Tulsa Public Schools is ready to start the school year through distance learning next week after board members approved the district's plan for opening schools Monday.
Approval of the plan is required by state law.
Administrators detailed the plan and how it differs from in-person instruction during a board meeting last week. For example, attendance at TPS will be tied to completion of assignments during distance learning this fall. Students who do not complete the minimum number of weekly assignments will be given unexcused absences.
The plan also examines what remote instruction could look like for different levels of students. Actual schedules and class times are flexible and will be communicated by each school.
Most elementary schools will start the day at 7:30 a.m., with students logging onto Canvas to review the learning plan for the day. From there they might engage in a morning Zoom meeting with their teacher and classmates to "build social emotional skills," complete personalized learning activities on online platforms such as Waterford and Exact Path, complete art activities from Canvas and participate in physical fitness exercises.
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Most middle schools will start each day at 8:15 a.m, while most high schools will begin at 8:30 a.m. Instruction may include virtual lessons with the entire class and smaller group discussions.
While participation in teachers' live class sessions are encouraged, all TPS students will have the ability to watch lessons and complete activities at different times and be considered present for the day.
The Tulsa school board originally voted Aug. 3 for TPS to spend the first nine weeks of the coming school year, which begins Monday, in distance learning due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Although students will remain at home, educators will head to their classrooms each day to teach their classes digitally.
Not all TPS students will participate in the standard distance learning mode. More than 5,000 registered for the district's new virtual academy, which is meant to give families an extra option during the unorthodox 2020-21 school year.
Students participating in the virtual academy will have a more self-paced experience than their peers, and they will be learning virtually for the entire year — unless they opt out — instead of only nine weeks.
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