system “segregates students from the time they start, and steers them into separate and unequal tracks.”
CCS became the target of heavy criticism, prompting Superintendent Rosa Atkins to admit in a press conference that the school district still had work to do in order to make “consistent or satisfactory progress for all our students.” She said at an ensuing community forum that while CCS didn’t believe the divide to be rooted in racism, “we have not fully lined up with the values that we have communicated.”
“We were very sensitive to the reaction of that article, and it has never been our intention as a program to not serve a group of students or to hurt a group of students,” Catlin says. “So what I think has happened—and we are very excited about it—is the agenda has moved very quickly…because we could’ve talked about this for a while and we had been talking about making changes [but now] we’re making them. We’re ready to go.”
In addition to providing enrichment education to all children in their classrooms, the district is also changing how it identifies students as gifted. Before, students were identified in first grade as eligible for Quest, but that process will now extend into the third grade to create a more inclusive learning environment and avoid labeling specific kids in the eyes of their classmates.
“We are going to have even more collaboration with the classroom teachers than what we saw with the previous model, which I think is really exciting,” says Ashley Riley, a gifted education specialist at Clark Elementary. She says the schools will be able to serve students more “thoughtfully” and in “intentional ways.”
The school district also hired UVA education professor Catherine Brighton as a consultant to help guide its continued reconfiguration of Quest. Brighton, who’s worked in Charlottesville since 2001, says her role will involve acting as a “sounding board” and helping the district analyze the best practices for providing gifted education.
“I’m in terrific support of the work that they’re doing,” she says. “I think that the idea of serving all the students in the classroom and the geography of the services happening in the general education classroom is squarely in line with the research in the field.”
A Clark Elementary preschooler makes discoveries during Wildrock’s Nature Friends program, which visits the city’s public preschools four times a year. Photo: Martyn Kyle
On a brisk but sunny spring morning, more than a dozen pre-kindergarteners file out of the imposing red brick building that is Clark Elementary and seat themselves, excitedly, on the sidewalk in front of the school’s garden. Sarah Harris greets them with a big smile. “Hello, my friends!” she calls.
Harris is the early childhood program director at Wildrock, a nonprofit that promotes nature play and operates a 28-acre nature area, tucked into the Blue Ridge foothills about 40 minutes outside of Charlottesville. While school and community groups have been visiting Wildrock’s outdoor playscape since the moment it opened in 2017, the organization has more recently expanded its community outreach efforts, including into city schools.
“It’s important to have that daily connection with nature in urban settings as well,” says Wildrock founder Carolyn Schuyler.
For the Nature Friends program, which started last year, Harris and volunteers visit all the city’s public preschools four times a year, in addition to hosting two field trips at Wildrock. It’s a way for kids to experience imaginative outdoor play in their own school green spaces, Schuyler says.
Clark, where 82 percent of students come from low-income families, has a lovely garden now in full bloom, and Harris invites the children to look at the “beautiful view” as they wait patiently through a school fire drill.
“Wow,” one girl says softly. A moment later, a boy spots a bird in a nearby tree, and points excitedly, trying to show Harris his discovery while following the school rule of no talking during a fire drill. “That’s a robin?” he whispers. “Yes, that’s a robin,” she smiles back.
After the fire drill and a picture book (Stories from the Bug Garden), the teachers arrange the children into orderly lines to move the few feet to the play areas. “Calm your body!” the teaching assistant directs one squirmy child. “Stop being extra, just walk!” she tells another.
Finally, it is time to play. There are “sensory bins” loaded with dried beans (“We’re going to pretend it’s dirt,” Harris says) with tiny metal buckets and shovels for scooping and dumping, and small wooden flowers, made of felt and thread spools, to plant. On a blanket in the grass, Harris is helping kids select twigs and tall grasses to build a “bug hotel” to keep bugs safe from predators. And in a small nook in the garden, where a group of tree stumps is arranged like chairs around a table, Harris has placed a tiny set of pots and pans, some stuffed animals, and some plastic frames that can be made into forts with pieces of cloth and clips.
“Hey, that’s my house!” one girl cries indignantly, as a boy ducks into her fort. “He’s going to take my stuff!”
Nature Friends volunteer Dolly Johnson, who taught preschool for 30 years at St. Anne’s, intervenes. “A friend can help you build,” she suggests, and soon the two children are clipping a fourth wall onto their fort and playing happily inside.
“We’re having a family picnic!” the girl cries a few minutes later, emerging to prepare some food at the tree stump. She adds some green leaves to a pot. “Look, I made a salad!”
This kind of free play—where children make their own rules and negotiate roles—is vital to kids’ development, and it’s part of the point of Nature Friends. But Schuyler knows the need for play isn’t limited to preschoolers. When school groups visit the organization’s outdoor playscape, she says, “So many kids have not had all the play that they need, even kids that are 15 [or] 16 will ask if they can play, and go do it. It’s really wonderful to watch.”
Wildrock is now partnering with the city schools to work with kids of all ages. At Clark, it’s piloting another program, called Nature Play Lab, that the organization hopes to expand to all the city’s elementary schools as well as Walker and Buford. Like Nature Friends, it’s a way to support free play outdoors, but for older students.
Wildrock installed a shed that can be used as a play space, and is stocked with things like capes, animal masks, pots and pans, and wooden blocks cut from tree stumps. “It’s a scaffolding for imaginative play that doesn’t happen so much anymore,” Schuyler says. And the program trains teachers in how to facilitate play, and connect it with social-emotional skills.
“This is how we segue from just going out to the Wildrock facility to also having those experiences right at the school,” says Patrick Farrell, intervention and support coordinator at Charlottesville City Schools. And he says the response to all of Wildrock’s programs has been “nothing but raves.”
That’s certainly the case at Clark. As the Nature Friends session wraps up, a girl in a Hello Kitty sweatshirt bounces on her toes and asks if they can play more. And the teaching assistant tilts her face up to the spring sun. “I wish we could stay outside,” she says.
Former Charlottesville High School teacher Margaret Thornton says her research suggests that city schools' gifted education program, Quest, was created to segregate students. Courtesy photo
Though the gifted education program in Charlottesville City Schools has recently come under fire for its racial disparities, such gaps have existed since the program was created in 1976, and may have even been part of its intention.
At tonight’s School Board meeting, former Charlottesville High School teacher and Ph.D. student Margaret Thornton will present new research that suggests the elite program, called Quest, was formed as a way to keep white students separate from the black students who had recently integrated into the city’s public schools after a time of resistance to desegregation.
Thornton’s report includes a letter from a local woman who proposed a program that the highest-achieving and mainly white students would test into. These students would be pulled out of class to study separately from the others three days a week, the woman, Ms. Smith, said. She also acknowledged that a small percentage of them could be “negroes.”
“It is to be hoped that the plan as outlined above offers a limited form of desegregation, which may placate the fears of those who object to any opportunity of social intermingling of the races, may satisfy the federal courts, and last but not least, may give us a form of desegregated education of which we can all be proud,” wrote Smith.
Roughly 19 years later, in 1976, Quest was born. And its structure was almost exactly the same as Smith’s proposal, says Thornton.
By 1983, Thornton found that 19 percent of the school district’s white students, and fewer than 3 percent of its black students had tested into Quest, prompting city schools to expand its definition of “gifted” to include more students. But the next year, an audit by the U.S. Department of Education still found that black students were underidentified in gifted programs, and overidentified in special education.
At CHS, says Thornton, “walkouts ensued.”
And the issue of the disparity has periodically boiled to the surface of conversation in Charlottesville ever since. Most recently, the topic was raised last fall when The New York Times and ProPublica published a scathing indictment on persistent and widening achievement gaps between white and black students, highlighting, among other problems, the overrepresentation of white students in Quest.
“When people bring up Quest, we get angry,” said CHS 12th-grader Trinity Hughes in the October article. “We all wish we had the opportunity to have that separate creative time. It drives a gap between students from elementary school on.”
Despite efforts by Charlottesville City Schools to address the issue, it’s only gotten worse: the percentage of white students who are identified as gifted has shot up from 11 percent in 1984 to roughly 33 percent today. Overall, white students make up more than 70 percent of students in Quest—in a district that is only 43 percent white.
Thornton formerly taught some “honors-option” English classes at CHS, where students of all abilities are in the same class and examine the same big questions, but use different texts and assignments depending on whether they’re working for honors-level credit. Now she studies similar initiatives (commonly known as “detracking”) at UVA, and says she’s interested in how school leaders and teachers can work together to create heterogeneous classrooms that work for all students.
“Now that I understand how firmly rooted these [gifted] programs are in avoiding integration, I hope we as a community can realize we can’t tweak Quest,” says Thornton. “We have to come up with something new that enriches every student.”
After hearing about Thornton’s research, Superintendent Rosa Atkins invited her to present to the school board. Board chair Jennifer McKeever, who is also familiar with Thornton’s research, says it’s important to recognize the historical context of Quest, and the program should be re-examined.
“Now that we kind of understand better, we have to do better,” she says, adding that two of her kids have been through the gifted program and one has not.
Federal law requires some separation of students by ability, she says, and segregation “is absolutely not” the current goal of Quest.
Says McKeever, “It’s really concerning that this is such a clear indication of structural bias and institutional racism.”
Updated May 3 to correct an error: Quest began roughly 19 years after Ms. Smith’s letter, not 9.
