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.

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The Hypothesis

The Hypothesis Season Two Trailer

October 11, 2021 • Protect the Pack Productions • Season 2 • Episode 1

This season, Season 2, we will take you back behind the curtains as the Delta Variant of COVID-19 presents new challenges and we explore the oftentimes conflicting desires, politics and directives that meet with a community's desire to educate students to the highest and best of our ability.

You'll meet parents, teachers, staff, local health officials and students to help bring to life some of the excitement we experience each day along with the real challenges and tradeoffs that keep us working late each night.

These issues are by nature controversial and we are very aware that our school community is not monolithic. In no way do we intend to make political statements or provoke arguments. Our bias here is simply around making decisions that will allow the greatest number of students the highest level of education that we can provide. Aside from that, our goal is simply to take you into the decisions themselves as we face them, and do our best to explain why we are making them. In the end, we are not perfect, but we work incredibly hard and our main focus is on the education of our students, taking all health and safety precautions into consideration.

Our first episodes will focus on the science around children and COVID, online education and how and when we switch classes to a hybrid of online and in-person. We will plan to post new episodes every Tuesday for the run of the season.

We hope that you'll join us, share the episodes and help us to grow a deep and productive dialogue.

Stay safe out there and as always, Protect the Pack!

Brought to you by Protect the Pack Productions at Turquoise Trail Charter School, Santa Fe, New Mexico.