Puyallup School District: Distance learning could continue until March 2021
The first day of school at the Puyallup School District will be online, and classes will continue that way until it’s safe for students to return to classrooms.
Superintendent John Polm said at an Economic Development Board meeting on Aug. 10 that the district is providing more technology and more resources to families to improve online learning in the fall.
Considering the latest surge in positive COVID-19 cases, Polm estimated that students will continue digital learning until late winter or early spring, around January to March.
District spokesperson Sarah Gillispie said staff would evaluate the situation six to eight weeks after school begins on Sept. 3 and consider state metrics before reopening.
The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has recommended school districts reopen in tandem with decreasing case counts.
Counties with case counts that are higher than 25 positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 in a 14-day period are recommended to continue distance education. Pierce County is at a 14-day case rate per 100,000 of 124.5, as of Wednesday.
Online learning will look different than the end of last school year, Polm promised attendees. There will be more devices provided to kindergarten to third graders. Live lessons will be recorded daily, so students can rewatch instruction if needed.
There will be weekly lesson materials emailed to parents, and the district created “Family University,” which is a collection of quick tip videos and resources, focusing on navigating the learning management system “Schoology,” Polm said on the Aug. 10 call.
Unlike the last few months of the prior school year, students will be graded.
Online class schedule
Polm stressed there will be a predictable, six-hour schedule for both elementary and secondary students.
“Keep in mind that is not all screen time,” he said. “There’s other activities that would be part of those plan-learning experiences for students.”
In the morning, elementary students will likely work on assignments, and there will be a class meeting, according to a district draft plan presented to the school board. Students will either break into small groups or have a whole group literacy lesson before lunch and recess.
Math instruction will consume the afternoon learning block until the class shifts into social studies or science, the draft plan said.
Students then will have either music, P.E. or library for 20 to 30 minutes, before ending the day with reviewing remote assignments.
Secondary students will attend all six periods from Tuesday to Friday in the draft plan.
Mondays will start at 10 a.m. in a student’s homeroom with “social and emotional learning,” which teaches students how to maintain positive relationships. After an hour, students will work on self-guided learning assignments until 3 p.m.
Tuesdays and Thursdays will give an hour to first, second and third periods before lunch and 30 minutes to fourth, fifth and sixth periods after lunch. Wednesdays and Fridays will flip the morning and afternoon schedule.
Those four days will include an “office hour” from 2-3 p.m. to review remote assignments and email teachers questions.
Shifting back to the classroom will be a gradual process. The district is considering a phased approach based on risk assessments, with each step allowing more staff and students to return to the classroom, Gillispie said.
