With ‘hiccups along the way,’ KY students, teachers adjust to school routines at home

As Kentucky approaches its second month of a statewide coronavirus school shutdown, Woodford County Schools on Monday moved to a four day at-home instructional week instead of five to give families “a mental break.”

A group of students from Lafayette High School, recognizing that some kids are struggling with learning at home, are offering free virtual tutoring to children in grades K-12 beginning Monday.

As Fayette County schools wrapped up its first ever week of the state’s non-traditional instruction at home program, Superintendent Manny Caulk asked families to notify the district if they encountered problems as everyone worked to establish new routines.

“There are certain to be hiccups along the way,” Caulk said in an email. “I ask that everyone remain flexible and extend a measure of grace to one another.”

Gov. Andy Beshear has requested that schools be shut down until at least May 1 to help curb the spread of coronavirus. Kentucky schools stand to receive more than $200 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding, state officials said.

Across the state, students are accessing online course work or completing projects or paper assignments as all 172 school districts implemented Kentucky’s non-traditional instruction program.

Participation is tracked. David Cook, who oversees non-traditional instruction or NTI for the state, told the Kentucky Board of Education that as of last week, there was a participation rate of 93 percent statewide of students interacting with teachers.

In Woodford County, Superintendent Scott Hawkins explained to families why the district was dropping formal instruction on Wednesdays.

The adjustment to extended at-home learning “in conjunction with the other significant life changes we are enduring, is quite a lot for children and adults alike to process,” he said. “It is our hope that Wednesdays will serve as a mental break for your students as well as for yourself.”

Although there will be no live instruction in Woodford County on Wednesdays, teachers will continue to work and may use the time to convene optional small groups or make personal telephone calls to students, Hawkins said.

At Ashland Elementary in Lexington, staff are making changes to its non-traditional instruction program to strike a better balance between school and home. Teachers may be providing all of the assignments at the beginning of the week so families can organize the week and know what tasks need to be completed and which ones may be optional, principal Shannon Blackburn said in an email to families.

At Bryan Station High School in Lexington Interim Executive Principal Ryan King told families shortly before NTI launched that teachers would be committed to calling to check on students who use paper packets instead of virtual learning throughout the NTI days.

“Ultimately, covering the content is important, but it is also very important that our students and families know that we are committed to supporting the social and emotional well being of our students during this time,” King said in an e-mail.

Families at Bryan Station High also received specific instructions from teachers about the platforms they were using to deliver on-line assignments and how the teachers could be contacted.

Stephanie DeLong-Smith, a Harlan County Public School teacher, said her greatest personal challenge in the last few weeks has been guiding her three daughters in their at home instruction while teaching 100 high school students.

She said she and her students are learning to navigate new online platforms and she expects that together they will gain confidence communicating on screens.

“I love when they reach out with questions and still need their teacher, but the growth I see is particularly beneficial for my juniors and seniors,” DeLong-Smith said. “It has been stressful. I am heartbroken not to see them everyday, but I can see some long term benefits that extend beyond the content of the individual lessons. “

Ana Nickel, a senior at Lafayette High School said that after seeing some kids struggling with non-traditional instruction last week, about 10 students got together and decided to offer free tutoring.

They’ve already received several requests for help in the two days since they announced their initiative.

“With everything going on in our community, we realized that at our ... age, there really wasn’t anything we could do beyond what we know. And what we know is school,” Ana said.

Some parents in Central Kentucky said they were relieved when school staffs put in extra effort to reach out.

Courtney Yates said teachers at Robert B. Turner Elementary School in Anderson County “have been available to answer any questions we have and they have made it super easy for us to get assignments.”

Samantha Hitchner Young said she was currently working from home with a fourth grade student at Mercer Intermediate School in Harrodsburg and a toddler staying home from day care.

“We are slowly but surely making the best progress we can,” Young said, noting that her fourth grader is currently ahead in her assignments. “Right now, I just don’t want her to get behind. I am thankful for the time with my children, and the teachers who continue to invest in her by reaching out weekly to make sure she has what she needs.”