In March 2020, the educational system changed. The COVID-19 virus impacted the entire world. Teaching students looked very different. Teachers were required to teach remotely to continue to educate students. Parents had to assist their children with learning while they were at home. The COVID-19 pandemic changed some students and staff. Some staff members were afraid to be around others in fear of the COVID-19 virus. The stress of COVID-19 caused levels of trauma in many people. Teachers' social-emotional competence and well-being strongly influence academic outcomes and the teaching of social-emotional learning in classrooms and schools (Schonert-Reichl 2017; Jones, Bouffard, & Weissbourd 2013). The social-emotional well-being of teachers thus, affects teacher morale. "As schools reopen, schools must be prepared to ensure the learning environments are emotionally and physically safe to minimize potential long-term negative reactions to the pandemic" (Minkos & Gelbar, 2020, p. 5). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how elementary teachers perceive (a) morale in their school during COVID-19 protocols, (b) factors elementary teachers attribute to positive morale, and (c) how principal impacted teacher morale in their school during this time frame. Ten teachers from grades PreK-8 from one school in the Mid-West were selected and interviewed to learn their perspectives on COVID-19, identify factors that influenced the school climate, and how leadership influenced the school climate before, during, and after COVID-19. Overall, teacher morale decreased during COVID-19. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]