Remote Learning Plan - Spring 2020

Dear Blue Hills Students, Families and Staff:

As you are aware, Governor Baker announced on March 25, that schools remain closed until May 4. This extended closure has prompted us to implement a longer term remote learning plan. This is pertinent to vocational and academic growth and development of Blue Hills students.

At Blue Hills, our first concern is always the health and safety of all our students and staff. Due to our 1:1 Chromebook implementation several years ago, we are very lucky to be in a good spot to smoothly transition to a remote delivery of learning and support. This document addresses expectations for how Blue Hills can best provide continuity of educational opportunities for our students during prolonged absences and/or school closure.

Our goal is to support student well-being and academic and CTE (Career Technical Education) progress, while fully understanding teaching and learning in this new remote education platform are not like anything we have ever experienced before nor can it replicate what happens in our classrooms/programs everyday. Together, we can best support our students and each other during this challenging health crisis. Blue Hills is committed to working together to support the social, emotional, and learning needs of our students and staff. Our leadership team is here to support all our faculty and staff so that we can best assist our students.

We will transition to this new learning plan as of Monday, April 6, 2020. All classes will run according to our school calendar. Lessons will be posted for students in their academic and CTE programs. Students will be expected to continue to access learning assignments from each of their teacher’s virtual platforms as they have done throughout the school year. Blue Hills faculty and staff will continue to monitor participation and provide feedback on assignments as we continue to educate your child(ren) in the best way possible.

Remote learning cannot replace students’ experiences in Blue Hills with their teachers, administrators, and support staff. We ask for your patience over the next several weeks as we learn together on how to continuously improve our remote delivery of learning.

General Expectations for Students and Families:

At Blue Hills, we are striving to provide the best education we can given these unusual circumstances. Teachers will be providing assignments through Google Classroom and other platforms such as X2, Google Meet, GMail, Remind, etc. Students are expected to adhere to all school rules, policies and procedures, as well as the student handbook. Please refer to the April 1, Remote Learning Guidance Letter. There will be opportunities for weekly check-ins with teachers and counselors. Please note that some calls to families may come in as No Caller ID/Restricted as we do not expect our teachers or counselors to share their personal phone numbers. Therefore, the best way to contact our faculty and staff is to email them directly during the school day between 7:30 AM and 2:30 PM. Most correspondence will be answered within a 24 hour period, except over the weekend or holidays. Any serious concerns regarding students will be escalated to the teacher’s immediate director.

Teachers may post in Google Classroom or X2 their daily assignments with instructions, links to related materials, independent practice and work for students, and deliverables/exit tickets that can be given for feedback and credit. Lessons may include, but are not limited to, online texts, posted or editable documents, voiceovers, video recordings, screencasts, links to other instructional videos, etc.

The assignments that students turn back in to teachers provide an attendance/participation component for teachers to communicate back to administration regarding students who may need support with this remote learning environment. This information will be used by Blue Hills to monitor student engagement and equitable access to schooling. All exchange of lessons and assignments will be paperless so as to maintain the health and safety of all.

A student’s schedule for structure at home should be determined by what works for a family. Students will need time to read, do assignments and participate in online courses. We acknowledge that students will not be readily “available” at specific times, so we are asking teachers to provide multiple weekly opportunities for check-ins. We are not moving to a live remote learning platform because this would be too restrictive for some students and families.

Administrative Support of Educators and Students:

Our leadership team understands that this is a new learning environment for us all, and we will take a supportive role with staff in the development and implementation of online lessons. Administrators support student participation by working with families and directing resources where needed based on feedback from teachers of students who are not accessing the materials, meeting or doing the work. Administrators will also host a weekly virtual lead teacher or department meeting to keep staff updated and informed. Participation is encouraged.

Expectations for Counselors and Psychologists:

Guidance counselors, adjustment counselors and school psychologists are to respond to student, parent, staff, and administration requests for support and provide office hours as well as follow up on distance learning participation issues.
Counselors are expected to maintain communication with their current caseloads and provide reasonable support as possible.
Guidance counselors, adjustment counselors and school psychologists will regularly, albeit remotely, meet with building leadership as prescribed by the principal.

Expectations for Special Educators:

Special educators are not expected to provide the full complement of specialized instruction that would be expected if school was operating under “normal” conditions (per DESE).
We will be providing access to learning and providing support to special education students. Special educators will reach out to students on their caseload and in their classes.
Special educators can provide online lessons for their students that try to emulate lessons that would be provided in their special education classroom and work with students to access the general education curriculum where appropriate.
Special educators and general educators will continue to work together to ensure accommodations are met if assessments are used.
Weekly check-ins with each student on the special educator’s caseload are expected.

Expectations for Speech and Language Providers:

Schedule online lessons for students for maintenance of skills.
Participate in remote learning to support students.
Provide independent activities to reinforce skills development.
Respond to parent/student questions regarding student needs and educational progress.
Set up a biweekly check-in for each student on the educator’s caseload.

Expectations for EL Teachers:

Student check-ins following the schedule above.
Develop and post lessons to support academic language and social language development.
Coordinate for translation services as needed.

Expectations for Instructional Learning Aides or Vocational Resource Aides:

Instructional Learning Aides and Vocational Resource Aides will be given an assignment of students and a weekly schedule to check in with and remotely support those students during the day. This may look like small group video conferencing, email correspondence, and/or phone calls.
Instructional Learning Aides and Vocational Resource Aides will be available for up to several hours a day to work with students in support of accessing the curriculum. This may include remote face-to-face sessions.

Expectations for Cafeteria Staff:

Will report to the Director of Food Services and the Business Manager
Will complete professional development in ServSafe and other professional development as assigned.

Expectations for Clerical Staff:

Clerical staff will be expected to check-in with their direct supervisor daily and check their voicemail remotely and daily email
Collect, monitor and report any attendance or participation issues with distance learning to their direct supervisor
Perform normal operations remotely to ensure Blue Hills business can function

If You Are Sick:

If faculty/staff are unable to facilitate your Google Classroom, check-in or other job function, please communicate with your Lead Teacher, Director and the Principal.

Time Structure:

X and Y weeks - and our calendar - will remain intact. Holidays (Good Friday) and school vacation (April 20-24) will still remain in effect (pending Commissioner Guidance, more to follow).
Career and Technical programs will seek to provide daily instructional materials, Monday - Friday.
Academic classes will provide instructional materials as follows:

English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Spanish - all major classes
All electives for grades 11 and 12
Physical Education - Daily 30 minute schedule suggested physical activity
Total daily work for students should not exceed 3 hours.

Class assignments should be posted near the beginning of the week if possible.
Online chat sessions, video presentations, especially live meetings should all be given with at least 24 hours notice when possible. If live teacher/student sessions are used, multiple opportunities per week should be given for students and teachers to connect.
Fridays - priority given for makeup work, extra help, and planning for next week’s delivery of curriculum.

Grading and Accountability:

All work will be assigned by individual teachers, and feedback will be given whenever possible.
Work will be “graded” as receiving “credit” or “no credit.” Partial credit may be given where appropriate.
Deadlines may be set by teachers, but flexibility will be paramount. Credit will not be reduced for work that is unable to be submitted due to family, health, time, or remote access issues.
We are waiting for more guidance before making any decisions around Report Cards or end of year Transcripts.

Communication:

All teachers and classes will provide multiple opportunities each week for two-way communication with students.
The school will keep the Remote Learning Plan updated as information and realities change.

Types of Work:

From DESE: Examples of remote learning tools include large-group video or audio conference calls, 1:1 phone or video calls, email, work packets, projects, reading lists, online learning platforms, and other resources to effectively engage with students. These tools could be used to deliver lessons, provide individual student support, provide resources (including instructional material and student assignments), connect students to each other and their teacher, and provide feedback on student work.
Work should be as varied as possible, and will be a mix of current curriculum materials and enrichment style activities. Teachers should work toward mixing “screen time” assignments with other creative and authentic assignments. Work assigned may include new material, but should also include deeper learning on standards already taught this year.

As information changes, we will keep you updated on any changes in our Remote Learning program. Please continue to stay safe.

Be well,

Jill Rossetti, Superintendent-Director
Geoff Zini, Principal

Frequently Asked Questions

Which days were counted as “snow” days?

December 3 was a real snow day, March 16, 17, 18 and 19 were closed due to the State of Emergency and count as “snow” days. March 20 was a professional development day for teachers.

What days count as remote/distance learning days?

March 23-May 1 will count as remote/distance learning days. School tentatively resumes on May 4.

Are remote/distance learning days still only two days per week?

No. Remote/Distance learning days are now Monday-Friday. Each week on Mondays, teachers will update customized assignments and content for the week. These can be done on a weekly basis or on a daily basis.

What is the plan for AP exams?

Right now, the College Board has announced scaled down online testing for all AP exams this year. We will help AP students access this testing.

Are third term grades still coming out?

All grades are on hold at this time. We will be making a decision regarding grades at a later time. For now, teachers will be keeping track of assignments in Aspen X2.

Can students make up missed or failing work from the time period before we canceled school?

We encourage students to make-up missed work to improve their current grade by reaching out directly to their teacher(s) for further guidance.

May I get into the school to get something out of my locker?

There is no access to the building except by appointment. Please reach out to Mr. Zini if you need something that is in the building and we will try to arrange for you to get it.

I have a Chromebook problem. What do I do?

Please email Mr. Matt Eisan at meisan@bluehills.org. Please note that Chromebook repairs and distribution are by appointment only.

If I am off co-op do I need to complete my vocational program work?

Yes, you must participate in the lessons your teacher(s) post.

What will happen to the athletics season, prom, graduation, and other activities?

At this time, everything is set to resume once we return to school. However, there are a lot of unknowns at this time. More information will be communicated once we have it.

I have a question that is not answered here, where do I go?

Please contact Principal Zini directly at gzini@bluehills.org so that he may add to this document for others to reference.

For a downloadable copy of this document, please click here. Download