Dear Catherine Cook Families,
To follow up on Dr. Brogdon's email from this morning, we want you to know that our teachers are preparing for the possibility of transitioning to distance learning. Faculty have been working in teams to think differently about how to support our children, how to create structures and routines that allow students to be successful, and how to monitor and support children's learning. Some students will thrive with distance learning, while others may find it challenging. We will partner with you along the way and will make sure we are available to help you.
In the event we transition to continuous distance learning, it is the expectation that students will continue their classroom learning at home. Below, you will find ten guidelines that are intended to help you think about what you can do to help your child(ren) find success in a distance learning environment. As you read these guidelines, please keep in mind your child's age and developmental stage.
- Establish routines and expectations: From the first day a continuous learning plan is implemented, families need to establish routines and expectations. We encourage families to set regular hours for the student's schoolwork. We suggest students begin their studies at the time their normal school day would begin. Keep normal bedtime routines for everyone (Don't let them stay up late and sleep in!). Children should move regularly and take periodic breaks as they play, work, and study. It is important that families set these expectations for how students will spend their days, in the event distance learning is implemented, not several days later after it becomes apparent a student is struggling with the absence of routine.
- Define the physical space for your child's study: Your child may have a regular place for doing homework under normal circumstances, depending on their grade level, but this space may or may not be suitable for an extended period of time, as will be the case if continuous learning at home is implemented. We encourage families to establish a space/location where children will learn most of the time. This should be a public/family space, not in a child's bedroom. It should be a place that can be quiet at times and have a strong wireless internet signal, if possible. Above all, it should be a space where families or caregivers are present and monitoring the student's learning. You may want to check your supply of writing paper, pencils, and art materials. If necessary, teachers will send more specific supply lists.
- Monitor communications from your children's teachers: Teachers will communicate with parents through email as needed. Staying connected to our students and families is very important to us. The frequency and detail of these communications will be determined by your children's ages, maturity, and their degree of independence. We want parents to contact teachers as needed. However, we ask parents to remember that teachers will be communicating with many other families and students and that communications should be essential, succinct, and self-aware.
- Begin and end each day with a check-in: Families are encouraged to start and finish each day with a simple check-in. In the morning, ask what is your child learning today? What are their learning targets or goals? How will they spend their time? What resources do they require? What support do they need? This brief grounding conversation matters. It allows children to process the instructions they've received from their teachers. It helps them organize themselves and set priorities. Older students may not want to have these check-ins with parents (that's normal!), but they should nevertheless. Families should establish these check-ins as regular parts of each day. Not all students thrive in a distance learning environment.Some struggle with too much independence or lack of structure. These check-in routines need to be established early, before students fall behind or begin to struggle.
- Take an active role in helping your children process and own their learning: In the course of a regular school day, your child engages with other students or adults dozens if not hundreds of times. These social interactions and opportunities for mediation include turning to a peer to exchange a thought or idea, participating in small or large group discussions, asking questions for clarification, collaborating on group projects, and countless other moments. While some of these social interactions will be re-created on virtual platforms, others will not. Human beings learn best when they have opportunities to process their learning with others. Beyond the check-ins recommended at the start and end of each day, parents should regularly circle back and engage with their children about what they're learning. However, it's important that your child own their work. Please do not complete assignments for them, even if they are struggling.
- Establish times for quiet and reflection: A huge challenge for families with multiple children will be how to manage all of their children's needs, especially when those children are different ages and have different needs. There may be times when siblings need to work in different rooms to avoid distraction. Parents may even experiment with noise-cancelling headphones (no music necessary!) to block out distractions.
- Encourage physical activity and/or exercise: Make sure your children remember to move and exercise. This is vitally important to their health, wellbeing, and to their learning. Our physical education teachers will recommend activities or exercises, but it is important for parents to model and encourage exercise. Think also about how your children can pitch in more around the house with chores or other responsibilities. Expect them to pitch in!
- Remain mindful of your child's stress or worry: It is imperative for parents to help their children manage the worry, anxiety, and range of emotions they may experience. Difficult though it may be, do your best not to transfer your stress or worry to your children. They will be out of sorts, whether they admit it or not, and need as much normal routine as parents can provide. Help children manage their feelings and focus on the present moment with mindfulness exercises and breathing strategies to help children cope.
- Monitor how much time your child is spending online: We do not want students staring at computer screens for 7-8 hours a day. We ask that parents remember most teachers are not experts in distance learning and that it will require some trial-and-error before we find the right balance between online and offline learning experiences. Division Heads or teachers will periodically check in with you to assess what you're seeing at home and what we need to adjust. We thank you in advance for your patience and partnership!
- Keep your children social, but set rules around their social media interactions: If we implement distance learning, the initial excitement of school being closed will fade quickly when students start missing their friends, classmates, and teachers. Please monitor your children's texting and social media use, especially during an extended school closure. Older students will rely more on social media to communicate with friends. Social media apps such as SnapChat, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Facebook are not official, school-sanctioned channels of communication. Remind children to be polite, respectful, and appropriate in their communications and to represent your family's values and ROARSy behavior in their interactions with others.
As you learned in Dr. Brogdon's email, assemblies will be virtual for the foreseeable future. We are also implementing alternative lunch plans to practice the guidelines for social distancing recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health authorities. Parent-teacher conferences on March 26 and 27 will also be held virtually; this means that the teachers will contact you via telephone or videoconference during your appointment time. If you have not yet signed up, please do so through Pick-A-Time. Teachers will reach out in the next week to provide instructions.
We are working on detailed plans and tools for what continuous distance learning and communication will look like in practice by grade level. Those will follow in the event we decide to enact continuous distance learning. We want to reiterate that we appreciate your patience, collaboration, and understanding. This is a rapidly evolving situation, and we will continue to keep our community informed to the best of our ability. We applaud any future cooperation informing us if you have contracted COVID-19, visited a Level 2 or 3 country/zone, or suspect potential exposure with an individual diagnosed with COVID-19. We also thank you for continuing to encourage ROARSy behavior with our students and remembering that we are all in this together. Warmly,
Lisa Zimmer Head of Early Childhood
Sunni Kitson Head of Lower School
Cory Stutts Head of Middle School |