March 23, 2020
Dear Lower School Parents,
I know for many of you spring break turned out very differently from what you had originally intended, but whether or not you were able to travel or like our family, hunkered down at home, I hope that you all enjoyed an abundance of quality time with your families. Regardless of what you did over spring break, I am sure that the uncertainty of what lies ahead did not stray far from your minds. That was certainly the case with all of us at Charlotte Latin. We know that our school is a very happy, predictable, and stable place for our students, especially in these golden years of childhood, which we in Lower School have the privilege of partnering with you.
It is certainly our desire for Charlotte Latin to remain this happy place for our children, and I could not be prouder of the energetic, enthusiastic, and thoughtful efforts of our teachers over the course of the last two weeks. Over spring break, even though we encouraged our teachers to detach as much as they could, their thoughts did not venture far from these unchartered waters we are about to embark upon together. We also had the good fortune last spring of hiring a fabulous LS Educational Technologist, Sara Best, who has experienced remote learning in several different school settings. She has been such a valuable resource for our teachers; we have all learned as much as we can about remote learning. As you can imagine, there is no shortage of resources available since just about every school in the country is in the same boat.
Our teachers in TK-4th grade have all learned how to use a terrific app, Seesaw, which affords them so many options both in communication with you and delivering instruction and assignments for their students. 5th graders will use Google Classroom. Since this app is used in Middle School, we thought it made the most sense to give our 5th graders the opportunity to get used to that tool and make their transition into Middle School more seamless. These apps will be your hub where you can go each day, but I want to assure you that this does not mean your children are on their screens all day. We are very cognizant of our students' need to have a balance, and once they get started with remote learning, you will see that there is a great variety of activities and much will be accomplished away from their screens. The instructions for accessing Seesaw and Google Classroom are in the linked document: LS Remote Learning Technology Access Document
We have set up the instruction so that your children can do it at a time that works for your family. We know that for Lower School students, especially our youngest ones, that the parents are going to have to be heavily involved in assisting your children. At the same time, we also recognize the fact that the social component at school is extremely important, and we want to offer our students the opportunity to connect live with their teachers and classmates through one other app, Google Meet, and those instructions are also included in the access document.
Remote Learning for our students will begin this Wednesday, March 25. We will conduct an access test on Tuesday that you will be able to do at your convenience. We also plan to conduct a Google Meet test, and you will hear from your child's teacher a little later today about scheduling those times. We plan to do those individually as a quick way to ensure connectivity, and our teachers will be scheduling those about five minutes apart. With over 20 of those to schedule for each teacher, we need to make those very quick reach-outs.
Realizing that you send your children to us for the school day, and you are not used to structuring the day for your child, I have worked with our teachers to put together a possible daily schedule that you can use, adapt, or discard. I will emphasize that flexibility is key, yet what we know about children is that they thrive in routine, and whatever schedule you put in place, I highly recommend that you maintain routine and consistency as much as you can. What we have heard from families in other schools is that an individual learning space for each child is paramount for remote learning success. Students should get up at a set time and get dressed for the day. I've heard that some parents will require school-day dress, others more casual (yes, if you want, every day can be a Soar Day!). We do ask that for any live classroom meetings that children not be in their pajamas. We have heard from families in other schools that the first two or three days can be shaky, but once a good routine is established, remote learning has gone really well. This is new territory for all of us, so be patient, make adjustments, and figure out what works for your family.
There will be some set times in your child's schedules for class and/or small group meetings. If your child is not available for all of those live meetings, that's ok. Once again, we know we have to be flexible with you just as you with us. Most of the core curriculum, especially in the younger grades, will be through video that you can access at any time. You will have a much better sense of what the day will look like for our students once you hear from the teacher tomorrow.
Sample Schedule
8:00 - Rise and Shine – Create Morning Routine
9:00 - School Day begins
9:15 - 10:00 - First required assignment or activity
10:00 - 10:30 - Snack and Recess (Get children outside and moving)
10:15 - 11:00 - 2nd required assignment or activity, or small groups
11:00 - 11:15 - Recess
11:15 - 12:00 - Special Area activity for the day
12:00 - 1:00 - Lunch and Recess
1:00 - 2:00 - Optional Activities
FAMILY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
STUDENT EXPECTATIONS
Tomorrow (Tuesday), you can expect to receive an email from your child's teacher with more specific information about what remote learning will look like in that particular grade or classroom. Our teachers have been so collaborative and interdependent during the planning process that you can count on consistency at each grade level. For each grade level, just as we do at the beginning of the year, Wednesday-Friday will be a time of reconnecting, building community, and helping our students become comfortable using the resources we have. Curriculum instruction and special area classes will begin next week. As questions arise, as you would if we were physically in school, look to your child's teacher first. Of course, Mrs. Q and I are also happy to help in any way we can.
For starters, that is enough. I will be in contact with you regularly for updates, further instruction, etc. Let's get these first three days under our belts and then go from there. Our teachers have mapped out the first two or three weeks, but we know that we will need to make adjustments, be nimble, and be flexible. What we have also learned in these two weeks of planning is that we must all offer grace to ourselves and others. We are not going to be perfect, but I can assure you that we are all trying really hard and are committed to making remote learning a positive and growth experience, most of all, for our students, but also for our teachers and parents. We can't change the circumstances in which we find ourselves. However, we can all commit to making the very best of where we are. Best wishes to you and your family as you begin this journey with us.
Sincerely,
Mark Tayloe Head of Lower School
Charlotte Latin School | 9502 Providence Road, Charlotte, NC 28277 |