The Hypothesis
Go behind the scenes of a PreK - 8th grade charter school in Santa Fe, New Mexico making decisions around whether to open school for in-person learning and how to do so amid a global pandemic. Set at Turquoise Trail Charter School, the state's oldest and fourth largest charter school, you'll meet teachers and administrators who are grappling with how to walk the fine line between public health and public policy during an historic moment in time. As a charter school, Turquoise Trail is able to make decisions both as a school and as a district and is directly accountable. Given that the school serves students across a wide range of ages, the tradeoffs and unintended consequences of decision making is even more complex. Younger students are more directly in need of in-person learning, given that they learn more through socialization, so the drive to get them in school sooner is urgent. Amid the complexity of site-based decision making in this context, the State of New Mexico's Public Education Department continues to issue guidelines that sometimes alter school opening timelines entirely. Along side the story of this school, topics such as the politics and sociology of schools will be explored in this context.
The Hypothesis
Suspicion
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Protect the Pack Productions
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Season 1
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Episode 9
In this episode, we investigate the role that suspicion plays in our interactions with one another and with institutions. Over the first many weeks of school, COVID-19 did not find its way into the school building, suspicion came in at the beginning and never left. You will meet Nurse Jennie, who has led the work to do contact tracing for students and families and has worked closely with the suspicion that people have with how close COVID-19 has come to those inside the building.
Brought to you by Protect the Pack Productions at Turquoise Trail Charter School in Santa Fe, New Mexico.