On March 16, a bomb dropped on Iowa when Gov. Kim Reynolds recommended all schools close for four weeks. It wasn’t a surprise as we’d been expecting it in light of the dire COVID-19 warnings at the time. Yet, when it actually happened and schools closed, we were stunned. Close the schools for a month? Lock the doors? Inconceivable! Even so, superintendents immediately suspended classes. On April 17, the governor extended the shutdown order for the remainder of the academic year.

The situation was surreal. It was traumatic for children who left school on Friday afternoon not suspecting...