Half of Watson Chapel students go online

PINE BLUFF — Students in the Watson Chapel School District opting for online education over in-person classroom instruction continues to run at about 50 percent, or about 1,200 students, according to K-12 Curriculum Director Kristy Sanders, who serves as chairwoman of the Ready for Learning Committee.

“We have some new heroes to add to the list,” Sanders said. “That is our teachers. They have done everything possible under the sun to accommodate our children. They are carrying the load of three different types of teaching, one is virtual, one is on-site and then when they get quarantined, they have to do their work from out of the classroom, so they are teaching three different types of students.”

Walker said online learning has been an adjustment for students, parents and teachers alike, but she noted a number of students who initially opted for virtual learning have asked to come back to the classroom.

“From when we started the virtual orientation, we have had 148 students return to on-site instruction,” she said. “They changed their minds and said virtual wasn’t going to work for them. We’ve also had some to switch the other way but only a very few.”

Walker told the School Board testing of online students would be done on campus but only at specific times in order to enforce social distancing requirements.

“They’re not missing out on anything and everything is going as smoothly as it can,” she said.