Interviewing Mr. Raymond

By Simone Anderson

The 2020-2021 school year has been a daunting time for everyone.  This article includes an interview with Principal Raymond and information about his COVID experiences and what students can expect in the future.  

His take on the COVID educational experience:

How does it feel being a principal at a school without students?

“It’s an emptiness really, you just feel like when you see the kids here doing their cross-country in the morning, it’s like oh that’s what it feels like to have students around. The hard thing about this environment is that things like this interview are so strange.  Instead of just sitting down in A.E. we’ve had to do this whole online call.  There’s just always an extra step with everything. I’m trying to do the schoology videos and Instagram posts and it’s like you don’t really know if people are hearing those things.”

How has your experience in terms of job responsibilities changed?

“We’re staying busy with things, but it’s definitely lonely”

“There are some things that we don’t have to worry about like chasing students who went to Chick-fil-a that we don’t have to worry about”.

“We have to do a lot in terms of checking on everyone’s emotional well-being and making sure that everyone is making it through this time alright.”

“The biggest thing that I am working on is overall communication.”

How do you feel about how this has affected the students of Tucker?

“There haven’t been students in the school since March.  By the time even some of them come back it will have been a full year of virtual school which is really crazy because it doesn’t seem like that is possible.

“There will be students at Tucker who will have been freshmen for a full year but who never step inside the old building.”

“Schools are all about bringing kids together, doing things, and making memories and we can’t do a lot of that now.”

What to expect in the second semester:

What percentage of students do you think are going to come back second semester?

“Yes, I think it’s probably going to be about thirty to forty percent of the student body that is going to return”

“I think a lot of people are scared.  I think it’s hard that people are having to make a decision about February in November.”

“We don’t really know what the COVID situation is going to look like in February.”

“I just think that fear is playing into it in a big way”

Is there a chance that no one is really going to return in February?

“Yes, there is a very good chance that no one is going to be allowed to return.”

How much should students expect their schedules to change?

“We really don’t know at this stage.”

“We definitely will be offering all of the classes regardless of the choice that people make.”

“There’s a chance that you could get a different teacher, but we are really trying to limit that.”

Will teachers be teaching online and in-person at the same time?

“Yes, especially in the IB, ACA, and immersion classes where there are already very few students taking each course.”

Looking forward to the 2021-2022 school year:

Is everyone going to come back for the 2021-2022 school year?

“I would like to believe that.  The hopeful side of me says that we will all have a vaccine in time for everyone that needs it to take it.”

“We might even decide that you have to have the vaccine to come back to school.”

How are things going with construction of the new school?

“We’re a little bit ahead of Highland Springs.”

“They tell me that they are on-schedule.”

“The exterior of the building is nearly complete.  The air conditioning is being put in right now.”

“Next year we will be entirely in the new building.”

Is there anything else of interest about the new building?

“I want to work to name all of the wings and have things that make the school unique.”

“I’d like to get the student’s perspectives on naming all of the wings and commons and such.”