Schools continue learning in uncertain future
Photo courtesy of Nikki Sarchet
Fort Cherry fourth-grader Dalton Sarchet, of Mt. Pleasant, picks up a school work packet from a bus driver so he can learn from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo courtesy of Nikki Sarchet
Fort Cherry fourth-grader Dalton Sarchet, of Mt. Pleasant, and his sister, seventh-grader Darci, do school work at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo courtesy of Nikki Sarchet
Fort Cherry fourth-grader Dalton Sarchet, of Mt. Pleasant, makes signs for his teachers while learning from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo courtesy of Ben Maxin
Ben Maxin, a Fort Cherry high school teacher, and his daughter, Rebecca Maxin, a Fort Cherry eighth-grader, work together at their kitchen table during the COVID-19 pandemic.
School districts across the area rolled out distance learning programs last week or will do so this week.
After Gov. Tom Wolf’s office on Monday extended school closures “indefinitely,” Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera strongly encouraged that districts continue learning, whether with enrichment programs or with new material and planned instruction.
“These are unprecedented times that call for extraordinary measures,” he said in a Tuesday news release. “We must do everything we can to create equitable learning environments for our students under these circumstances.”
While most intend to primarily use online platforms for their continuity of education plans, districts with rural communities could run into issues if some students don’t have internet access. In those cases, many districts are distributing printed materials for students, typically known as “snow day packets.”
For example, on Wednesday, Avella Superintendent Cyril Walther wrote a letter to district parents announcing times for completed packets to be dropped off and new ones picked up. They’ve provided the academic packets for two-week periods.
And as of Monday, Avella students will be able to access internet from the school parking lot, Walther stated in the letter. Some students attempting to complete work online, he said, have had issues uploading or downloading material, due to limited internet accessibility.
“To help with this issue, we are moving our routers to the exterior of our classrooms, so students will be able to access our district internet from their vehicles,” Walther wrote. “We are asking that if you or your children come to the school for internet, that you stay in your vehicle and park away from other vehicles to follow social distancing guidelines.”
Rivera announced Tuesday that the Department of Education is providing $5 million for equity grants for which schools can apply to purchase computer equipment for online learning or for printed instructional materials. The applications will be available Monday and must be submitted by April 10. Schools will be prioritized based on the number of students without access to online learning or printed coursework.
“This is new territory for all of us, but we will get through it,” Rivera said in the release.
Some Fort Cherry School District students are also unable to connect to the internet, according to Superintendent Jill Jacoby. She said the high school principal took a survey of families without internet, so they’d know what arrangements to make.
“We’ve moved our hot spots close to the doors so they can download and upload in the parking lot,” Jacoby said. “We’ve had families share their internet with other families. We’ve made other arrangements to have those students complete packets. We’re just working with the capacity we have.”
Fort Cherry students haven’t missed a day of school, Jacoby said, noting that she and her staff started prepping take-home work before March 13, when the schools were first closed.
“By March 12, our K-6 grade building had 10 days of packets done, and we sent them home with the kids,” she said. “We told the high schoolers (grades seven through 12) to take everything home, including their Chromebooks and books, with the expectation that they would start online.”
On March 25, they distributed by bus routes another 500 packets for the students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Jacoby and her administrators wrote notes on every single one for their students.
“We’ll pick up any completed packets,” she said. “We’re ready to do that until the end of the school year.”
Ben Maxin, a Fort Cherry high school teacher, has an eighth-grade daughter,f Rebecca, who’s also in the district. They’ve been completely their work together at their kitchen table. Maxin said both the staff and students have handled the transition to distance learning “flawlessly.”
“The kids knew going into that weekend what to expect,” he said. “Most of my students have been really diligent getting their work in. They realize they’re getting graded on this material, and they’ve been doing a really great job with it.”
Sixth-grade teacher Dave Narigon said he tried to begin distance learning with less curriculum-based or academic material, but rather more fun activities like virtual escape rooms.
“It’s so we can do some connecting with students and do things that were high-interest just to get them on board,” he said. “Many of us were just looking for ways to connect with our students.”
As a parent, Nikki Sarchet of Mt. Pleasant Township, said her fourth-grader, Dalton, and seventh-grader, Darci, both had a smooth transition with Fort Cherry, thanks to “constant contact” from the district.
“We’ve tried to keep the same routines for them in the morning,” she said. “Dalton’s class did a Zoom meeting with 25 kids. He was so excited to get together and be able to see his friends and talk. I think they’re trying to keep things as normal as possible for the kids.”
“Normal” could be difficult to maintain for seniors, however. For now, Fort Cherry’s commencement remains set for June 12, but if the district has to, Jacoby said it will “push it out into the summer.” She said the same holds true for the prom if it has to be postponed.
Bentworth School District still has its graduation set for June 1, the final day of instruction. Superintendent Scott Martin said the last nine weeks of instruction, beginning Monday, will be held on a pass/fail grading system, though the district will be teaching new material.
“We’re moving forward with state standards,” he said. “We do not believe it would be fair to grade students when there is such a steep learning curve given this current situation.”
Much of their plan involves online learning, as the district has distributed over 350 Chromebooks to students who signed up, Martin said. Student dress and conduct codes will still be enforced during video chats, he said. Buses will run in the district to distribute work packets for students in kindergarten through fourth grade, and some students with connectivity problems.
“We’re doing our best in those situations,” he said. “Teachers must be face-to-face or ear-to-ear at least twice a week with their students. We believe that face-to-face instruction is critical to building relationships with kids, which is ultimately critical to their learning.”
Getting to video conference with classes and teachers is especially important for students struggling with mental health complications.
“Now they’re isolated, and a lot of times any family issues are placed upon the students,” Martin said. “Some of our teachers have done test runs with Google meet-ups, and the kids love it because they love to see their friends.”
Washington began distance learning last week. They will be giving grades, but they’re trying to “be flexible,” Superintendent James Konrad said. The feedback he’s received from parents and staff has been positive for this first week.
“We really took our time to make sure parents had the tools necessary,” Konrad said. “I think it’s a learning curve for everyone. We have to keep in mind that some parents are still working, and we need to be flexible.”
Washington began with enrichment learning and plans to transition to new material after Easter, he said. He said teachers will have to consider the entire situation and its effect on students while grading work.
“I think it’s very prudent for our district to continue to provide grades,” Konrad said. “Communication and understanding are really critical, and that’s where the teachers can help. We don’t want our students to fail, so we have to be mindful of how this is impacting their learning.”
The school closures have had an enormous impact on special education students or individualized education plans (IEPs), according to Diana Prowitt, a private practice IEP coach with Special Education Advocacy LLC. Prowitt, of Amwell Township, which provides services to about 10 families in the region.
“What I’m hearing the most from parents right now is they are afraid that the services their kids get in school, they won’t be getting now -that one-on-one support in the traditional sense,” Prowitt said.
There are “creative workarounds,” Prowitt said, for students who need those services. For example, her own son, Aidan, who has an IEP through Trinity School District, uses FaceTime to talk with his teacher for an hour each week.
Aidan is autistic and has ADHD and an anxiety disorder, Prowitt said, and many online curriculums are “not appropriate for him.”
“It requires a lot of attention and focus to sit down in front of a screen and read through things and retain it,” Prowitt said. “Our kids don’t have that – to just focus on something continuously. That’s why we do a lot of printed worksheets.”
Too many worksheets or very high expectations can also be a problem, she said, as students adjust to the idea of doing school at home in the middle of a global pandemic.
“I don’t even think schools expect kids to advance right now,” she said. “I think they want them to retain. I don’t want the parents to be afraid to ask the schools for what they need.”
She said that while it’s not the parents’ job to “re-create school at home,” parents should do their best to “facilitate learning,” which may look different for every student and family.
“Take care of your family, take care of your kids, and at least keep them in some sort of routine,” she said. “Now that the kids are at home doing school, parents are having a really hard time getting their kids to sit still and do school work. And they’re not trained for that. Parents don’t have the training that a special education teacher would have.”
Rivera added a list of statewide tools and resources to the Department of Education website to assist districts and parents adjust to at-home education. Those free resources include online learning platforms offered through intermediate units and coursework in multiple subjects for all 13 grade levels, according to a news release.
He also mentioned the department is partnering with public television stations to provide educational programming and online resources for parents, at learningathomepa.org.