After reading the proposed plan below, feel free to click this link to share input you would like the district to consider when making these decisions. The survey will close at noon on Monday, September 28, 2020.
PROPOSED PLAN TO UPDATE OUR HYBRID MODEL:
The Easton Valley administration is proposing a shift to return EV Elementary school to a full school day model effective October 6, 2020. We would also discontinue midday transportation district-wide on this same date. The junior high/high school would resume full days on October 28, 2020, as previously planned.
We are making this recommendation based on the following information:
INCREASED INTEREST FOR IN-PERSON LEARNING:
When we originally decided to implement our hybrid learning plan, we had approximately 40-50 elementary students planning to learn online
Currently, the number of students being served online at the elementary has decreased to approximately 13 students
Several of these 13 students have expressed interest in returning to in-person learning in the next couple of weeks
INCREASED ATTENDANCE IN FULL SCHOOL DAY MODEL:
Since the start of the school year, more and more elementary students have opted to attend school for the entire school day
We currently have only thirty four students leaving at 12:30 each day in the elementary school
One of the primary purposes of condensing our schedule to a half day model was to free up our teachers in the afternoon so they could dedicate time to develop their online teaching platform
Due to the high numbers of elementary students remaining in school all day, it has been challenging to free teachers up to provide them time to develop their online instruction
ZERO CONFIRMED CASES OF COVID-19:
To our knowledge, ZERO Easton Valley students or staff have been diagnosed with Covid-19 since the beginning of the school year
Based on this information, we believe at this time it is in the best interest of our students, staff, and families to return our elementary to our traditional school day model sooner than we previously planned.
WHY NOT TRANSITION OUR JUNIOR/SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL AT THE SAME TIME?
In the event that we have positive Covid-19 cases in elementary school, it is likely that an entire class will need to quarantine for two weeks. During this quarantine time we are confident that the elementary teacher(s) would have ample time to develop their online instruction for the students they are serving at home. This is not the case for JH/HS.
In the event that we need to quarantine a group of students in the JH/HS, our teachers at this level will be responsible for teaching students in-person and online at the same time. They will not have the same amount of time as our elementary teachers will have to develop their daily instruction in our Canvas Learning Management System.
Due to delays at the state level, we have not been able to move our JH/HS classes from Google Classroom to the Canvas system until now. The JH/HS staff is relying on the remaining time in our hybrid model to successfully make this transition so that we are prepared for a scenario where we could be forced into a full virtual teaching model this winter.
Here is what our transition plans would entail:
POTENTIAL CHANGES TO SCHOOL CALENDAR:
In our hybrid model the EV teachers have not had dedicated professional learning time
We need professional learning time to support Canvas implementation and other initiatives such as The Leader In Me, implementation of new curriculum resources, and more.
In conjunction with our return to our traditional model, we are proposing the implementation of early dismissals every Wednesday for the remainder of the first semester (after-school care is available for students through our Little River Hawk Daycare)
This would entail adding a total of four more early out days (October 21, November 4 & 18, December 9) in addition to the early dismissals already scheduled every other week
We will also utilize these days to ensure that all teachers have dedicated time to support individual students who may still be learning online due to quarantine orders from their doctor
In addition to these efforts, we believe it will be in the best interest of our students to schedule a “Virtual Learning Day” where the entire district participates in online learning. This will help us prepare for the possibility of needing to move to virtual teaching at some point this school year.
We are considering holding a district-wide virtual learning day for all students on Wednesday, November 4. On this date all students would participate in online learning. Students will be able to complete their learning during the day or in the evening, if necessary.