24.03.2020 Views

WB_032620

WB_032620

WB_032620

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

10 | March 26, 2020 | The wilmette beacon School<br />

wilmettebeacondaily.com<br />

Support Our Advertisers!<br />

Now, more than ever, it is critical<br />

that we support our local business<br />

community.<br />

• Purchase gift cards<br />

• Schedule services<br />

• Order carryout and<br />

delivery from local<br />

restaurants<br />

Thank you for supporting 22nd Century Media!<br />

The Lake Forest Leader<br />

The Glencoe Anchor<br />

The Highland Park Landmark<br />

The Northbrook Tower<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

The Wilmette Beacon<br />

The Winnetka Current<br />

The Glenview Lantern<br />

<br />

<br />

Good Through April 12, 2020<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

BONE-IN, BONELESS<br />

or BUTTERFLIED<br />

<br />

<br />

$ .69<br />

4 LB.<br />

<br />

<br />

New Trier D203 Board of Education<br />

Officials report ‘good first day’ of remote<br />

learning despite unprecedented circumstances<br />

Aaron Dorman<br />

Freelance Reporter<br />

Posted to WilmetteBeaconDaily.com 9 days ago<br />

“[This was] certainly<br />

nobody’s first choice.”<br />

That was how Peter Tragos,<br />

assistant superintendent<br />

for curriculum and<br />

instruction, acknowledged<br />

the situation for New Trier<br />

District 203 at the March<br />

16 Board meeting, but<br />

all things considered, he<br />

declared the district’s response<br />

“pretty darn good.”<br />

In just over a week,<br />

amidst the impacts of the<br />

COVID-19 outbreak and<br />

subsequent emergency<br />

closures, the district has<br />

had to react fast and institute<br />

a remote learning<br />

program. Even before Illinois<br />

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced<br />

all public schools<br />

to be closed from March<br />

17-30, New Trier, like<br />

many other districts, was<br />

making contingency plans.<br />

Tragos laid out the truncated<br />

timeline for moving<br />

more than 4,000 students<br />

and hundreds of staff to a<br />

virtual platform.<br />

On March 6, after several<br />

days of departmental<br />

planning, the district instituted<br />

a “call to action” to<br />

prepare in case of canceling.<br />

The following school<br />

day, staff got a crash<br />

course in using the remote<br />

learning tools with a technology<br />

specialist team.<br />

Schools closed for the first<br />

time March 13 so teachers<br />

could create their canvas<br />

pages and the Trevian Remote<br />

Learning system.<br />

“This is not how we<br />

would decide to teach if<br />

we could, but we are doing<br />

our best to adapt to the situation<br />

and provide our students<br />

the best opportunity<br />

to learn,” Tragos said. The<br />

board highlighted several<br />

student projects including<br />

an architecture class’ CO-<br />

VID-19 challenge to design<br />

a local health clinic,<br />

and some student “macro<br />

photography” samples.<br />

The remote learning<br />

schedule is designed to<br />

mimic a regular school<br />

day as much as possible.<br />

Students are expected to<br />

check the Canvas pages<br />

by 8 a.m. and complete<br />

assignments by 3 p.m. in<br />

the afternoon. Teachers are<br />

still expected to take “class<br />

attendance” and be available<br />

throughout the day for<br />

communication.<br />

Tragos praised the<br />

thoughtful and collaborative<br />

effort of the entire<br />

community for helping<br />

provide a sense of normalcy.<br />

The e-learning<br />

curriculum was guided by<br />

the Illinois State Board of<br />

Education and the North<br />

Cook Intermediate Service<br />

Center. Logistical issues<br />

include how to help special<br />

needs students with<br />

e-learning, and how to effectively<br />

use online tools<br />

like slack or zoom.<br />

“Where are we?” Tragos<br />

asked. “A good first day.<br />

But not a perfect one.”<br />

For now, there is no<br />

centralized portal where<br />

parents can provide comments.<br />

Superintendent Dr.<br />

Paul Sally acknowledged<br />

surveying students and<br />

teachers would be an ongoing<br />

challenge. Tragos also<br />

pointed to the challenge of<br />

“testing integrity” and how<br />

to create an environment<br />

using software that could<br />

mimic classroom settings<br />

as closely as possible.<br />

“I don’t think it (the online<br />

learning portal) will<br />

mimic the classroom process,”<br />

Tragos said. “Teachers<br />

are identifying what is<br />

important for students to<br />

know and grades and tests<br />

are secondary for now.”<br />

Superintendent Sally<br />

also anticipated student<br />

outcomes would have to<br />

look different going forward.<br />

The rest of the board<br />

expressed pride in how<br />

the district has handled<br />

the situation. Board Vice<br />

President Marc Glucksman,<br />

who attended the<br />

meeting remotely, said that<br />

students have gone from<br />

having “healthy skepticism”<br />

to “engagement” to<br />

“waiting to see what will<br />

happen tomorrow.”<br />

“We’re not inventing<br />

this alone,” Board President<br />

Cathleen Albrecht<br />

said. Albrecht noted the<br />

somewhat fortuitous timing<br />

the district had, in that<br />

the upcoming spring break<br />

allows for a much-needed<br />

pause in the educational<br />

upheaval.<br />

How much longer after<br />

that will the schools be<br />

closed? Tragos hoped for<br />

more information soon.<br />

“We are just waiting on it<br />

like everybody else,” Tragos<br />

said. “At this point, I<br />

don’t know what the process<br />

is going to look like.”<br />

For the board itself, future<br />

meetings will most<br />

likely be virtual; the March<br />

16 meeting had already<br />

taken COVID-19 related<br />

measures, including spacing<br />

out public seating and<br />

live-streaming the session.<br />

Full story at Wilmette-<br />

BeaconDaily.com.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!