PIVOT PROFESSIONALS Planning for Morey Flextech’s school year started months ago, and the school’s staff is confident they have a plan flexible enough for an ever-changing situation. The school, 380 W. Blanchard Road, in Shepherd, is starting the year
Months of planning go into flexible learning at Morey Flextech amid ‘new normal’
with all-remote learning, said Morey Principal Phil Janis, but students have the option for in-person support at the school if they need it.
They also have the option to change their minds from week-to-week, depending on their needs and what is happening with COVID-19 in the larger community.
Like most area schools, Morey went all-remote last
March. At the time, the nine members of the school staff started planning for this school year, Janis said, and have been at it since. They also received significant input from parents of the school’s 60 students, who the school contacted through surveys, phone calls and a summertime produce pickup through the United States Department of Agriculture.
The result was a plan that received near-universal acceptance from the parents and students, he said.
With other districts struggling to put together comprehensive plans for multiple tiers of schools — with last-minute legislation passed just last week by the state Legislature looming — Morey is prepared to start school Monday.
Students swung by the school Tuesday to pick up their Chromebooks and get a little explanation from Janis on how the school year will work. They were also asked whether they wanted to start the school year all-remote or whether they will need some in-person support from teachers.
Right now, the school is closed Fridays and students have the option of either attending all day for the other four days or just a part of them, say 8 a.m. until noon rather than 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
While the plan allows students to change whether they are working remotely or coming to the school, they have to make those changes a week ahead of time to provide staff and opportunity to maintain proper distancing inside
the classrooms, Janis said.
Morey did cancel its fall cross country program because no one signed up for it, he said, but staff are in the process of figuring out how to manage its esports program. They are also considering a soccer team for the spring, depending on what is happening then.
Tuesday, Anita Brown, the school’s office manager, explained to parents how that would look. Most of the places where students cluster, like vending machines, are closed and students are expected to bring their own food with them. Students are expected to wear masks at all times, except during designated mask breaks.
Adding flexibility to flexibility, Janis said that if the COVID-19 situation changes significantly or they find that part of the plan isn’t working very well, that school staff can adjust on the fly to find something that works.