Jimmy Fallon’s wife started a school for children of her neighbours and friends during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nancy Juvonen and Jimmy Fallon
The ongoing global health crisis forced schools around the world to close last year amid fears of spreading the virus between children and teachers, leaving students to study from home with the help of Zoom classes.
But after noticing her own children weren’t paying attention to online lessons, Jimmy’s wife Nancy Juvonen – with whom he has daughters Winnie, seven, and Frances, six – took matters into her own hands and set up her own “pod school” for the kids in her local area.
Jimmy explained: "Last spring, when [my daughters] were on Zoom school, you can see they get distracted. You look away and a couple of minutes later they're playing with dolls.
“[So when the new school year started] my wife started a school. We said, 'Let's just have a pod school with our neighbours and friends,' so we got teachers and a principal and a teacher's assistant and a curriculum from the school district, so yeah, it's legit.”
The school has even been kitted out with old lockers from a high school and other materials gathered from eBay.
Jimmy added: “My wife went all out. We were so lucky to be able to pull it off."
Although his daughters are now able to attend school, they’ve been unable to see their grandparents since the beginning of the pandemic in March last year because of the increased risks faced by the elderly and those with underlying conditions.
The ‘Tonight Show’ host explained: "My dad has some underlying conditions, it's tough. And so yeah, no, my kids haven't really spent time with their grandparents all year.”
However, Jimmy’s dad recently received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and so the family are hoping they can meet again soon.
Speaking to People magazine, he added: "They're really looking forward to that. It's gotta be emotional, man."
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