After a day of school, mother and daughter stare into a familiar laptop webcam, their smiling faces illuminated by the computer’s bright screen. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, 12-year-old Nevaeh Martinez has been distance learning at home with her four siblings.

Hemet Unified School District, home to Nevaeh Martinez’s school, Rancho Viejo Middle School, as well as her siblings’, has 21,000 students that are learning from a distance due to COVID-19. Distance learning is different from online learning. Online learning is designed for students with the expectation they will learn strictly online. Distance learning, however, is based on the in-person experience and tries to replicate the student-teacher interactions and lessons from a distance.

Students learning through Hemet Unified, which covers six cities in California, attend live classes through Google Classroom, and have both synchronous and asynchronous classes. Synchronous classes are live and asynchronous periods allow students to work on assignments independently and get one-on-one help from teachers. They are monitored through GoGuardian by their teachers during asynchronous time. This online monitoring tool allows teachers to view students’ online activity so long as they are logged in on their school devices with their credentials.

The district shut down on March 13, and has extended its distance learning measures until 2021. “I think that admin didn’t know what to do,” said Wendy Soto, a Hemet Unified special education teacher. “It was up to teachers to pull together to find their support systems among each other.”

Hemet High Front Office

Students, parents and school districts are handling the shift to virtual learning differently, and it remains difficult to plan long-term and feel confident when anything can change at any moment. However, using distance learning as a time to rethink the structure of education could result in a more efficient educational experience, according to Brandon Martinez, a professor of education at USC with expertise in K-12 distance learning. “[Re-structuring classes] is probably one of the best moves, because instead of a teacher having to lead a class of middle or high school students for a 50 to 55 minute period … you've got this notion of an office hours approach,” Martinez said. “If students need help, they can get one-on-one attention.” This is the approach Hemet Unified has adopted.

Although difficult, distance learning allows school districts the opportunity to re-imagine the structure of middle school and high school public education. Hemet Unified School District has incorporated measures such as restructuring schedules and finding ways to keep students engaged and progressing. These efforts indicate the district is on track to making the most out of distance learning. “She's matured a lot … and she's had to be more responsible,” Crystal Martinez said of her daughter Nevaeh Martinez.

Rancho Viejo Middle School and Hemet High School are part of Riverside County’s Hemet Unified School District. Hemet Unified School District is home to Title I schools, meaning it receives federal funds for technology, resources and student programs. All of the students in the district receive free lunches and, amid the pandemic, continue to receive free meals every weekday except Wednesday.

On top of providing free lunches, Hemet Unified is also supplying technology such as Chromebooks and Wi-Fi hotspots to students. The district was one of 19 awarded part of a $10 million federal fund for the purchase of technology to aid distance learning.

If there are any problems with Wi-Fi or technology, the district has reengagement teams in place that will go out to students’ homes and assist with their at-home set ups.

Hemet High School Administration Office

Though the process of connecting students to the web has been smooth, adapting to the virtual learning format has been a challenge for everyone involved. “It’s a learning process,” Williams said. “Most staff and students have risen to the challenge. It’s uniformed throughout the district, it’s uniformed throughout the middle schools and it’s a work in progress.”

Distance learning definitely takes its toll. “It’s been kind of hard because you’re sitting in front of a screen all day long and you don’t get many breaks,” Nevaeh Martinez said. “I think it’s been harder for her to focus,” her mother Crystal Martinez added. “The other thing is she has four other brothers and sisters here that are making noise…it’s not the same as being in school.”

Despite these challenges, Nevaeh Martinez remains adamant about completing her assignments. She is doing better than ever in her math class, and notes it is because of her teacher. She says students in the class are comfortable getting clarification on steps they are confused about, and that she is understanding the subject.

Jace Baca is a sophomore at Hemet High School, and is on the basketball and cross-country teams. He is hoping that sports resume soon, after the seasons were postponed. While Baca admits the online format is not ideal, he appreciates his asynchronous time. “I can get my work done a lot quicker,” Baca said.

Baca reflects on the seamless exchanges he had with his teachers before COVID, and finds that distance learning makes these interactions more difficult. “It doesn’t feel as connected,” he explained. Even with the barriers that inevitably come with distance learning, Baca is currently on Hemet High’s honor roll.

While in his United States History Class, Baca participates through Google Classroom’s chat feature. His teacher incentivizes extra credit to keep students engaged. Students who can answer his questions correctly will receive points. Baca responds to almost every question.

“I’m always thinking, 'what could I keep doing that I would normally do in my regular class. How did I motivate students?'” said Wendy Soto, special education teacher at Hemet High School. Soto makes efforts to build relationships with students, despite the obstacle of a virtual classroom. Soto described a student of hers at Hemet High who was notoriously absent and falling behind in many of her classes. Soto called the family and offered to buy them dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, El Patron, so that she could discuss grades and help the student get missing assignments in.

The student and her sister arrived at the restaurant for dinner. “The student stayed there with the Chrome Book and I was on the other side of the table, and we knocked out four or five assignments,” said Soto. “We raised her grade from an F to a B-,” she added.

Despite Soto’s efforts, the student was still not attending classes the week following their dinner. “That’s the thing, nothing is a guarantee,” said Soto. “I know that I’m doing my part.”

Students such as Nevaeh Martinez and Baca, who performed well academically during in-person learning, have continued to do well during distance learning.

Though some students are staying on top of their work, others have checked out. Assistant Principal Kim Williams confirms attendance is down at Rancho Viejo Middle School.

In addition to adjusting to learning online, students are also coping with the shift of social interactions.

Nevaeh Martinez and Baca both miss playing team sports. While there are concerns around students’ social growth, Rancho Viejo Middle school has incorporated a Google Meet during students’ lunches to provide an opportunity for them to socialize with each other. This activity is monitored by school counselors.

Navigating school from a distance can be overwhelming for students, but the district is still offering support for mental health.

Students also have access to counselors, mindfulness training and outside counseling such as therapy or medical assistance through Riverside County’s Wraparound services, according to Williams. While the students have continuous access to resources, Soto cautions that prolonged distanced learning could have negative effects, given that middle school and high school students are still in their developmental stages. “Graduation and prom are traditions these students are missing out on,” Soto said. “People make assumptions about youth and say they do not care about these things anymore, but they really do,” she added.

While distance learning may not be ideal, Hemet Unified School District has fared better than expected, based on the success with reengagement teams and the district’s openness to innovation, which is predicted by some experts to propel them forward.

Brandon Martinez hopes districts will incorporate the synchronous and asynchronous model when school resumes in-person, which will get students used to a higher education model and hopefully allow them to dig deeper in different subjects. “If school leaders really want to change the game, this is the opportunity; think about how to get rid of this antiquated structure,” he said.

Distance learning has been a different experience for each family. Some view it as an opportunity. “I think that it has brought my family together more,” Crystal Martinez said. That closeness is apparent as she sits with her daughter Nevaeh Martinez, peering into the laptop screen. “It's something that we went through together,” she said, as if accepting the struggle of the current moment as an opportunity for growth.