Hearthstone to keep campus closed for entire 2020-21 school year
Hearthstone School, which closed its Sperryville campus on March 16 in response to COVID-19, will implement distance learning for the entire 2020– 21 school year.
“As a response to COVID-19, Hearthstone at Home was born from the conviction that the health of students and sta , as well as their families, is paramount,” the school announced Tuesday. “Although learning will be taking place o campus, Hearthstone's commitment to students remains the same: to nurture and educate the whole child; and to develop each child's ability to feel deeply, think clearly, and act purposefully.”
Hearthstone Administrator Jane Mullan told the News late Tuesday that the Waldorf-style teaching school actually “decided in April to move to remote learning in the fall. It was our sense that our community would not be ready for in person learning by September. This early decision has given us time to prepare and reconstruct our teaching method and schedules.”
Interestingly enough, since its inception, Hearthstone School has discouraged screen time for children, instead opting to create more natural and organic childhood experiences. Now in the position of looking to technology to facilitate distance learning, Hearthstone will be using Google Classroom and Google Meet for live-stream main lessons and circle time, storytelling, instructional videos, peer social time, and weekly student-teacher conferences.
“To relieve dependency on screen time, Hearthstone at Home will provide more tangible distance-learning experiences for students in the form of printed lesson plans, hard copies of books from the school's lending library, natural bers for handwork projects, bread baking ingredients, and other hands-on materials. In addition, students will be expected to spend time outdoors every day and will be able to schedule private playground time on campus, if needed,” the school said.
The distance learning will be a collaboration between parents and the school to facilitate a child's day. To help navigate the coursework, teachers will provide parents with rhythm-informed schedules, outlines of lessons, activity instructions, and other curriculum resources.
During a weekly parent-teacher forum (via Google Meet), parents will have the opportunity to consult the teacher about any issues that arise as part of distance learning, as well as to connect with other parents.
In addition, Hearthstone this year is taking what it calls a bold step to help families facing nancial hardship amid COVID-19: Hearthstone o ers enrollment for 2020–2021 on a “pay-what-you-can” basis and will accept a student regardless of the family's ability to pay.
“We feel it necessary to o er our education on a pay-what-you-can basis in order to serve all families that choose this method of at-home learning,” Mullan said.
Applications must be submitted by August 17th to secure placement in a class and allow su cient time to receive the necessary materials for the
rst trimester. Applications received a er August 17th will be accepted; however, enrollment may be delayed past the start of the trimester. Hearthstone's academic year begins on September 8th.
Hearthstone at Home extends from nursery/kindergarten through 12th Grade and includes parent-child classes and part-time enrollment. Adjunct class o erings include art, calligraphy, knitting, felting, dance, and more.
On-campus classes, the school said, will resume once the school determines it is safe to do so. To apply, visit www.hearthstoneschool.org