Snow Day = "Virtual School Day"

[Hallry]

As a recent high-school graduate I found this interesting; maybe you will too. Due to the snow day today, FRC Team 1676 (The Pascack Pi-oneers)'s high school district, the Pascack Valley Regional High School District, instead had their first-ever "Virtual Learning Day," where the district's 2,000 students use their school-issued Mac laptops to learn from teachers' lessons online. Here's the letter the superintendent sent out to the parents with more information:

Dear Parent / Guardian:

Forecasters are calling for significant snow totals on Thursday and conducting school in the "traditional" sense is looking uncertain at this time. In the event we close the campuses tomorrow, we are prepared to conduct school virtually via our student-issued laptops.

We have petitioned the New Jersey Department of Education regarding this concept and they have been receptive to the idea. However, they will be looking for our district to supply them with specific outcomes demonstrating student engagement as they consider the possibility of counting our “virtual school day” as one of our mandated 180 school days. A decision will come from the Department of Education, based on our data, in the coming weeks.

Two scenarios for our “Virtual School Day”:

- If we are able to satisfy the expectations of the Department of Education, and they agree that our “virtual school day” is equivalent to a traditional day of school, then students and staff would not be required to make up a snow day during the April vacation.

- If the Department of Education does not agree that our “virtual school day” is equivalent to a traditional day of school, then students and staff will receive instruction on Thursday, but would also need to make up the snow day during the April vacation.

Regardless of the decision by the Department of Education, learning will continue throughout this week and students will be engaged in meaningful instruction. We have been in communication with the Department of Education and they are intrigued by this concept, primarily because of our ten-year laptop program and our experience in providing online learning opportunities to our students. This is an exciting opportunity for staff and students in the Pascack Valley Regional High School District as this would be a ‘first’ for the State!

This is a progressive idea for a progressive district that prides itself on innovation. We believe that the continuity of instruction is important and we have encountered too many disruptions due to inclement weather this year. Our teachers have developed online lessons that will have students utilizing a variety of digital tools available to them through our 1:1 laptop program.


Important Details:


- On Thursday morning, students will be expected to access their teachers’ websites to learn of the activity and assignment for the day. Students are encouraged to begin their day around 8 a.m. By engaging in the lesson posted on the website, teachers will mark students “present” for their class on Thursday. Students must communicate with their teachers as outlined on their teachers’ webpages. Students will have the entire day to complete their activities and assignments.

- We are expecting students to take our “virtual school day” seriously, as we are considering it a full day of school / learning. Assignments may carry an associated grade as per the teacher’s discretion.

- If a student encounters technical difficulties at home (i.e. power goes out, or there are other extenuating circumstances that may prevent the student from attending school virtually), teachers will be flexible and reasonably accommodating considering the circumstances. If there is an issue regarding a particular teacher’s lesson, it is recommended that the student or parent communicate with the individual teacher.

- If a student is not able to participate at all during the “virtual school day,” the parent should contact the attendance officer, via our standard method of voicemail, with an explanation of why the student was not able to participate on Thursday. The student will be expected to make-up missed assignments.

- Safety is our priority and we do not want students venturing out of their home in an effort to connect to the internet and/or complete a class lesson / assignment.

Implementing this "non-traditional" day won't be without questions or challenges. This is a concept we have discussed for some time and fulfilling a “virtual school day” for Thursday’s storm is the perfect opportunity for us to implement this initiative.

Remember, this will only take place if campus is closed tomorrow. The decision to close will likely come in the early morning hours on Thursday. If campus is open on Thursday, we will conduct a regular day of school.

I encourage your feedback, enthusiasm, and constructive comments throughout this process. Thank you for your support as we are looking to lead by example and demonstrate to our students that it is important to take calculated risks and be innovative!

Sincerely,

P. Erik Gundersen
Superintendent of Schools

Source: http://pascack.k12.nj.us/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=1&ModuleInstanceI D=729&ViewID=047E6BE3-6D87-4130-8424-D8E4E9ED6C2A&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=22801&PageID=1

The principals of the two schools (Pascack Valley High School and Pascack Hills High School) are posting updates via their Twitter and Facebook accounts, and so far things to seem to be working well, though there are some slight school email server issues that are being worked out. Before this "virtual school day," the Pascack Valley Regional High School District already lost 2 or 3 school days due to snow.

Fox 5 News also did a brief video segment on the "virtual school day" yesterday, featuring a bit of Team 1676, which can be viewed here: http://www.myfoxny.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId= 9835028
Note: The two high schools are Pascack Valley and Pascack Hills, not Pascack High

So, what do you think about this idea? Do you think it can/should be implemented elsewhere? Should it count as an actual school day?