FCPS, like other school counties across the nation, has closed schools for the entirety of the 2019-2020 school year. 

Annandale High School is a part of approximately 98,000 public schools that are closed now due to the risk of COVID-19. In addition, approximately 34,000 private schools are closed in the US today. 

Originally, Virginia Governor ordered all Virginia schools to be closed for four weeks, reopening after Spring Break. FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand reaffirmed this in a newsletter. 

With this initial decision, all FCPS teachers were required to give no work that could impact any students grade. In addition, all sports and extracurricular activities were cancelled until the supposed reopening of schools. 

This initial plan was revised on March 23, Governor Northam ordered that all K-12 schools in Virginia were to close for the remainder of the academic year. 

The lives of students, teachers, parents, custodian workers and all people connected to schools in some way were altered with this decision. 

“I was excited to have school off because of the reduced workload,” senior Alieu Kamara said. “However, I felt a little sadness due to the pandemic hurting more people and not being under control.”

School officials and teachers had to prepare for a change in the learning process; a shift to distance learning was scheduled on the previous return-to-school date, April 13.

In the weeks between the decision to close schools for the rest of the year and the start date of distance learning, most everything was held to a stand still. 

Some teachers encouraged students to continue their learning independently and others provided mental support with opportunities to express emotions virtually.

However, for the most part, all school related operations ceased for the past four weeks.

Not everything was fun and games for students who had unlimited free time though, the risk of COVID-19 grew greater within FCPS.

Students, residents within Virginia and people all across American were advised to follow safety guidelines provided by the CDC. It was suggested that individuals were to practice social distancing, remain six feet away from others in public and reduce the amount of products they bought at the grocery store. 

“Practicing social distancing was a bit hard at first because sometimes people would walk past or jog near me in parks,” senior Kia Morawetz said. “But now that I can’t really go anywhere it’s not as much of a problem.”

Despite many people within Virginia following safety precautions, the threat of COVID-19 persisted and Governor Northam took harsher action. 

Effective from March 30, Northam ordered a mandatory shelter in place order for all residents of Virginia. This executive order required individuals to remain six feet apart in public and limit their time outside the house if not for an essential purpose. 

These essential purposes include obtaining food or drink, seeking medical services, travelling to work, fulfilling any court order or for the purpose of physical exercise. 

With this order, the activity of many AHS students was cut to nearly nothing. The freedom they had once had was limited to essential purposes only.

“Once Northam ordered everyone to stay home, I couldn’t go out at all really unless it was for fresh air so I relied on technology to talk to friends,” Morawetz said. 

With daily life changed drastically for so many people, many are looking for some kind of structure.

The freedom to engage in activities at home have kept students occupied for now and with the start of online school, students have plenty of work to keep them busy throughout the day. 

Despite this, the scare of COVID-19 has sent the world into paralysis and the future remains uncertain for many AHS students and their families.