30 of the most powerful school photos taken in 2020

Monica HumphriesDec 25, 2020, 01:27 IST

A kindergartner wears a face shield as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19 in Palestine.Mahmoud Issa/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

The pandemic drastically changed the way students learned in 2020.
Some schools shifted to online classes, while others moved lessons outdoors.
Teachers added plastic partitions to their classrooms, children wore face masks, and temperature checks became part of the regular routine for in-person learning.
Insider collected some of the most powerful education photos from 2020 to highlight how the school system adapted.

Learning in 2020 looked drastically different for both educators and students.

Students sit in a classroom on the first day of the new school year at the Al-Amari refugee camp in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestine. Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua/Getty Images

In March, lockdowns forced schools to close, and families transformed their living rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens into makeshift classrooms.

Alice, 5, grabs her books that fell down after her daily study session at home during a lockdown in Santo Andre, Brazil. Amanda Perobelli/TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY/Reuters

Government officials and educators spent the summer discussing how to safely reopen schools.

Teacher Brittany Goddard protests at the Utah State Capitol in August in Salt Lake City, Utah. Rick Bowmer/AP Photo

Many schools reopened for in-person learning and students went back to the classroom.

Darsi Green's second-grade class practices social distancing while eating lunch on the basketball court at Weaverville Elementary School in Weaverville, California. Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

For educators, it often meant teaching both online and in-person classes.

Teacher Chung Ha-eun gives an online class amid the new coronavirus outbreak at Seoul girls' high school in Seoul, South Korea. Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo

The pandemic also brought new fear and new stress to educators.

A teacher wearing surgical gloves amid the new coronavirus pandemic corrects homework from students who do not have internet at home. Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo

Teachers and students weren't the only ones who faced changes; custodians took on the huge responsibility of cleaning and disinfecting schools.

A secondary school in Sverdlovsk Region, Russia, gets disinfected. Donat Sorokin/TASS/Getty Images

Some schools moved classrooms outdoors.

Students wearing face masks take a board exam at the school playground amid the coronavirus pandemic in Kathmandu, Nepal. PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images

However, things looked drastically different inside classrooms.

Students wearing face shields and masks sit inside their classroom as some schools reopened in Khokana village, Nepal. PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images

At this school in Bangkok, Thailand, students wore face masks and were separated by plastic cubes.

Thai kindergarteners wear face masks as they play in screened-in areas used for social distancing at the Wat Khlong Toey School in Bangkok, Thailand. Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

New elements were added to the school routine, like regular coronavirus tests.

Medical officers test students for COVID-19 amid concerns of the outbreak in Surabaya, Indonesia. Ridho/Sijori Images/Barcroft Media/Getty Images

Other students were greeted with thermometers every morning.

A student has his temperature checked before the first day for in-person teaching at St. John's Lutheran School in Orange County, California. Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Images

Lunches also felt isolated as students were required to sit 6 feet apart during their afternoon break.

School children are spaced apart in one of the rooms used for lunch at Woodland Elementary School in Milford, Massachusetts. Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

Even the bus ride home looked shockingly different.

A student naps while riding the bus to Trinity High in Junction City, California. Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Major life accomplishments, like graduating from high school, were reimagined.

High-school graduation is held at a drive-in theater due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Hinsdale, New Hampshire. Brian Snyder/TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY/Reuters

A school in New Hampshire took an unconventional approach to graduation and sent students and families on a ski lift.

Seniors from Kenneth High School and family ride a ski lift to the summit of Cranmore Mountain in North Conway, New Hampshire for their graduation ceremony. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP/Getty Images

In Manila, Philippines, one school hosted a "cyber-graduation."

A teacher arranges pictures of students on a tablet that is attached to robots during an event they called "cyber-graduation" at a school at Taguig in Manila, Philippines. Aaron Favila/AP Photo

Students and families still found ways to celebrate canceled proms and senior nights.

Patrice Toussaint's senior prom was canceled due to schools being closed during the coronavirus pandemic. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

And most of the school year wasn't easy.

Los Angeles Unified School District students Andrea Ramos, 10, and Alexander Ramos, 8, work on school-issued computers with unreliable internet connectivity. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Teachers found ways to continue classes, despite a lack of technology.

Children study while seated on mats on the ground at an improvised classroom set up at a construction site in New Delhi, India. Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images

Other teachers had to face silent classrooms, and their only interaction with students was virtual.

Yasen Georgiev teaches online from an empty classroom in Varna, Bulgaria. Hristo Rusev/Getty Images

Meanwhile, students spent more hours in front of screens.

A student learns from her home in Mexico City, Mexico. Ricardo Castelan Cruz/Eyepix Group/Barcroft Media/Getty Images

Teachers searched for ways to explain the novel coronavirus to students.

A school teacher in Osterode, Germany, teaches students about the coronavirus. Frank May/picture alliance/Getty Images

Educators also tried to keep students warm and safe as winter months approached.

Students wear jackets as they work in their classroom with the window open at the Petri primary school in Dortmund, Germany. INA FASSBENDER/AFP/Getty Images

Other teachers didn't face weather challenges but instead had to find new approaches to learning.

Vanessa Andrieu, teacher of French sign language gives a lesson to deaf pupils in her classroom at Sajus school in France. FRED SCHEIBER/AFP/Getty Images

Another challenge schools faced was making sure virtual students had access to meals.

A rack with bags containing grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches at the Muhlenberg Elementary Center in Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania. Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle/Getty Images

Even something as simple as hugs came to an end this school year.

Teachers try to prevent the hug between Wendy Otin, 6, and Oumou Salam Niang, 6, as they meet during the first day of school after the lockdown. Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo

But it wasn't all bleak, as some schools still found innovative ways to connect and celebrate students.

Madey Hill, a senior from North Hagerstown High School, waits to take part in a "senior ride" in the back of a truck in Hagerstown, Maryland. NDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images

And some students learned they preferred class outdoors.

A child plays in a field during a break as they attend a course in the forest in southeast France. EFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images

Students still made incredible strides, and photographers were there to capture the moments.

Yasmine Protho, 18, wears a photo of herself and "Class of 2020" on her mask as she graduates with only nine other classmates in Cusseta, Georgia. Brynn Anderson/AP Photo

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