Students adapt to remote learning

EAST WHITELAND » West Chester Area School District Superintendent Dr. Jim Scanlon thanked the community for their patience, understanding, and support as the district “works furiously to shift to an online learning model.”

“These are truly incredible times,” Scanlon said. “I’m so proud of our staff who have been working around the clock to adjust, adapt, and get ready to reach out to our students with new instruction.

“I speak for all of our staff when I say that we really do love and value our students. We are here for them! We will get through this together.”

The duration of school closings in the state is unknown. Most schools are planning for extended closures.

Teachers provided some learning materials on Monday, March 23 and will use the rest of this coming week for training and planning, with the exception of high school AP teachers who may be able to continue with new instruction.

If the WCASD is closed

past March 27, the district will provide instruction of new materials beginning March 30.

“To be sensitive to our teachers, many of whom are also at home without child care, we are incorporating days ‘off’ for students so that teachers can have time to plan,” Scanlon wrote in a letter to parents, staff and students. “We’ll be sure to update you as things evolve.”

Scanlon said he anticipated that Friday, June 5 will be the last student day. The PA Department of Education has waived the 180day requirement.

Scanlon noted the following in the letter:

• “We will continue food distribution for lower income families and are

working this week to provide iPads and internet access for students who need it. We’re communicating directly with those families.

• We recognize there’s a significant difference between elementary and secondary remote learning and reasonable expectations. The younger the student, the harder it is to teach them remotely. We’re working with our staff this week to provide them with resources/ training, but also flexibility to provide instruction and maintain important connections. We will be recording as many video lessons as possible so that you can help your child access them at a time that is manageable for you.

• Attendance: We are working on a plan to take attendance. We’ll communicate it ASAP.

• Grading: We will focus on moving our high school students, with leniency, toward the next grade level and toward meeting graduation requirements. These are official transcripts that move onto college; We recognize that most high schools in the nation are facing the same dilemma. More direction will be coming from principals in the coming days.

• At the middle level: principals will communicate directly about this in the coming days. At elementary: We are not assigning grades during remote learning. We still encourage teachers to provide

feedback when possible.

• At the elementary level, we will not be distributing supplemental packets the way we did last week. All work will come from teachers. We will provide a list of educational sits offering free membership.

• PSSA’s and Keystone exams are canceled for 2020. We know there are a lot of questions about proms, graduations, etc. We simply don’t have the answers at this time.

• If your child is struggling, please reach out to your teacher, principal, or school counselor.

• If you have a problem with technology and need tech help, you can contact our help desk at: 484-2661050 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. (times may vary

slightly due to staff availability.) You can also email: helpdesk@wcasd.net or one2one@wcasd.net. Our help desk is servicing teachers, students, and parents. We also encourage you to reach out to your techsavvy neighbors who might be able to assist! This is a time when we all need to lean on each other.

• It’s incredibly difficult to shift a 12,000-student school district in a matter of days to providing exclusively online education. We appreciate your patience as we work through this together! We know our teacher/student connections and the relationships that have been built are very important, and we’ll do all we can to maintain them in this incredible time.”