Rising up:
Stories from the pandemic

2021 | Written by Faith Schantz, Report Editor

Charles Grayson III and Isabella Grayson Parent and student, Manchester Academic Charter School

Charles Grayson III lives in Marshall-Shadeland, a residential neighborhood on the Northside that borders the Ohio River. In March of 2020, he was working six days a week and raising his daughters Isabella and Aaliyah, who both attended Manchester Academic Charter School (MACS).

“When everything first happened,” Grayson says, “it was extremely rough.” His daughters started virtual learning in his mother’s kitchen along with two younger cousins, everybody wearing headphones and using a school-issued device. Later, his daughters stayed at home by themselves, with 8th grader Isabella supervising 3rd grader Aaliyah while Grayson was at work, “which was stressful for all parties,” he recalls.

During that time, Isabella says, “I discovered that I need to get a lot more patient.” Patient with her sister, and patient with the vagaries of online schooling. When the computer malfunctioned, she says, she might lose a whole day, but she still had to make up the work. When she could participate she found online learning frustrating. Faced with a task, her father says, “She looks at it, she breaks it down, she tinkers with it.” Aaliyah is more of a hands-on learner, he says, which wasn’t conducive to learning through a screen either. “All of us in the house learned patience,” he says.

Before the pandemic, his daughters’ teachers contacted him once or twice a month. During virtual school, “There was a lot more communication than usual.” He welcomed the higher level of contact and the more personal relationships he developed with teachers. He also had a new window on what his daughters were learning. Activities such as a math task that involved food labeling showed him the content was more relevant to their lives than he’d known.

Along with helping with their science projects, Grayson says, “My main job was to keep my daughters focused and motivated.” When they were lonely, “we got around family.” Once, they drove to Lake Erie so the girls could visit a beach and feel the sun. He also had them talk to a therapist who could offer an unbiased perspective. He kept reminding them that he was there for them. And he tried to make sure “they understood that we were all in this together…they weren’t alone.”

Family life improved after Grayson enrolled Aaliyah in a learning hub at TLC Learning Center, with the help of A+ Schools staff. Though children at the hub were attending different virtual schools, the staff included teachers’ aides who “understood the structure of the class,” he says. They would call him to report technical glitches, he would contact MACS, and relay the solution back to the hub. Aaliyah played with other children, and at home, Isabella “didn’t have to worry about what her younger sister was doing,” he says. “She was able to focus on her grades and she actually ended up getting a 4.0, which was great.”

This year, Isabella started 9th grade at City Charter High School. Aaliyah is living with her mother and attending 4th grade in another state. Though he doesn’t need it anymore, Grayson thinks the learning hubs should be continued, because some parents need to work but are uncomfortable sending their children back to in-person school.

In August, Grayson and Isabella had one deceptively modest wish. Both were just hoping that schools would open, they said.