Night school comes to the rescue for some kindergarteners and their parents

There was no way Rachel Hodge could do it all. The single mother of two daughters is very driven: She works full time at a hospital and is studying for a bachelor’s in social work to further her career.

With no family close by, she cares for her two girls, ages 5 and 11, alone, paying the bills, cooking the meals, doing the laundry.

And she’s fine with that. “You have to push yourself … if you want to be able to get where you want to be,” she said.

But when her children’s schools in Newark, New Jersey, announced the near inevitable — that learning for fall would be online to counter the coronavirus pandemic — something had to give.

Her older daughter Gianna would have the maturity and ability to focus on virtual classes, but that was going to be impossible for Vanessa, a kindergartener. Her daycare would not have the support and quiet that a young child would need.

Hodge told CNN she was direct with the teachers at Vanessa’s KIPP charter school: There would be days when she would not be in class.

She did what she could to try to catch Vanessa up in the evening, but the little girl could only attend the critical first year of school on Hodge’s days off.

“I really didn’t know how I was going to do this,” Hodge said. “I was upset with myself that I had to sacrifice her education so I could be able to work.”

Vanessa was not alone is missing school.

Teacher Meredith Eger told CNN that there were students at the KIPP school who were absent from the first day in September all the way through the month and into October.

That set off alarm bells in the school administration.

“They realized that they needed something to help those kids,” Eger said. “It’s not just assuming that the child … is absent because they don’t want to be online, or the parent doesn’t want them to log on, or we just don’t feel like it.”

The schools ended up offering evening classes from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. And Hodge jumped at the opportunity.

“The school was a big stressor for me, for myself and the kids,” she said. Night school “alleviated a lot of the stress and anxiety and also my worries of ‘Is she getting the adequate quality education that a kindergartener should be able to get?’ “

Eger was at first hesitant to take on the night classes but then volunteered for the extra hours.

During the day, she has 28 students online. Then 11 more at the evening classes.

The results were immediate. And long lasting.

“We have a few scholars that were absent the majority of September and almost all of October, but then the second we started the evening learning program, they have not missed one day,” she said.

“Now, getting into end of week nine, I’m seeing a big difference. I’m seeing most of the kids sitting down, staying seated, their eyes are on the screen, they’re doing the work.”

It’s not the in-person classroom learning that teachers, children and parents yearn for, but both Hodge and Eger say they see the students forming relationships as well as learning their numbers and ABCs — all critical parts of kindergarten.

Night classes for both Vanessa and herself means more scheduling and prioritizing for Hodge but she is happy that her younger daughter understands you’re supposed to go to school every day.

“It’s been really hard doing this on my own and working in the hospital, trying to make ends meet and being able to go to school to further my education,” Hodge said. “I’m very fortunate that she’s able to have a school that puts parents at top notch of priorities.”

She looks forward to Vanessa and Gianna getting back to being in school full time, mostly because that’s what they need. But it will also give Hodge a little break on her days off — perhaps for some time to herself or at least the chance to do the laundry in peace.