VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The fall school semester is going to look a lot different due to the pandemic.
And the changes have left a lot of parents, teachers and students scrambling for help.
One Virginia beach mom created a Facebook group to make virtual learning easier.
Jessica Perez-McCloud started the "757 Virtual Learning Assistance" group after she got a lot of response from a Facebook post asking others what they planned to do during the pandemic.
“I got so many responses and so many people shared my post, people that didn't even know me were commenting so I said let me start a group," Perez-McCloud said.
That group grew quickly to more than 5,000 people, including parents, grandparents, teachers, tutors, and college students.
Jessica and her husband have an eight-year-old son. They have jobs outside of education. She says most parents shared the same reaction to virtual learning: scared and overwhelmed.
And work schedules and home situations seemed to make the anxiety and fear worse.
“A lot of parents are either from single-parent homes, or two-parent households that are essential workers or the parents work the same shift so they don't know what they're going to do," Perez-McCloud explained.
Perez-McCloud says the educators who joined the "757 Virtual Learning Assistance" Facebook group are ready to help.
"We have teachers that are just starting out, teachers that have been teaching for over 30 years, teachers that used to teach in Virginia, but transferred to other places," she said. "We have school counselors. We have gifted and special education teachers in there."
And some parents are using the page to create "pandemic pods" pooling small groups of kids.
"There are families teaming up with four or five kids that need someone to come in and just help them if need be," Perez-McCloud continued.
She says the page is meant to offer free help from volunteers. But she stresses everyone must do their part to check out the people they are interacting with.
"I've given advice to everyone in the group to fully vet the individuals, do your research on the individuals before you hire someone to come into your home," Perez-McCloud said.
She hopes this group will continue to thrive even when things get back to normal and kids are back in school buildings.
"We might have some students or parents that their kids are all in the same class and they can ask one general question and get some type of help," said Perez-McCloud.
Remember, these learning groups should be a resource along with instructional materials from your child's school. Always check with your child's teachers first.