How Germany Reopened Its Schools During a Pandemic

Schools in Germany were able to get students back into the classroom—and kids’ educations back on track—a few weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic and open schools widely in August. But in the United States, which hasn’t been able to control the crisis, reopening schools became political and many remain closed. How did Germany reopen schools compared to the United States, and with cases ticking back up in Germany, will its early success and the United States’ troubled restart hold through the fall?

This project explores the long-term impact of the priorities and decisions made during the pandemic. Europe already blazed an early path for running schools amid a pandemic and Ryan Delaney follows it to its terminus and tests its durability as other countries follow.

Delaney is also teaming up with KCUR Education Reporter Elle Moxley, based in Kansas City, to bring a trans-Atlantic perspective to the project.