Distance Learning Onboarding Plan
During any situation that requires the use of Distance Learning to support the academic needs and developmental needs of students, CPA agrees to provide all of its students with a free and appropriate education, including students who need support to learn English, students with disabilities that require accommodations, modifications, or special services to benefit equitably from their education, and students whose families may not have the knowledge or means to participate in Distance Learning Opportunities without tailored supports. But Distance Learning is new to many of our students, our families, and even our staff, so in order to serve our community in this way we have created this plan to help transition the entire community into our distance learning system.
For CPA students:
Almost all of our students have already interacted with the distance learning platforms that we use in the context of their classrooms. High Schoolers generally use Google Classroom throughout the school year at CPA for a variety of purposes, and K-8th grade use either Seesaw or Google Classroom in the regular classroom setting during their technology classes with our Technology/Media Specialist. However, pre-k students are not familiar with online platforms, and many students have not interacted with these platforms outside of the school building, and some may not have access outside the school building for a variety of reasons.
In order to support this transition CPA will:
- Provide daily reciprocal interaction with a CPA teacher
- Supply a grade level appropriate technology device for student use outside of school if one is needed
- Set each device up to make it as easy as possible to access the appropriate platform
- Send home with each device a paper tutorial on how to assess the platform
- Send home a troubleshooting guide to help students with common issues around using the technology off of school grounds
- Make tech support available in the form of an email address that, when students send an email message to it will create a “ticket,” or support request, for our IT team to respond to
- Have teachers coach each student once they are in the platform on what tools and materials are available to them, and what the teacher’s expectations are during the time a student will be using our Distance Learning Program
- And finally, should access to those platforms not be feasible for some reason, CPA will provide alternative ways for a student to get access to a free and appropriate education (i.e. teacher phone calls, mailed or delivered materials and work for the student, etc.).
For the adult in the household who is supporting a CPA student during Distance Learning:
For some adults, interacting with online learning platforms is very new. In order to support those adults so that they can support CPA students CPA will:
- Provide to adults a paper tutorial on the use of CPA devices from their home
- Send home a paper troubleshooting guide to help adults navigate common issues with getting into these platforms
- A resource guide that give instructions on how each family can access the free internet options being offered by local internet providers
- Provide tech support to the family in the form of both an email address they can use to create “tickets,” or support requests, for our technology staff to follow up on, or make tech support staff available over the phone if they call the school
- Provide on-site tech support for CPA devices that are malfunctioning on Mondays and Fridays, and a system for adults to interact with the tech support staff that keeps all members of the community safe
- Provide an email address and a phone number to families that they can use to reach the teacher of the child in their household so that adults can get the support they need with the educational content CPS students are working on
- Provide telephone support to adults who are non-native English speakers with our Hmong Family Liaison, our Latino Family Liaison, and with contracted translators for support in other languages
- Publish and maintain a separate website during extended school closures, linked to from our main page, which will supply families with all the information and supports they need on academics, device distribution, technical support, communication options with the school, social work services, nutritional services, and whatever other information is appropriate in the given situation
- And finally, should access to our on-line platforms not be feasible for any reason, CPA will provide alternative ways for a family to support the education of CPA students (i.e. teacher phone calls, mailed or delivered materials and work for the student, etc.).
For the Teachers and staff at CPA, transitioning their curriculum and their practice into new formats:
CPA will:
- Provide the technology necessary to be an effective instructor in this setting
- Provide the professional development on how to effectively teach through Distance Learning in as timely a manner as possible
- Support collaboration between staff as we all navigate Distance Learning together
- The tech support to manage any technical issues that might arise
- Provide clear guidance on the administrations expectations, and any policies related to Distance Learning, such as privacy policies and guidance on what resources are approved and supported by our technology department
- Purchase and distribute necessary equipment and materials to support your teaching
- And provide support from office staff, CPA Family Liaisons, and contracted translators to facilitate clear communication with all CPA families.