Birchwood Gr 6-12 - January 7 and 14 Remote Learning Schedule
Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful winter recess and we’re looking forward to all the splendor that 2021 will bring.
Reflecting on 2020, we move forward into 2021 with feedback provided by multiple district stakeholders. Every month, we meet with the Student Advisory Council, which consists of students in Grades 9-12 from both high schools. For the past two meetings, students discussed their experience with hybrid instruction. Students shared how proud they were of their accomplishments in being able to pivot to online classes and learn new ways to demonstrate their learning. Students praised their teachers for how they were delivering instruction. Students also expressed their challenges. They shared they often had screen fatigue and exhaustion from being online while also working on homework online after classes. They especially felt stretched from not having time to engage in personal interests due to looming deadlines and assignments while juggling their family commitments.
Understanding their challenges, we invited Mrs. Erin Ginsberg (Supervisor of Pupil Services) and Dr. Alexis Kearsey (CPSE/CSE Chairperson) to attend our December meeting. They shared ways in which students could practice self care and asked students how they were practicing self care. Students shared that they engaged in arts and do-it-yourself (diy) home projects, talked on the phone with friends, exercised, read a good book, slept, spent time with their pet, and a host of other activities. They stated that they wished they had more time.
In subsequent discussions with parents of the Education Panel and our secondary administrators, they also felt secondary students needed time off screen and time for themselves to enhance their social-emotional health. As an outflow of many meetings, and as reflective practitioners who are committed to Strategic Goal #2: SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL & ETHICAL- Support the Social-Emotional and Ethical Development of All Students, we will be implementing a grade 6-12 modified schedule for remote learning on January 7 and 14, 2021.
Students in grades 6-12 will have a shortened day for the next two Thursdays. Please see the schedule below. This schedule will provide students the time to focus on personal and social-emotional needs and engage in activities that will allow for self care and personal reflection on their educational endeavors.
We continue to be flexible and consider ways to help our students thrive during this time. We appreciate your partnership in education during these challenging circumstances.
Period |
Time |
Minutes |
Period 1 |
9:00- 9:35 |
35 |
Period 2 |
9:40-10:15 |
35 |
Period 3 |
10:20-10:55 |
35 |
Period 4 |
11:00- 11:35 |
35 |
Period 5 |
11:40-12:15 |
35 |
Sincerely,
Susan Yom
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction
Martin D. Cox, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools