Weather conditions may dictate learning from home on some days, but there's still time for sledding.
Perhaps it is the last thing on a student’s mind on the first day of school in a new year (which today is for Wissahickon students K through 12), but perhaps it is not so far off, either. Entering the classroom after a long summer of lazy, relaxing days may, in fact, have students daydreaming of snow days. But the district already has a plan in place for such occasions, with virtual learning plans prepared and in motion.
The Wissahickon School District Board of School Directors discussed updates to its Virtual Learning Plan for the upcoming 2024-25 school year during its Aug. 20 session, just over one week prior to the students’ return.
Dr. Mwenyewe Dawan, the district’s assistant superintendent, presented updates to the program during her report to the board.
“In response to feedback from staff, our administrators spent time this summer collaborating and exploring what were some shifts that could be made to our virtual, remote learning plan,” said Dawan. “We considered the feedback that we received, as well as considered the need that we had to make some shifts so that our kindergarten and first grade students because, as you know, an outcome of the budget process was our shift away from the one-to-one devices in K/1.”
Dawan said that, as a result of these factors, some changes included for the upcoming school year, which begins on Aug. 26 for students in the district, grades K through 12, include offering students in second to grade 12 will have a later start time for their day.
Those students in 2 through 12 will start a virtual learning day, when the district calls for such, to give teachers some extra time in the morning to “get settled.” On such days, teachers must adapt in-classroom lesson plans to a digital format, which can be taught and work completed on a computer from home.
Dawan said the time will let them “set up for that shift in the format of instruction, which is not something they’re engaging in every day.”
“That gives them a little extra time to prepare for that shift,” said Dawan of the later start time.
For elementary school students, the start time on Virtual Days will be 9 a.m., while secondary students will begin the day at 8:30 a.m. Previously, the start times mimicked those of the in-person day, which often left teachers rushing to transition their lessons to an online format.
Despite discussions that began during the 2021-22 school year to adjust start times, the Board of Directors opted in a Feb. 5, 2024, meeting to not make any changes, with the vote failing, two votes yes to seven votes no.
According to the district’s own website, a changed was discussed because it may benefit study performance.
“Leading health organizations indicate that middle and high school students benefit physically, socially, emotionally, and academically with adequate sleep,” reads the district’s site, noting times from 8.5 to 9.5 hours are best, recommending “that the school day start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.”
In January of 2023, the matter was postponed providing more time for all to assess the benefits and challenges to the proposed changes. An October 2023 update noted no decision had yet been made, with options presented at an Oct. 30, 2023, meeting last year.
Presentations continued through a Jan. 29 meeting of the board, with the vote set for Feb. 5, 2024, where it was then failed as a motion and no change occurred.
The unchanged, and still standing start times for the 2024-25 school year are as follows for typical, in-person days of learning:
“We’re also ensuring that elementary and secondary staff have a full one-hour lunch break on the virtual learning days,” said Dawan, who noted that this too was a change based on feedback from teachers. “We think it will be helpful. The afternoon in the day will continue to be office hours for any small group or one-on-one check-ins that might be necessary for students.”
For students in kindergarten and first grades, who as of this school year will no longer have one-to-one devices, virtual days will require a day’s notice to function properly.
“We’re not able to engage them in a live, synchronous virtual learning day,” Dawan said. “What we’ve come up with is a plan for kindergarten and first-grade teachers to send some take-home resources and materials home with students, so this is assuming of course that we’re making that call the day before, so students can be prepared with taking home resources for independent learning activities that they’ll do on that virtual learning day.”
Dawan said that, prior to any potential days out of the school buildings, teachers will be setting up for those virtual days that may happen down the road.
“Kindergarten and first-grade teachers are going to be working on ideas on what those resources are early in the year,” she said. “And our department’s teaching and learning can support them in planning for that.”
Dawan added that, since they cannot teach in-sync with their students, kindergarten and first-grade teachers will instead “push into other classrooms” to offer help and support for grades two through five.
“They’ll work with their building principals, who will work with reading specialists, to design a schedule for what that will look like,” she said.
She said that the take-home materials designed for the K/1 students will be geared toward requiring minimal adult assistance.
Despite planning for life’s unexpected changes, Dawan assured the Board that the district will still have “traditional Snow Days” in the coming school year.
“I just want to make it clear that, while we are making these adjustments, it doesn’t mean that every day that we need to be closed for inclement weather, a school closure, will result in a remote learning day,” said the assistant superintendent. “However, we do want to make sure that our students and staff are prepared should the district need to call for a remote learning day.”
Any elementary school students, K through five, would need the day-before warning in order to prepare, according to Dawan, as the younger students do not often take their devices home daily. Those in middle and high schools do.
Dawan added that the plan for remote learning days will be explained to parents well in advance of such need, outlining the expectations and processes involved. She said the website had already been updated to reflect the changes in time.
School Board Member Deanne Morris asked if all staff was clear that the mornings would be synchronous, online learning, followed by an hour lunch break, and an afternoon of office hours or asynchronous work.
“As a parent with two smaller children, the main concern is sledding, obviously” joked Morris. “I just want to be sure that we can get out there.”
Dawan laughed.
“I appreciate you helping us to remember the priorities of some of our families on that day," she said. On a more serious note, she added that the communication between parents and teachers will, of course, be a much needed and focused effort on such occasions.
