Staff return to work today, lessons to students April 1
By Jon McMurray, Technology Director – Fossil Charter School
In these never before seen and uncertain times we face a potential crisis with far reaching implications as far as the education of our children is concerned. We in Fossil are preparing for these times in a somewhat novel way and would like to share our plans with all of you.
Fossil School District is a Virtual Charter School District as determined by Oregon Law. This has been the case ever since the Fossil School District started the enormously successful Distance Learning Program over 10 years ago. With this distinction and our experience in remote learning, the Fossil School District will begin to deliver lessons to students on Wednesday, April 1st. We will continue to serve grab and go lunches four days a week (Monday – Thursday from 11:30 – 12:30). We will resume serving lunch after spring break on Monday March, 30th.
All staff will come back to work on Monday March 30th. We will spend 2 days getting prepared and set-up to an improvised form of remote learning for our K-12th graders.
Every teacher has been asked to create a platform of instructional delivery (zoom meetings, google classroom, etc.) that can be easily replicated and that will enable us to continue to serve and teach our students. These may include the usage of content embedded in Google Classroom or lessons embedded with recorded lectures being made available to students to view at their leisure through Zoom. Teachers will be in contact with their students and families in whatever fashion works best for each individual family (text, e-mail, phone calls).
This might look different in Kindergarten than it does in 5th and 6th grade or at the junior high and high school levels. These differences remain to be seen and worked out to deliver the best possible education to our students and families.
We feel very fortunate that we have some highly qualified staff in the use of technology as well as dedicated staff members who are willing to step up and provide education in a way that is beneficial for our students going forward. The staff that is well versed in Zoom and Google Classroom (as well as other platforms) will support other staff in their learning curve
These are uncertain circumstances and all new issues to our state and country. We, at Fossil Charter School, know we can pull this off and offer great services to our students. We are also acutely aware that it will come with its growing pains and will present us with new challenges to overcome. We look forward to continuing to provide excellent education during this heightened anxiety and uncertainty to help provide at least a semblance of normalcy to our students and families. We know the families we serve will be patient with us and assist us as we dive into these uncharted waters. Our only goal is to continue to serve our students and families.
We look forward to the journey with you all in the coming months and all the progress we feel can be made despite these unsettling times.