Russ Bland
Coming from a scientific research background, I am curious to know if the district has set specific clinical endpoints to have kids either move to 100% virtual or 100% face to face in-school learning?

A bit more clarification -  will it be 5 kids getting sick to be 100% virtual? a teachers death? a students death? etc

Have there been determined thresholds, which will be put in place, in order to pivot on the current plans?

 

Kimberly Parrent
I appreciate how hard everyone is working and the difficulty of this decision. But as a single, working mom what am I supposed to do? Does the district have options for those of us who have no choice but to work full time and don't have anyone else in the home to stay with our child(ren). My son is 8 and entering 2nd grade. He already struggled with the virtual spring. I can't afford a full time caregiver to help him and watch him and I can't afford to quit my job. I work to make ends meet and receive no help from his father. What assistance can the district give parents like myself if you choose to make school 100% virtual?

 

Dr. Steve Sterious MD, FACS and Dr. Sarah Sterious OD
Essential workers do not have the option to teach their children full time from home. What is the school going to do to facilitate schooling and provide a space for the elementary aged children of essential employees?

 

Michael Harrity
In the spring we had totally virtual learning.  My son had no live instruction from the teachers unless he requested a video conference.  Presentations were posted for the students to review and teach themself.  If they had questions they could then setup a video call with their teacher.   

If a totally virtual option is approved for the start of this school year,

1.      Will students be required to login for each of their classes at a set time?   Maybe the same times as their blocks if they were at school. 

2.      Will the teachers do live instruction every day?  I would think at least half if not all of the class time would be live instruction.  

 

Cristin Bowers
First, thank you all for your time and dedication to this topic, and the children, teachers and administrators.  I just have a quick question:  Originally, we had to commit through January 2021 for virtual learning, so I am wondering why, now with the full virtual learning for all, it is only being considered through November 2020, which is in the midst of the flu season as well, which will most likely complicate matters more with the Covid-19?  I know things may change but I am just curious why the earlier date.

 

Ellen Thomas
I have two children in the district, 9th & 12th. I just want to say thank you for all you are doing trying to get this year started. I do favor the hybrid version but I do know you are not going to make everyone happy. If the decision to go all virtual is approved, which I’m sure it will, will there still be events? Example, Proms? Games? Senior portraits?

 

Kelly Shelby
We are considering working with two other families because our older children are in 4th grade and younger in 3rd grade. If they are virtual, is there a way the kids can have the same virtual teachers at the respective grade levels to ensure they are getting the same instruction and can work together as if they are in a classroom setting. This would be imperative to smoothly running a POD at home.

 

Lisa Douglas 
If the decision is made for all virtual please make the teacher's required to be in their classrooms teaching via zoom everyday.  That way the principal's can hold the teacher's accountable.  Is that possible? 

 

Deanna Durante
Why is is safe for private schools to open and not colonial?  

Will students be given two sets of materials work books etc - and how do we obtain these?

We still have not been given a clear answer as to how any virtual program will work-

i'd like to see examples so we can prepare.

Will teachers be in class rooms teaching rather than home with kids and background noises?

why the shift here?  and what has lead Delco numbers to rise?

Bucks county sees its cases from travel to shore and travel in and out of state.  - you cite delco but do you know what is leading to increase?

How about resources for parents looking for PODS or other learning venues.  Since Downingtown schools are closed  (100 percent virtual) the district is working with its after care program to allow students IN THE BUILDING who have no where else to go and work with the care provider so that help for virtual learning is avail...

What can be done to help parents who now feel left in the dark?

 

Sarinia M. Feinman
Has there been any thought or consideration of working from the youngest students upwards in terms of getting them into schools in person?

Although it is no student’s preference to be learning from home, the reality is that at a HS level it is much easier for that age group to be engaged, learn information, participate, and retain information, whereas at a kindergarten level it is almost impossible.  Perhaps a plan should include high schoolers and middle schoolers being 100% virtual, 4^th-5^th graders being on a hybrid schedule, and K-3^rd going full-time or close to it, but using the other SD buildings to implement appropriate social distancing/pods within classes in buildings/classrooms throughout the district.

The reality is that our K-3 students are going to be left behind if we continue to treat all ages the “same”, as they are not.

Lastly, moving to an all virtual model before school even starts does not allow the teachers for these young students to get to know them, build a rapport with them, or allow the students to build that important relationship with their teacher.  This is crucial in order for the virtual component to be successful, which is why it is even more important for the students to have the opportunity to start school in person, albeit on the hybrid model, in the event that there is another shutdown and school becomes all virtual at some point during the school year.

Thank you for your time and please do not hesitate to reach out if I can be of further assistance in any way.

 

Sam Kim
I’ve wondered why we still hold a start date of school to the beginning of September. It seems clear that because the situation is so fluid it is almost impossible to prepare for any scenario in just a few weeks. Putting the stress on parents to monitor young children through a virtual school model while having to work full time is asking a lot. At the same time sending kids into schools seems like a high risk for not just students but mostly the faculty and staff.

My question is why not consider extending the summer vacation into October so that the faculty can be better equipped whether virtual, hybrid, or in-person and the parents are not burdened to monitor their children? Having another month seems like it will only help to secure the proper PPE, train teachers appropriately and give parents more time to make the adjustments needed with their own work situations.

Otherwise, asking faculty AND parents to come up with a plan in a mere three weeks is going to result in inconsistencies, grief and added anxiety to an already difficulty time.

The school board has such an immense task at hand and only hope and pray for the best.....it is an unfair position that you are in and I appreciate your sensitivity to all members of our community.

 

Katrina Johnston

Kindergarten is magical. It is pure magic.

Kindergarten teachers are magicians. They create happiness and excitement out of the energy in their rooms.

So much of it is built on togetherness. It is so critical to build a foundation for kindergarten students for their entire learning careers.

Is there any way to open our otherwise empty schools to enable safe, in-person kindergarten of small classes - even at just one school building for the district? - at LEAST for kindergarten students?

What other ways can we make it magical for them?

We’re all suffering and struggling. Let’s give our newest students a real school experience they’ll cherish and remember positively forever.

Thanks for your consideration.

 

Ryan Keppler
Have you considered printing out packets of materials for Elementary students? My son is at WES going into 1st grade. 

We have purchased all the items on the list provided.  It would be very helpful to have everything else they need printed and ready to go. This would have been done in school anyway so I feel it is a fair request. 

Please let me know and thank you for the consideration!

 

Sharon Gonzalez
Will each child be receiving and assigned  a chrome note book? This would be helpful with multiple children in the house hold. Sharon Gonzalez.

 

Mildred Joseph
Would it be possible if Mr. Christian can have a letter with Colonial school district letter head on it stating that our children are learning virtually. I am a single mom and I work full time. My employer Septa and I am sure many others will be requesting such letter especially if we have exhausted all of our vacation and sick days. Please bring this up in the meeting. 

 

Mollie Ashley
I am hoping... will the elementary students be grouped by school into their virtual classes now that we are beginning in a virtual setting? I know previously the students that chose Virtual were not necessarily going to be with just students from their school.

 

Kathie Laverick
Will there be a Plymouth Whitemarsh Pals program to help younger children? That was VERY helpful.

Will there be a chance for younger children to meet their teachers and see their classroom in-person prior to school starting? My son will have no investment in learning if he does not have a connection with his teacher.

How will chromebooks and ipads be distributed by the first day of school, especially since many opt for vacation the weeks prior to school starting?

Is outdoor learning a possibility?

Will zooms be "live" all day, so the kids have a teacher to lead instruction, rather than parents assisting them (many whom are working).

What are the recommendations for exercise?  The virtual physical education did not work.

Thank you for considering my questions!

 

Erica Thomas
Thank you for taking the time to carefully decide the state of our children’s education this fall.

In the spring laptops and tablets were made available. We did not sign up for one, but feel we will need one for continuing virtual education. What will be the procedure for obtaining one?

 

Shane and Patricia Weller
Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to ask these questions and be involved with this planning process. Our daughter will be a freshman at PWHS this fall and she is also a cheerleader for PW. We signed her up for the Virtual Colonial selection, and understand that there are discussions for the school going 100% virtual.  We are in support of 100% virtual, and do have the following questions.

What is the plan regarding the daily schedule for high school? Will the classes be asynchronous or synchronous? Will there be a combination of the two?

What educational platform will the school be using? Google Classroom or Canvas?

Are students supposed to log into a Zoom meeting during the time the class is scheduled?

Are lessons recorded to students to view at a later time to revisit information?

What type of opportunities will be provided by the school for tutoring?

What type of mental health support will be provided by the school?

Are PWHS teachers teaching the online classes?

Our daughter has a laptop from CMS. Does she keep it or return it and get one from PWHS?

What type of freshman orientation or welcoming will be given?

Will PWHS be providing online clubs for students to partake in?

What are the plans for sports? Our daughter has been going to cheer practice for the past two weeks, and the coaches have done a great job with social distancing and implementing sanitary procedures. Will cheerleading continue?

Is there a school policy for teachers to follow regarding the amount of work to be given and timed tests?

Thank you for your time and help.

 

Patricia DiGiacomo
First, I want to start this note by thanking you for your leadership. You have had the unenviable mission of putting a plan together that offers the best options in not only keeping school students, staff and our communities safe & healthy but also ensuring the educational well being of our students is a top priority. It is recognized this is not by any stretch a small task.

The biggest concern I have for my own children is indeed their health & safety and education.  The decision for how best to balance these critical needs has not been easy, but my family talked openly and opted for hybrid. If this upcoming board meeting does indeed opt to select a 100% virtual option, I am fortunate to be able to work for a company that offers tremendous support so my family, unlike so many others, could pivot if necessary. This would not be our preferred choice, but it’s understandable if this is the outcome. I am contacting you though on behalf of the countless families that cannot pivot as well as those families with children whose needs will truly suffer if there is not at least an option of in-person left on the table.

For what it’s worth I’ve noted a few ideas perhaps you could consider to potentially find a way to safely continue with hybrid:

1.      Delay the start of the school year. Why? – With an in-person option there is absolutely a risk and likelihood a COVID positive student will show up on the first day of school. This could either be because a family is returning directly from a vacation from a “hot spot” (i.e.: NC Outer Banks) or a camp program that’s just ending. If the school start is delayed at least by two weeks at a min. is it feasible in this time period to strongly suggest / ask parents sending their kids hybrid to commit to a quarantine, and where feasible, get testing?? This would truly be a ‘we are all in this together’ approach, leaning on the support of the community to follow along. I just think this may help with putting a buffer between the natural end of summer where it’s unlikely many will have major vacation plans post Aug 31. There’s also Labor Day weekend to consider. People will absolutely go down the shore and be social. If school can start after these summer activities wind down with a delay and strong urge to quarantine, I think there’s a chance we could ease some of the concerns re: COVID spreading.

2.      For every grade, as best as possible keep kids in groups based on their physical neighborhood / address. Likely this is easier for the elementary age groups since classes do not switch Why?  - If  a case should spread in a classroom then it’s possible to keep that case and perhaps other cases from that same class, concentrated to a specific area in the community. We have a HUGE district so in the unfortunate event a case spreads, the schools can help contribute to keeping it contained by keeping this spread somewhat localized. My family lives in Plymouth Meeting, off of Gallagher Rd.  If my son, going into 4^th is in a room with a child from Conshy and a child from Lafayette Hill, we’ve now got a potentially wider area of community spread/exposure to be concerned with.

3.      Lunch – Yes the kids need to eat 😊…but can we have pre-wrapped food options vs. cafeteria lines and perhaps a plan to keep the kids in their classroom at lunch. Why?  - To keep movement of the kids limited and not encourage gathering in a setting that will likely be hard to control. As an example, I grew up and attended a k-5 school without a cafeteria so we ate at our desk. For anyone who bought lunch it was served by a lunch aide directly to the student at his/her desk – all meals were pre purchased. Perhaps for this response period the in-school cafeteria service needs to be scaled back to limit the options and expectations should be set that if a family has the ability to pack then pack your child’s lunch to limit the need to leverage cafeteria services.

4.      Is there a way to implement a reduction of hours for the in-person days? Why? – To limit the amount of time the kids & faculty are in school and also allow for more staggered pick-ups since many have opted out of the bus for transportation.

5.      Finally, not an idea but just a thought. With a 100% virtual option I’m seeing more and more parents opting to set up “pods” – these would ideally be small groups of kids/families coming together to provide for socialization and I guess help for their kids during virtual learning. I’m going to assume most of these environments won’t be sticking with strict CDC guidelines re: masks, distancing, etc. The reason I mention this is concern that while the intent of 100% virtual is to protect, could the unintended outcome of 100% virtual actually foster environments where community spread becomes more of an issue? Just a thought.

The times we’re in are presenting unprecedented challenges so whatever the outcome please know that me and my family are truly thankful for your hard work.

Good luck and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions re: this note. Happy to support in any way I can.

 

Mary Wexler
I have some questions about the District’s plan to go to Virtual Instruction in the fall. My questions are:

Will teachers be doing Direct Instruction in front of the camera?

What is the Instructional Accountability Plan?

Will teachers be submitting lesson plans?

Will Administrators be attending classroom Zoom calls?

Will teachers be teaching a full work day

How can I as a taxpayer be reassured that no other businesses will be going on during the school day (i.e.Tutoring, POD instruction) and that Colonial Students Learning is the priority

How are you evaluating the effectiveness of Virtual Learning?

Thank you.

 

Megan Crescimone
In light of this full time virtual plan, I would like to know exactly how the teachers are going to be trained to be full time virtual/online instructors. It's very different than teaching in person and the instruction in the spring was obviously severely lacking, with the teachers/administration being woefully unprepared and ill-equipped for such a situation. I would like to know exactly what the teachers will be doing in terms of professional development to prepare them for this year. As it is already Aug. 5, when this new plan is being put into action, it would seem that the teachers will need to be in training everyday until the first day of school. Our children deserve much more than what they received in the spring.

Thank you

 

Michelle Kinder
I have a question about virtual classrooms now that we are voting on all virtual learning. For parents that chose all virtual despite having a hybrid option, can we still be in a virtual classroom that will stay virtual at least through the end of Dec? I would want to stay virtual even if it was possible to go back to the classroom. Would this be taken into account?

Thank you!

 

Mike Miller

I am writing to ask that regardless of whether school is virtual or hybrid this fall (hoping it stays hybrid), that fall sports are permitted.  I don't believe that Governor Wolf's assertion that the two decisions are connected in some way is true.

Fall sports are outdoors which appears to significantly lessen the chances of COVID spread.  We should be attempting to provide the children with whatever semblance of normalcy and socialization that we can.  School sports and other outdoor extracurriculars do that.  Let's worry less about the optics and more about the mental health of the children.

Thank you for your consideration.

 

Maureen O’Connell
Thank you for all of the time and lost hours of sleep that you have put into planning the 2020-2021 school year.  I chose virtual for my two girls, but I am certainly empathetic with the parents who chose hybrid and will be calling in to voice their opinions this evening.  I’m not sure I can handle listening to another meeting or reading any more Facebook comments on this topic, but I will try and power through this evening to be a good member of the Colonial community.  Best of luck this evening.

 

Jason Fitzpatrick
I was wondering if there will be answers about CMTHS tonight? My daughter is in the culinary program and needs to know if the tech school will be open or if she needs to contact her guidance counselor about what credits and classes she needs if she can not attend this year.

Thank you.

 

Jodi Silverman
Can we have a plan to live stream sports since there cannot be spectators?