BEACH HAVEN – Out of all the schools in the country, Beach Haven Elementary School was one of 75 schools that was recognized for maintaining in-person learning. The U.S. Department of Education declared Beach Haven Elementary as a “back-to-school success story.”
Beach Haven Elementary was also the only school in the state of New Jersey to successfully maintain in-person learning without any interruptions.
Since the beginning of the school year in September, the school’s 87 students have continued to have in-class instruction and recently celebrated 100 consecutive days of uninterrupted learning.
“No matter if you’re a small district like us or a large district, everyone has their challenges. Every district is unique and that’s what we based our challenges on. What are our strengths and what are our shortcomings? How do we address them?” Superintendent Christopher Meyrick said. “Our ultimate goal was to host the students in-person.”
When the district made the decision in the summer that they would go forward with in-person learning, the teachers at Beach Haven Elementary School got creative with their teaching methods.
According to the department’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, many teachers brought their lessons outside whether it was in the school’s courtyard or at the beach.
“During the pandemic it was my goal to create a field trip environment where students can be outdoors while easily adhering to social distancing practices,” third-grade teacher Mrs. Deakyne said. “We were fortunate to have the Director of the Alliance for a Living Ocean and members of the Long Beach Township Beach Patrol to offer a presentation on ocean/water safety and rescue. Students participated in seining and learned about keeping the water surrounding Long Beach Island clean, protected and safe. While seining students got to see baby crabs, shrimp, pipe fish among others up close!”
“In first grade, one of our main goals is for our students to develop a love of reading. We are able to provide authentic reading experiences for our students, not only in the classroom but outside our four walls. One way we have been able to do this is through our public library visits,” first-grade teacher Mrs. Falletta said. “Once a month, we walk to visit our local library and listen to a story from the librarian. This has always been a highlight for our students. We certainly did not want the students to miss out this year on that experience. As a result, the Library on the Lawn program was born! This year, when our students visit our local library, we met outside and listened to stories on the side lawn of the library. The library has even donated books to the students and our classroom since we cannot check out books this year! It is a wonderful community partnership and the students look forward to these special days.”
“The community’s feedback has been nothing but astounding,” Meyrick said. “Parents have been so thankful that kids are in-person learning and that we’re continuing to grow.”
With the school celebrating 100 days of uninterrupted in-person learning, Meyrick believes they’ve been so successful because they’ve been strictly following protocol.
“We’ve been very successful in a sense with just being aware and vigilant of social distance and mask wearing protocols,” Meyrick said. “Make sure your mask is up, make sure you’re backing up – giving everyone their distance whether it’s a teacher or a student – and of course making sure to wash up and continue to adhere to good hygiene.”
