Title Page & Abstract
An Interview with Dr. Judy McCann-Floeter
Part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Tumultuous 2020 Oral History project
Interview # T20-A-L-2021-054
Judy McCann-Floeter, principal of Jefferson Elementary School. was interviewed on the date listed below as part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library’s Tumultuous 2020 Oral History project.
Interview dates & location:
Date: November 1, 2021 Location: Jefferson Elementary, Harvard, Illinois
Interview Format: Digital audio
Interviewer: Philip Pogue, ALPLM volunteer
Total Time: 1:07 / 1.12 hrs.
Accessioned into the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Archives on January 24, 2022.
The interview is archived at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.
© 2021 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Abstract
Dr. Judy McCann-Floeter, Tumultuous 2020, T20-A-L-2021-054
Biographical Information Overview of Interview: Judy McCann-Floeter was born in 1957 in Trenton, New Jersey. During her sophomore year of high school, her family moved to Crystal Lake, Illinois, where she completed her high school education. Upon graduation, Judy attended Northern Illinois University, where she majored in education. She graduated in 1980 and completed a Master of Arts in school leadership from National Louis University in 2001. She began to work in schools again when she became Harvard High School’s assistant principal. At the time of the interview, she was the principal of Jefferson Elementary School. Her doctorate is in educational leadership from DePaul University
Over the course of the interview, Dr. McCann-Floeter explores how Jefferson Elementary School students, faculty, staff, administration, and parents dealt with the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions from March 2020 to October 2021. McCann-Floeter describes the shift to remote learning, which occurred with little warning in March 2020, and details the effects of this uncertainty. She discusses the preparations for in-person learning for the 2020-2021 school year and the subsequent COVID-19 restrictions that kept the students remote until spring of 2021. McCann-Floeter also reviews the hybrid model which was utilized to finish the spring 2021 semester. She describes the shift from hybrid to fully in-person, which began in August of 2021. McCann-Floeter shares her long-term concerns which include academic loss of learning, the social-emotional impact, special education, and English as a Second Language concerns, staffing shortages, and low enrollment. She also describes the concern with having an orderly transition as students progress between Crosby Elementary, Jefferson Elementary, and Harvard Junior High.
Subject Headings/Key Words: Harvard, Illinois; Jefferson Elementary School; COVID-19 pandemic; school shut-down; remote learning; in-person learning; learning loss; hybrid schooling;
Note to the Reader: Readers of the oral history memoir should bear in mind that this is a transcript of the spoken word, and that the interviewer, interviewee and editor sought to preserve the informal, conversational style that is inherent in such historical sources. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is not responsible for the factual accuracy of the memoir, nor for the views expressed therein. We leave these for the reader to judge.
COPYRIGHT
The following material can be used for educational and other non-commercial purposes without the written permission of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. “Fair use” criteria of Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 must be followed. These materials are not to be deposited in other repositories, nor used for resale or commercial purposes without the authorization from the Audio-Visual Curator at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, 112 N. 6th Street, Springfield, Illinois 62701. Telephone (217) 785-7955