Students in masks was the norm for more than a year at Bellwood-Antis as the district implemented measures to prevent the spread of COVID and allow for in-person learning. It all began 5 years ago, when schools across the country shut down in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Pandemic anniversary cause for reflection in schools

The world shut down five years ago this week

March 14, 2025

And so it begins

COVID-19 changed everything, from the way people gathered to how they worked, shopped, order food and even worshiped.

On March 13, 2020, what started out as a pleasant two-week break quickly became the biggest epidemic of the modern age. The COVID-19 virus quickly spread to the entire world.

Along with private lives and industry, COVID also affected the school system drastically. Schools were shut down in the spring of 2020, with many forced to switch to pass/fail grading systems and virtual assignments through online classes.

“The decision to quarantine was made by the state and federal government. We were forced to use the communication provided by the CDC and Health Department in order to make the best decisions for our school, staff and community,” said Bellwood-Antis High School Principal Mr. Richard Schreier.

For better or worse B-A was headed into uncharted territory, along with the rest of the world. And five years later the effects of COVID still linger in many areas of education.

Information and adjustments

Starting with the two week break instituted to “stop the spread,” the layoff quickly turned into the rest of the school year. Students were encouraged to take home materials for learning, with Blair County schools agreeing that it would be for the best to have students at home while officials learned more about the virus.

“There were many challenges when school first closed due to COVID. Like many people, we thought it would be temporary, and I would be making the traditional end of the year plans for the Class of 2020,” Mr. Schreier said. “Sadly, the clearance to return to school took more time than any one expected. The other challenge was deciding how to educate students remotely, and how to hold students accountable for their learning and assessment.”

The school year officially ended at B-A when the Class of 2020 celebrated its commencement, not in the auditorium or a Memorial Stadium, but in a drive-by ceremony where students rode in cars and received their diplomas on the go.

Sports teams were also affected. The 2020 baseball season was completely canceled, ending a promising season, and the girls basketball team, defending two consecutive state titles, was forced to shut it down just a week into the PIAA playoffs.

“I remember being at baseball practice on Friday, March 13, 2020, and Coach Conlon made the announcement that we were required to take two weeks off,” recalled Mr. Tom Partner, an assistant on the baseball team. “After that short break, we figured to be back ready to play ball soon. The most disappointing thing regarding that baseball season was that we had very high expectations for that team—a great chance of making a run at both a district and state title!”

The football team was not allowed to start any summer workouts until early July. When late August came, the audience in the stands was limited to parents only initially. Even the players themselves weren’t considered safe. Masks were required on the sidelines and locker rooms, and contact tracing often forced teams to cancel games. This made for a very difficult and stressful season.

By the fall of 2020, students were back in the buildings at B-A. The caveat was that everyone was forced to wear masks and engage in hybrid learning. High school students were put into A and B groups, with each group coming in on certain days, while the others did virtual learning. Hallways and stairwells were configured for one-way travel and lunches were broken up and scattered throughout the building.

“When we finally returned to school, attempting to bring some normalcy with the safety precautions was difficult. There were people who did not like the masks, the one-way stairwells, the multiple lunch spaces, the contact tracing,” Mr. Schreier said. “But in the end we did the best we could with the information that we had at the time.”

The adjustments made for COVID were particularly tough at Myers, where young learners were forced to not only complete the work and pass the class, but to adapt to drastically different teaching styles along periodic shutdowns when case numbers went too far up.

Mrs. Clabaugh (3rd grade teacher) teaching her students math.

Lags in learning

The effects of COVID-19 left some students behind, bringing a significant decrease in students’ learning. Many students struggled to stay focused in class and were less likely to seek help when needed. Teachers were also unable to go through all of their lessons with the time given. Remote learning was new and challenging, as teachers had to stream classes to students at home.

In 2022, BluePrint writer Bailee Conway published a story detailing the ways learning at Myers Elementary lagged along with the rest of the nation. In short, third graders in Bellwood saw test scores decline in both math and reading, although their declines were not as steep as those seen in the rest of the nation.

However, teachers at Bellwood-Antis took some positives from the pandemic.

“The good that came out of this may include a different approach to running a business, working from home was just as efficient and economically beneficial for some careers; although again, it was not an effective way to teach and learn,” said Mr. Partner.

In retrospect, the decision to quarantine was a double edged sword. The short term, it managed to prevent COVID-19 from spreading to more people. For the long term, education and communication has faltered.

Science teacher Mrs. Alice Flarend believes that quarantine was a must. “It needed to be done. I wish the US was not so polarized about it so we could have planned more before we had to close to make the education better,” she said.

Mrs. Flarend’s class was greatly adjusted to fit into the new COVID regulations. “My class runs with students working on activities together, so many things had to be adjusted to be more individual. The remote students during the hybrid had difficulty participating for many reasons.”

Mr. Partner also had the same struggle. “It was different approach to teaching, somewhat forcing both students and teachers into a heavy emphasis on technology-implemented lessons,” he said. “Unfortunately, we also found out which students had support from home and which students did not…A clear educational gap occurred during that time.”

Mrs. Clabaugh (3rd grade teacher) teaching her students math. (Bailee Conway)

The end and the aftermath

Overall, mistakes were made. No one could have predicted COVID-19’s massive impact across the country. New decisions were being made every day; new regulations that people have never experienced before caused plenty of Americans to get mad. Most students treated the quarantine period as a vacation, not truly understanding the effect it would have on them and their education as a whole.

“If I could go back with today’s knowledge, there are certain things that I think would be different. New knowledge would discourage me from ever taking school away from students,” Mr. Schreier said. “The aftermath of COVID has led to learning loss (which we are getting back), lack of trust among the school’s stakeholders, and increased apathy about school in general.”

In December of 2020, The FDA approved emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use only. Fast forward to March 2021 and over 100 million doses were given to US citizens. Normalcy was restore d to most peoples’ lives, and by May of 2023, former US president Joe Biden declared the end of the pandemic.

However, while it may of ended, the effects the pandemic had on everyone continues to this day.

The BluePrint

The BluePrint

The BluePrint

Pandemic anniversary cause for reflection in schools

The BluePrint

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