It has been eight months of virtual instruction since the Friday of March 13.

Summer 2020 will be one for the books. Although it wasn’t the only huge occurrence of this year, COVID-19 definitely had a huge effect on all of our everyday lives and seemed to overtake the country. Despite the fact that there were many restrictions and changes that had to be made to the “normal” summer plans and activities, this summer, for New Jersey at least, is when life slowly started to open back up again. 

NHS senior, Raj Paghdal, isn’t going to let the coronavirus ruin his summer plans. Instead, he will follow safety guidelines such as washing his hands, wearing a mask and making sure to keep a distance between others. “My family has decided that for safety reasons, there won't be vacation for us this year. Most of the summer will be spent in New Jersey,” says Paghdal. 

Being a student in Nutley for 13 years has impacted me in many ways.  Throughout each year of schooling, I’ve not only grown as a person, but also all of my teachers have taught me things that will stick with me even outside of the classroom. In my last year of middle school, before we had to venture off into the high school, I had a teacher that challenged and pushed me like never before.  James Vance, my then-social studies teacher at John H.

Each year, high school students exercise their rights and vote. Not in any government election, as most are too young, but in their class officer elections. These positions are hardly as political, yet very important. Typical positions like Treasurer, Secretary, Historian, Vice Principal, and of course, Class President, have important roles to help make the high school experience for each class as great as possible. As the school year comes to end, Raj Paghdal, Nutley High School’s Class of 2020 President sat with The Maroon and Gray and reflected on his time as an officer.

Mr. Joseph Materia is the Vice Principal of Academics at Nutley High School and has been in this position for the past four years. Materia has been in the education field for 18 years and has held various positions during his career. He has been a teacher of the Italian language, a professor of the Italian language, a supervisor of languages, ESL, and music, and a coordinator of languages. Thus, with his essential role in the NHS community, Mr.

This year, 2020, has taken a huge unexpected turn. COVID-19, for many, felt like it came out of nowhere changing and took away plans, events, gatherings, and just in general everyday life occurrences for people across the United States. As COVID-19 started to affect the US during mid-March with at first the thought of only lasting a couple weeks, to then a month, to then two months, to where we are now, June.

The 2019-2020 school year had many twists and turns, which led to school closure, no graduation ceremony and social distancing.  While the class of 2020 is leaving NHS this year, they aren’t leaving alone.  Mrs. Sharon Larcara, a physical education teacher, will be retiring and leaving Nutley High School at the end of the year, this June.   

For NHS seniors, May 1st is the day where the Class of 2020 was expected to celebrate with their friends by taking pictures on the Oval, in the senior courtyard and at the park behind the school. They anticipated smiling proudly with their classmates while wearing their college apparel. Due to the coronavirus, this has caused many events to be cancelled or even pushed back, therefore College Decision Day looked very different this year.

Mr. Andrew Linfante has been a part of Nutley High School’s staff and history department for almost 30 years. He has taught several courses over his time at the school, but he is most well known for teaching Economics and US History II. Mr. Linfante is leaving his impact on Nutley High School students and staff.

The events of COVID-19 have many people worried and anxious about health, wellness and safety. The people who seem the most worried are parents. They have to make sure that they are safe, their children are safe, and make sure that their often elderly parents are safe as well. This is a very difficult time for parents because each day different news comes out about the virus. With all this going on, some parents still have to go to work and that means they are at risk of getting the virus and bringing it home to their family.

COVID-19 is something that not many saw coming so fast, impacting families across not only the US, but the world. It unexpectedly took the lives of families and friends in many countries leaving the world devastated.

Covid-19 has become one of the largest and most impactful global pandemics in history. Citizens worldwide have been ordered to self quarantine and social distance since the beginning of March 2020.

As COVID-19 spread across the US, schools all across the country have been effectively shut down. While schools continue to do online classes, assignments, and meetings, students still miss the experience of being in schools, near their teachers and friends. Nutley High School closed its doors on March 13th, and as of the publishing of this article, it is unclear when the school will open again. As a result, this has left hundreds of students wishing to be back into the building.

The circumstances of the world we are living in right now almost seem like a false reality; something you do not believe could be true until it gets to you. The CoronaVirus pandemic is history in the making, and it has affected millions of people from all around the world. The virus is spreading like a wildfire, as it hops from person to person changing, affecting, and even killing some. I, myself, was unfortunate enough to receive the news that I had tested positive for COVID-19.

Across the United States and around the world, virtual learning has become the new normal for many elementary school, middle school, high school, and college students due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With social distancing currently underway, virtual learning has become a source where students can finish their required school year from home for the rest of the year, if needed.

On March 16, 2020, Nutley Public Schools started virtual learning at home due to the rapid outbreak of COVID-19.  Students and staff are all at home trying to make the best of this time and are trying to stay connected and active with school work.  While this was something to adjust to, many are doing their best to keep up with learning and teaching at home. 

In early March 2020, The Maroon and Gray sat down with Nutley High School’s custodians, to talk about some of their responsibilities around the building. Head Custodian Mike Spagnola, with Custodians Anthony Moltedo and Jose Rivera, shared what their daily schedules look like. 

While the students of NHS are expected to arrive in their first class by 8:05 A.M., many custodians arrive at the building by 5:30 A.M. They turn off the alarms, unlock all doors, turn on all the lights, and prepare the building for the students to come in. This process can take up to 45 minutes.

On February 28, 2020, the Italian and Spanish National Honor Society held a 5 vs. 5 soccer tournament after school in the small gym of Nutley High School.  It was run by Mr. Gaetano Sollazzo, who is an Italian teacher and head of the Italian National Honor Society. The event was created to raise money for the Italian and Spanish Honor Societies. 

As the Class of 2020 inches closer to the end of the year, the graduating class will finish their senior year with an epic bang. On June 20th, at MetLife Stadium, students will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have fun with friends at Project Graduation.