Elizabeth Forward, Fort Cherry were prepared for unexpected shutdown,
A couple of local districts have been able to make smooth transitions into remote learning because of steps they took in the weeks, months and even years before the novel coronavirus first arrived in the United States.
The Elizabeth Forward School District in Allegheny County and the Fort Cherry School District in Washington County have continued instruction for their students while others have had to pause their lessons.
Elizabeth Forward Superintendent Todd Keruskin said the district has only missed one day of instruction during the closure. He credits that to years of aggressively investing in digital resources and programs that have modernized the district’s capabilities.
Mr. Keruskin said the district has supplied every student with an iPad for close to a decade, participated in the state’s virtual learning days pilot program for several years and has a strong learning management system that helps administer school programs online in addition to other efforts it has undertaken.
“This wasn’t meant to be a long-term cyber solution,” he said. “But our teachers, our administrators, our faculty, our staff have done an incredible job on transitioning to what we do on a daily basis in a classroom using technology.”
Fort Cherry, meanwhile, has not missed a day of instruction during the shutdown. Superintendent Jill Jacoby has also made efforts to increase the availability of digital resources in her district over the past several years.
While the district has made advancements in recent years, it is not quite as well equipped as Elizabeth Forward.
The district provided all seventh though 12th graders with a Chromebook laptop, but not all of the students in kindergarten through sixth grade have that device or another that allows them to work online.
Still, Ms. Jacoby said she and her staff have thought “outside the box” to make sure all students in the district are able to participate. That effort included putting together work packets for hundreds of students, using bus routes to deliver and pick up those lessons, or moving Wi-Fi hotspots closer to the doors of school buildings where students who have devices but lack internet service can access them.
“I kept saying to my colleagues, ‘We just have to do what’s right for kids,’” she said. “I’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission at this point. I’m doing what’s right for my kids with what I have.”
The Fort Cherry School District received permission from the state this school year to use five flexible instruction days, meant to be utilized during snow days or other unexpected closures. And because Fort Cherry did not have devices for all K-6 students, Ms. Jacoby instructed teachers for those grades to arrange 10 days’ worth of work packets.
That preparation helped the district immediately implement remote learning when the COVID-19 shutdown began.
“As soon as this all started, I started to think we could use those first five days,” Ms. Jacoby said. “I anticipated that the state — if we were to stay out — would allow us to use more. That was just my own gut feeling.”
Fort Cherry and Elizabeth Forward expect to reach the 180 days of instruction mandated by the state in early June, although that requirement has been waived this year because so many school districts cannot meet the same standard.
Elizabeth Forward’s Mr. Keruskin said his district has shared its virtual learning strategies with other school officials from New York to Washington state. He said he advises other districts to invest in a learning management system — like those used by colleges and universities — that can be used to build a digital platform where students and teachers can access curriculum materials.
“Investing in a good learning management system so you have those digital tools at your fingertips for the kids and the teachers I think is critical for moving forward,” he said. “That’s one of the biggest [pieces] of advice we’ve been giving to schools across the country.”
Ms. Jacoby said she and Mr. Keruskin are involved in Modern Teachers, a partnership out of Colorado that she described as a “business model” for schools.
Modern Teachers, Ms. Jacoby said, develops a framework that begins with leadership and goes into other aspects of education, such as instructional models, curriculum, digital infrastructure and community support. A major focus of the partnership is on learnercentered communities and learner-centered cultures.
Ms. Jacoby said participating in the partnership has helped to make Fort Cherry’s transition to remote learning as smooth as it has been.
“I believe [that] in us doing this for the last few years,” she said, “that has given us the capability to do stuff like this.”