RALEIGH, N.C. — A mom is learning how to parent virtually while her daughter completes online school from states away.

Shay Keesee works as a certified surgical tech in the operational room at Duke Eye Center. It's a job she cannot do remotely.

It has been a month since she dropped off her daughter, KyOmi, in Maryland with her grandparents at the beginning of the school year.

"I'm not ready for college," Keesee says. "That's the first thing I have learned."

Keesee does not have childcare help in North Carolina to support her daughter having to be home for school all day. She said sending KyOmi to her retired grandparents was the best solution.

Several video calls with her 11-year-old throughout the day is their best way to catch up now.

"I'm trying to be strong for her, so I don't let her see me cry...but it's been hard," Keesee says.

Keesee said she is eagerly waiting for students to safely return to school.

"I would love to have her back home so that we could do real sixth grade," Keesee says. "But, also my big thing is wanting her to be safe."