The local high school emailed a link to an online survey today—which follows a different link they sent out a week or two ago. In both cases, they are asking parents about continuing some new practices they have started during COVID.
The first was about Zoom-based parent-teacher conferences. Apparently, I was not alone in my enthusiasm about saving time and being super-efficient; they are considering continuing the practice after COVID restrictions finally end. (My answer was a hearty “yes, please!”)
The second questioned our thoughts on how about remote school in general. They, too, have noticed that some kids find remote learning a good way to cut out the social distractions, freeing them up to focus more, and becoming more self-directed in the process. The school makes no promises about if they can offer this in the fall, or how many classes they might be able to do. For now, they are just asking the question.
To me, this is a silver lining for all of us: we are taking the challenges COVID has presented and then we can notice if there are reasons to continue. I think we might just be surprised by some of the changes.