Home Learning in full swing

The switch to home learning has been a huge adjustment for everyone- teachers, students and parents.

Gearing up to prepare students for home learning, staff across the district were distributing backpacks to students with supplies and materials, especially those students who didn’t have access to technology at home. At the same time the IT staff was busy preparing and distributing over 7,000 devices to students across the district and working with families to get home internet access.

Meanwhile, teachers spent the week before break learning new virtual tools like Google Classroom and Schoology, preparing online lessons, and taking part in professional learning opportunities. It has been a heavy lift for teachers and the district has received a lot of positive feedback on Home Learning so far.

 

From the parent perspective, learning new tools can also be challenging as they manage work loads for multiple kids and balance their own work.

“We feel so old with all this technology,” shared Greg McDonald, assistant principal at Casey Middle School but also parent of 3 kids in the district, “ trying to learn it and figure these things out in a different way.

In spite of the physical distance, school staff have really come together during this time to create and foster a school community spirit doing things like creating staff videos, engaging students in a shared project, and doing video announcements.

At home, in this unexpected time, families and staff have shared the upsides to staying at home.

“This has forced us to reconnect and just put that back into perspective, says McDonald”

Says 4th grader Savannah Barber, “The time together with my family is something to be thankful for.”