July 13, 2020
Dear Arrow Academy Family:
We hope that your summer is going well and that you are healthy and safe. Our teachers and staff miss the kids so much! We are purposefully planning for the 2020-2021 school year. We want this to be a safe and successful year for our scholars, teachers and staff. Arrow Academy is giving families the choice of either in-person instruction or virtual remote instruction. It is important that we hear and learn what you prefer for your family. It is your choice and Arrow Academy will support your decision. You have two options for learning for the upcoming school year. Please read the options in detail and select your choice in our brief survey.
As we plan for the upcoming year, Arrow Academy will follow pertinent guidelines and commits to the following:
- The health and safety of our scholars, staff, and families is our top priority.
- Every decision made will take into consideration the latest guidance from local, state and federal authorities on operational considerations during the school day.
- Arrow Academy will provide the highest quality instruction to all our scholars regardless of the circumstances.
- Arrow Academy will support the well-being of each of our scholars.
SCHOOL OPTIONS FOR 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR:
Continuous In-Person Instruction (Option 1):
Scholars enrolled at Arrow Academy will have the opportunity to attend school and receive instruction in-person 5 days a week for the 2020-2021 school year. This scenario will include attending school daily with teachers and a cohort of students as well as a blended instructional platform that involves in-person instruction and the integration of SeeSaw (K-2nd) and Google Classroom (3rd-6th Grade) district-wide for all content areas. This will ensure that our scholars are familiar with the virtual platform in the event we have to quickly switch to an all-virtual setting. Parents will be allowed to change their scholars’ enrollment to the virtual format by requesting the change in the 6th week of the 9 weeks grading cycle. The change will become effective for the next 9 weeks grading cycle.
Continuous In-Person Instruction Includes:
-
Implementation of student/employee health protocols
-
Adjustments to the campus arrival/dismissal procedures
-
Limitation of student transitioning during the school day
- Scholars will have a campus schedule designed to limit student transitioning during the school day.
- Scholars will remain with a cohort of students throughout the day to limit exposure to other students and staff.
- Considerations will be made at all levels based on our scholars’ needs.
- Adjustments to Nutrition, Transportation, and Campus Organizational procedures
- Implementation of Health and Hygiene Practices with increased cleaning and signage
- Adjustments to protocols for visitors, deliveries and student gatherings
Continuous Virtual Remote Instruction (Option 2):
Scholars enrolled at Arrow Academy will have the opportunity to receive virtual instruction for families that prefer the remote option during the 2020-2021 school year. This scenario will include virtual instruction, including virtual meetings, video-recorded lessons, and live teaching remotely.
Continuous Virtual Remote Instruction Includes:
Our scholar is required to be engaged and completing daily assignments and the teacher is required to give daily feedback. Scholars are expected to be actively engaged in learning for a minimum of 4 hours daily. This engagement may include live lessons by the teacher via Zoom or other platforms as the teacher selects. The Virtual Remote Instruction does not require having the teacher and student engaged at the same time every day. However, there are times when the teacher will request a live log-in at a specified time and day.Virtual instruction in the 2020-2021 school year in Arrow Academy will look vastly different from virtual instruction during the Spring semester closure. Scholars must have access to the following:
- Broadband internet access during the school day
- Use of a designated Learning Management System (LMS) SeeSaw or Google Classroom
- Parental contact via email, webinar, or by phone as needed
- Pick-up an assigned Chromebook from your child’s campus for use of a minimum of 4 hours each school day (Monday-Friday)
In addition, the following requirements must be met before a student can be enrolled for virtual remote instruction:
- The student had passing grades at the end of the 2019-2020 school year in all subjects.
- The student participated fully in remote learning during the Spring of 2020 closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Our scholars will participate in all required coursework and virtual lessons during normal school hours.
- Our scholars will have passing grades at the end of each grading period (failure to have passing grades will result in unenrollment in virtual learning and enrollment in in-person learning at their designated campus).
- Our scholars will participate in all tutoring sessions required by the teachers.
- For accelerated and advanced learning, scholars may need to be able to come to a designated campus on assigned days and times to take assessments on units of study.
Grading for In-Person and Virtual Instruction:
The evaluation of student learning through grading and assessment will be revised for the 2020-2021 school year. The process for evaluation and grading will be similar to what they were during the 2019-2020 school year prior to the COVID-19 closure. Grades received in a virtual format will follow the same grading guidelines as in-person instruction. Teachers and staff will receive additional support and guidance on effective grading practices to ensure that grades are valid and reliable for all our scholars.
Click here for the 2020-2021 Academic Calendar
Click here for the 2020-2021 Restart School Plan of Action
Sincerely,
Audrey N. Sanders, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools
Arrow Academy