Beginning Monday, April 13, we will officially transition to an online learning model. Our teachers have worked tirelessly over the course of the pandemic to familiarize themselves with distance learning best practices and online classroom tools, and to build lessons that will work for your students. Our goals for this new way of work are as follows:

1. Standards Focus – we’re going back to the basics and focusing more on mastery of the grade-level standards remaining in each subject, rather than following to the letter all of our curriculum materials.
2. Structure for Success at Home – lessons and assessments will be formatted so that students can have success at home. We’ll do our best to ensure activities aren’t too complex, confusing, or rigorous right now. We’ll try to design activities that you can complete around your family’s schedule rather than requiring you to log in for direct instruction at a set time every day.
3. Communication and Flexibility – teachers will make an effort to communicate their plans weekly and indicate what is essential vs. what is optional. We will be as flexible as possible and understanding of your family’s needs, because we know this is a volatile time for everyone.

Online Learning: What to Expect

Students will receive report card grades in Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, and PE for the fourth nine weeks. Our teachers are preparing for the possibility that we will be learning from home through the end of this school year. More information regarding special area’s grading structure is forthcoming (we will be keeping it simple!).

The specifics of online learning will vary by classroom, but here are some things you can expect:

• A weekly summary of activities, most of which will not need to be completed on a set schedule.
• Approximately 2 hours of schoolwork daily; maybe a little less in the primary grades (K-2) and a little more in the intermediate grades (3-5). (The amount of time an activity takes can vary greatly from child to child, so this is a rough estimate.)
• Work that students can complete independently, to the greatest extent possible. In the primary grades (especially Kindergarten), parents will probably need to help facilitate the learning process.
• Regular communication between classroom teachers and students, in the form of small- or whole-group class meetings, chats during office hours, and individual audio or video meetings as needed.

We want all of our Trailblazers to be successful as we shift to online learning. The best way you can help is to demonstrate to your child that you value school and believe their online learning is important. Another way you can support us is to refrain from comparing one teacher to anotherduring this time. Each of our teachers has selected the online tools and structure that work best for her and what she knows of her students’ capabilities. I have the utmost confidence in every one of them.

Technical Support and Questions

There’s a good bit of anxiety about how to operate the various online platforms we’ll be using (ClassLink, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc.). Please visit our Tech Tips YouTube playlist for a walkthrough of many of these tools. The “Using Microsoft Teams” video also elaborates on how teachers’ office hours will work. Feel free to share these videos with parents from other school zones, as the information pertains to most Leon County schools.

If, after watching these videos, you are still having trouble logging in to your child’s account, please email Mr. Schubert with your child’s name, ID number, and lunch PIN. It’s possible there’s an issue with the account that he needs to correct. His email address is schubertd@leonschools.net.

Thank You and Stay Well

We are continually amazed by the support of our school community and how intentionally you all approach your children’s education. We’ve already received so many words of encouragement as we’ve worked to build a distance learning model that will maintain our school’s high performance without putting too much pressure on our families.

The remainder of the school year will be a difficult time for our community. Please prioritize your family’s health and well-being above everything else. Thank you for being true partners with us and supporting our efforts to give your children the best, most well-rounded education possible. We are looking forward to the day when we can all be together on campus again!