Parent in Tredyffrin/Easttown School District Felt the Different Ways the Pandemic Affected Her Schoolchildren

By

Heather McConnell here with her children (l-r) Hadleigh, 13, Finn, 9 and Maura, 13 at their Malvern Home.
Image via Steven Falk, Philadelphia Inquirer.
Heather McConnell with her three children at their home in Malvern.

Heather McConnell’s twin daughters are seventh-graders in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. Despite their closeness, they each reacted very differently to the pandemic, write Kristen A. Graham, Melanie Burney, and Maddie Hanna for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

While one of her daughters flourished, the other struggled in virtual school.

“She didn’t want to put her face on Zoom meetings,” McConnell said. “Mentally, it was a really tough year for her.”

McConnell kept her daughters home until March; however, she was more comfortable sending her fourth-grade son back to Delaware Valley Friends School in Paoli.

“There was never a COVID scare,” she said. “He did fantastic.”

Even when the girls returned to in-class instruction, the school year still seemed to be in limbo. Some of their friends continued with online classes, which left one of her daughters without her support system.

And while McConnell was able to stay home with her children, it was still a tough year.

“I was barely scraping by, and I didn’t have that additional pressure of a job,” she said. “It’s really overwhelming for parents.”

Now that her daughters have been vaccinated — and hopes her son will soon be as well — she is hoping that fall will bring more normalcy.

Read more about the family in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Connect With Your Community

Subscribe to stay informed!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Advertisement
Creative Capital logo