CEO: High school, elementary school lessons almost ready

Lorain City Schools will devote part of its website for Lorain High School seniors who must complete credits needed to graduate this year, said district interim CEO Greg Ring.

Meanwhile, families of elementary school students should look for lesson materials in the mail soon, although an exact date is not yet available.

Families who speak English as a second language also can find an online translator to read district communications in Spanish.

On April 2, Ring sent out additional communications about continuing local students’ education while staying at home to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Seniors need to work

Because high school classes count for credit toward graduation, Lorain High students will work on assignments for credit during this time, Ring said.

In the next few days, the district will create a dedicated page on lorainschools. org for high school students to resume learning beginning April 6, he said. That page will include:

• Teacher online learning platforms and virtual office hours

• Instructions to access grades and assignments through PowerSchool

• Early College expectations, requirements and communication

• Resources for free and discounted technology, internet and WiFi

• Guidance counselor virtual office hours to facilitate scheduling for the 2020-21 school year

• Important announcements for students regarding safety guidelines, reschedule dates, athletics, graduation and prom.

@Home learning

Parents and caregivers will get mailed educational packets for students in grades kindergarten to eight starting after April 6.

“Our teachers and building leaders have done a phenomenal job putting together valuable assignments and activities which will help keep our Titan brains strong during this extended school closure,” Ring said.

Packets will include a newsletter for parents tips to support their child’s learning and a refrigerator calendar to provide a framework of what to do and when.

“Learning with your child each day is critical to prevent academic losses while not in school,” Ring said. “But perhaps more importantly, it’s a great way to connect during this challenging time.”

How to teach

Ring emphasized “there is no ‘right way’ or ‘wrong way’ to ‘do’ home learning.”

“We are all learning right now — including our educators, who are redefining their craft under this new normal,” he said. “Everyone is going to be approaching this work differently, and that’s perfectly appropriate at this time.

“In the end, our goal is as much about supporting positive connections with our children during this crisis, as it is about learning. If we can keep that in mind, we’ll all be just fine.”

Summer school

Some students may be unable to complete online learning assignments, so Lorain Schools staff are exploring offering in-person instruction over the summer, assuming the stayat-home order restrictions have been lifted by then, Ring said.

“But we really don’t know when that will be at this time,” he said. “We will share those summer plans as soon as we are able, and communicate with the appropriate students all along the way.”

Finding translations

Recipients can translate Lorain Schools into Spanish and a number of other languages.

• Lorainschools.org has a “Select Language” menu near the upper right corner of its homescreen.

• Lorain City School Espanol is a Facebook page with information written in Spanish.

• District emails use the MailChimp program.

At the top of each email is an option to “view this email in your browser.”

Readers can click on that, then use a browser translator to select another language to read the email.

Ring