Educators are facing challenges they have never expected as the coronavirus is forcing schools to use non-traditional instruction for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear recommended in an April 20 conference call with superintendents throughout the state that schools to continue NTI days for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. In Carroll County, the school year is scheduled to end on May 22.
NTI had been used in the last school year to cover up to 10 snow days, but not to the extent the district has used it in 2020. As of April 23, the district will be in day 24 of NTI with 21 more days to before the official close of the school year.
“In Carroll County, NTI is going as good as expected under the unique circumstances we are facing” CCS Elementary Instructional Supervisor Jonica Ray said. “When talking to parents, students and teachers, the best part seems to be the extra time for families to be at home to enjoy each other.”
Ray said families have shared some very unique projects and creative learning opportunities they have discovered together as parents and children work together.
“The biggest struggle has been trying to meet the individual needs of students while they are not able to be in our presence,” Ray said. “Teachers, along with other school employees, have been using various approaches to attempt to keep all students engaged in learning during this difficult time that we are all facing. They are making contacts with their students throughout each week through phone calls, text messages, Facebook messenger, Zoom calls, Google meet, Nearpod, Schoology, mailing letters and cards to their homes and any other creative communication they find might reach the students.”
Teachers have been reading books online to keep the connection with students and their parents. Kathryn Winn Primary has a created a Facebook page, KWP Book Nook, where the teachers read every evening about 6 p.m.
Teaching are posting various learning activities for students to participate in and teaching lessons through electronic meetings. There was a teacher parade through town so that the staff could see their smiling faces.
(Photos from the parade can be found on pages 12-13 in this week’s issue.)
“Regardless of our efforts, there are still students with individual needs that we worry about meeting and new content that we are not able to get to all students,” Ray said.
With the governor deciding students will not be able to return to school for the remaining of the school year, Ray said the district already has been discussing plans for how to strengthen the teaching and learning that is taking place. She said each school has already started making plans to be proactive in case this happens.
Carroll County Schools are fortunate to be one-to-one with technology at the middle and high school. Ray said they have found that most students have been able to connect with their teachers using technology.
“A limiting factor has been internet connection some and the district has prepared packets of work for those families who have requested those,” she said. “At the elementary level, teachers are utilizing technology to reach as many as possible but students all received additional work in the mail following spring break.”
“While I am beyond disappointed by these circumstances, I am so proud of how our students have handled themselves this year,” said Superintendent Danny Osborne said in April 20 press release. “Life is about change, and our students have handled change unlike anything we have seen before.”
The release said the district will continue to serve meals through May 22 at Carroll County Middle School and Carroll County High School under the current schedule of Monday-Wednesday-Friday service from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The district is also working on a plan to extend meal service into the summer. More information will be released as it becomes available.
Osborne said all extracurricular activities are cancelled for the duration of the school year.
Osborne said in a communication to the Carroll County Schools staff that he cannot begin to express how proud he is of each of them for the professionalism displayed in how they have addressed this situation.
“The compassion and grace you have continued to demonstrate for your students, their families and each other has been amazing,” Osborne said. “I am ecstatic to be a part of such a wonderful team.
“We have come a long way together. We have learned much about ourselves, each other and our profession. The capacity of a teacher, an instructional assistant, a cafeteria staff, a custodian, a bus driver, really anyone in our organization to positively impact the life of a child is literally limitless. One thing we have most definitely learned through this process, it is that our reach to our children extends well-beyond the confines of our classrooms.”
Osborne said while the school year will end for students on May 22, their needs do not. He is working with district and school leadership to plan on how the district can best continue to serve the students throughout the summer months – academically, socially, emotionally, and nutritionally as safely as possible.
“I am confident that we, collectively as a staff, will continue to step up to meet the needs of our kids, our families, and our community, Osborne said, “because I have seen the character of our staff and I have never been more proud to be a part of a team than I am to be a Carroll County Panther.”
“We definitely miss our students and we worry about them daily,” Ray said. “As a district, we are continuing to provide lunches in the safest manner we can and providing shelf stable food out of our school food pantries to assist families as well. We have staff members working hard each day to think of creative ways to meet the learning needs, social emotional needs and other basic needs from a distance. We love our students and look forward to seeing all of them very soon.”
Aug. 12 is the first day of school for students of the 2020-2021 school year.
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