After an extremely trying fifteen plus months, it is time to recognize our very own essential workers. With the constant redefining of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health, and Ramaz protocols our healthcare workers, Nurse Nechama Moskowitz and one of our information technology (IT) specialists, Adam Feliciano took on the difficult challenge of keeping us safe and educated. Their tireless efforts have contributed greatly to a very successful year of learning in spite of all the tremendous obstacles. 

Nurse Nechama has worked at Ramaz for 18 years. When the Covid-19 pandemic began, Nurse Nechama needed to shift gears and focus on the necessities of opening a school during a pandemic. Her job has changed immensely over the past year and her role as a school nurse is entirely different. She continues to perform her regular nurse duties, including managing medical forms and health issues of students and faculty in the school. 

This year, Nurse Nechama’s primary role is to encourage and sometimes enforce the   Ramaz Covid-19 protocols. Nurse Nechama explained, “[that her job] just doesn’t end there are always people who may have been exposed, test positive, or are wondering if they came into contact with the virus or not. There are those that don’t feel good in school, so I have to follow up on that.” Nurse Nechama’s job as the school nurse during a pandemic is a non-stop task. She added, “I wake up to it and go to sleep to it.” 

Nurse Nechama has been focused on reopening school since the world went virtual in March 2020. During the last months of the 2020 academic year and through the summer, she worked vigorously with a team of health professionals to ensure that Ramaz could open safely and on time in September.

Preparing for school to reopen was a tremendous task for Ramaz and the administration spent all of  last summer preparing. Nurse Nechama said, “We set up  personal protective equipment (PPE), a screen barrier in the Health Office, and an isolation room. We needed a place where students, faculty, or staff could wait in case they had symptoms.” 

Nurse Nechama believes that everyone has a greater sense of gratitude for essential workers since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. She noted that, “People are always saying, ‘you are a nurse, wow.’ There is definitely an appreciation for the things I do because a lot of people have come in contact with the medical world lately.”

Nurse Nechama assiduously dedicated herself to adhere to the constantly evolving new regulations and recommendations by the CDC and the school authorities in general. She also had to function in her primary role as a nurse, monitoring and evaluating students who do not feel optimal, and making good decisions and quick decisions on how to take care of them. Caring for the students came first for our nurse. She certainly lived up to her name, Nechama, giving comfort to the entire student body, and peace of mind to the parents and faculty alike. 

The Ramaz community and society at large have been forced to adapt to the constraints of the pandemic and social isolation. This year, the school instituted a hybrid learning model and the role of technology has become more relevant to education than ever before. The IT department at Ramaz is vital to virtual learning. They ensure that the Ramaz devices work seamlessly and the remote-live balance allows for effective learning. Adam Feliciano from the IT staff explained, “When I first came, there was an adjustment period of trying to get Ramaz up to speed with all of the new technology that makes it easier for everyone to learn. As the months went by, we’ve slowly gotten caught up to speed and everything is starting to run more smoothly. Not only myself, but the teachers themselves are starting to get caught up.” 

Adam and other members of the technology team work hard to familiarize people with all aspects of Zoom which are unfamiliar to students and faculty. He noted, “Since everything is moving towards technology, especially with remote learning, there is definitely a need for knowledge on how to operate different software. I think that the demand for my job has definitely risen during this time.”

While the world is adapting to changes, so is Ramaz and it could not be accomplished without our amazing staff. Thanks to the essential workers at Ramaz we all feel school is a secure and safe haven for learning.