Concordia R-II Continue to Learn Guidelines/Protocols
Concordia R-II Continue to Learn Guidelines & Protocols
The Concordia R-2 School District is committed to providing a quality education to all students, while also ensuring their safety and well-being. The COVID-19 guidelines developed and presented below follow all applicable local, state, and federal guidelines, to the greatest extent feasible, and incorporate many best practices advocated by school associations and groups. Parents/guardians with questions or concerns are asked to call the Concordia R-2 School District at 660-463-7235 to discuss and address those concerns.
Important district vocabulary to comprehend:
Homeschool – Students’ curriculum and learning is the complete responsibility of the parent. The local public school is notified of the parent’s intent in writing and is no longer involved in the process of educating the student. At times, homeschool students may enroll in the public school on a part-time basis. In this case, the public school is only responsible for the curriculum and instruction for courses in which the student is enrolled.
Virtual Learning - Students learn online with a certified teacher. Students involved with virtual learning at the Concordia R-2 schools do not attend school in person. They may participate in curriculum and instruction provided through a third party company.
Distance Learning - Students learn online or through other curriculum materials provided by the Concordia R-2 District. Students are instructed through Concordia R-2 teachers. This happens during periods of long illness that is expected to keep a student out of school for greater than three days, quarantine, or should the class, school, or district need to close to students for a period of time.
STUDENT LEARNING OPTIONS FOR THE 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR
PREFERRED OPTION - ON-SITE INSTRUCTION
Research shows that the best education for students is received when they are physically present in our school. This option is for all Concordia R-2 students in grades PK-12 to attend school with the guidelines and protocols described in this document and the previous school reopening plan. A traditional school setting consisting of in-person, on-site learning for students and staff, five days a week. Teachers will be encouraged to focus on training students to access and utilize online tools that will be used if distance learning takes place. In other words, teachers and students will be in the classroom as normal, but will incorporate online applications such as Google Classroom, MobyMax, SeeSaw, Learning Blade, Delta Math, etc. into their day to day instruction. This will help create smoother transitions between in person instruction and distance learning and allow students to keep up on school work throughout the year.
ALTERNATE OPTION – DISTANCE LEARNING
If the school or district must close for a period of time due to positive COVID student/staff cases, significant numbers of students/staff that are quarantined, and/or a shortage of substitute teachers, distance learning will be provided for all of our students. Though our students are offsite, they will continue to receive instruction through online means and/or through the use of physical materials. Students will be held accountable for instruction and assignments pushed out during this time. Classroom teachers will continue to follow the curriculum scope and sequence aligned to the Missouri Learning Standards, with identified essential/focus standards as a priority. Instruction includes teacher feedback through avenues such as email, phone calls, google classroom, google meet and teleconferencing.
If this alternate method of instruction is implemented based on the number of positive or quarantined staff/students, it will remain in place for a two week period to allow time for the quarantined staff/students to return. A decision will occur weekly after the original two weeks have concluded to determine which platform of learning will be instituted. Those decisions will be communicated through textcaster and social media.
According to the Missouri Center for Public Health Excellence, it is recommended that if there are over 5% of the student body in a building or district that test positive any day, 4% that test positive over 2 days in a row, or 3% for 3 days in a row that the building or district close for 10 days. In addition districts may close for 1-2 days for cleaning and disinfection of a school building or exposed area if unable to clean during the nighttime closing, in the event a person diagnosed with Covid-19 is determined to have been in the building and poses a risk to the staff or students in that building. The Lafayette County Health Department also supports these recommendations.
OTHER ALTERNATIVE LEARNING OPTIONS
The district is also in communication with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education concerning other possible platforms of instruction (hybrid, blended, etc.) that could possibly be utilized to enable our staff and students to teach and learn on campus as much as possible. We will not implement a new platform without receiving input from parents and students in the district through a survey or similar format. More details and information will be shared regarding this as other options are studied and discussed by our administration, staff, and board.
Instruction during quarantine:
Students who are required to be quarantined due to COVID-19 will be able to complete coursework through distance learning. Distance learning will be provided through online platforms like Google Classroom, SeeSaw, MobyMax, Learning Blade, and other online programs. Physical materials such as textbooks, paper documents, and supplies may also be sent home during this time. This option is similar to students who are too ill to come to school (e.g. fever, symptoms of flu, cold, strep throat, or surgery, etc.) Students who are anticipated to be out of the building for greater than three days may be loaned a district device to ensure they can keep up on their work if needed. Internet access is available to all students through stationary hotspots that may be accessed while sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot so students can maintain quarantine. Current locations available – (Heartland Baptist Church, Lutheran Churches in Ernestville and Emma). We are currently working to add locations in Aullville and north of I-70. Both school parking lots are also available.
Extracurricular Activities
In-person practices and competitions will be suspended during any school shutdown due to COVID related issues. Student athletes will participate in virtual practices during the shutdown that will be put together by each sports/activities coach or director. Competitions may be rescheduled if possible. Missed competitions that are conference events will take precedence over non-conference events.