When seventh grader Sam Stavchansky arrived at the Austin Jewish Academy for the first day of in-person school on Sept. 8, he said he felt a little like Indiana Jones in the wilderness.
When he had heard about the plan to hold class outside this year, he pictured tents in a parking lot. Instead, he found the underbrush had been cleared from a wooded area on the property of the adjacent Dell Jewish Community Center in Northwest Austin. Platforms had been constructed with tents, colorful decorations and plenty of school supplies.
Dubbed the Outdoor Academy, the school has held class entirely outside for third through eighth graders this fall to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. This setup leaves the school building for the younger classes to spread out. It’s an experiment that Principal Chris Aguero said has gone “better than anyone had any right to expect.”