Some Montgomery County students head back to classroom after mandated remote learning

LOWER MERION, Pa. - In Montgomery County, the two-week mandate for schools to teach fully online expires Monday. It will be up to each district to determine how to proceed with instruction. 

Families are feeling the stress, trying to keep up with the changes and switch of policies. 

“It’s been very hectic for the kids, not knowing if they are actually going to remote or actually going to go be in class,” said Josh Novodor, a father of three students. “So the stability of the children is sometimes uneven, not knowing what they are actually going to do.” 

MORE: Montgomery County school districts making their own decisions on return to in-person learning

Some parents are taking action. In Lower Merion Township, over 1,300 people have signed a petition asking the school board to keep online learning. In Hatboro and Horsham, many parents feel the opposite, hoping their students go back to in-person learning, and discussing their concerns on a community Facebook page.  

Others, like Novodor, have opted to find their children extra instruction.  

“The constant changing and shifting is really difficult and challenging,” Dr. Kim Cipolla said.  “So to have that stability to have someone that’s coming in and working with them, that really helps.” 

Dr. Cipolla and Dr. Leigh Ann McCormack are local teachers that started a personalized tutoring network called 'Beyond the Tutors' to ease parent’s concerns. 

“We wanted to provide a service to families for individualized tutoring especially during a time of uncertainty, to give some consistency for families,” said Leigh Ann McCormack. 

Beyond the Tutors links students with an experienced instructor in MontCo, DelCo, Chester County, Bucks County, and Philadelphia, for in-person or virtual sessions. They also offer after school clubs and therapeutic sessions. 

Novodor says he is fortunate his kids can get extra instruction. As for the rest of the school year, his family says they are taking the curveballs day by day. 

“Pretty much taking one day at a time and doing things on the fly.” 

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