OUTDATED: Updates on 2020-21 Learning Options & Informal Class Meeting
- Mrigayu Ghosh
- Jul 7, 2020
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 24, 2020
* BEFORE READING: While Student Council activities listed below and discussed in the meeting is accurate, back to school guidelines have changed. Please refer to the most up-to-date posts in the "Summer 2020 & Back 2 School Updates" Category in the Blog.
Here's a summary of what we know so far based on Student Council Meetings, our Informal Class Meeting, and emails from Mme. Pereira and Uplift. Please remember that this is a very fluid situation and that the below may not be true in a few days. We are all trying to make sense of this together, so please bear with us, but don't hesitate to reach out with questions, clarifications, and/or concerns. The list below is long, but it is quite literally everything we know about this situation, and we want to ensure that you have all the information you need to make an informed decision. After reading through the information below and discussing it with your family, it is imperative that you complete this survey by this Friday, July 10, 2020: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/UpliftLearningOptions
You will be able to change your preference if needed on July 27. Instead of reading the information below, you might prefer to watch our Informal Class Meeting today (embedded below).
Below is the email received from Mme. Pereira today:
Dear UNHP High School Families,
I hope you’re finding joy in simple and unexpected places during this strangest of summers. I am reaching out as a follow-up to several emails you have received from Uplift over the past few weeks regarding next school year’s learning options and summer assignments:
Learning Options for Next School Year:
As communicated in yesterday’s email, Uplift will be offering 3 different learning options for the 2020 – 2021 school year: in-person (5 days a week in-person), hybrid (2 days a week in person, 3 days a week remote), or remote (5 days a week remote).
I am re-attaching the FAQ document sent yesterday. However, I would like to clarify what was meant in Question #33. Given the number and types of different courses our students take in middle and high school, we will livestream classes taught by UNHP teachers to all UNHP middle and high school students who choose the remote or hybrid learning models. Therefore, your UNHP middle and high school child(ren) will all be taught by UNHP teachers, regardless of the learning option you choose.
We kindly ask that you choose a learning option for your child(ren) this week to assist us in planning and scheduling. Please click here to submit your choice.
Summer Assignments for High School Students: Please see info below and attached regarding summer assignments:
English Assignments: All students in grades 6 - 12 are required to complete UNHP summer reading assignments in lieu of the Uplift English & History assignments. These summer reading assignments are due on the 1st day of school, August 11, 2020. You can access the specific reading lists and assignments for your child(ren)’s grade(s) on our website under "Student Resources," or by clicking here.
Science & Math Assignments: All 9th and 10th grade students should complete the attached Uplift Math & Science summer assignments. Again, these assignments will be due on the 1st day of school, August 11, 2020 to math and science teachers.
Although we’ve been out of school for well over a month now, we know that minds have not slowed down as we have tried to make sense of the world around us. I want to acknowledge that the pandemic, systemic racism, and the new realities of education in 2020 are all complex challenges that can make our brains and spirits tired. Please know that your UNHP admin team is taking all information into consideration and being intentional in our campus-based decision making for next year. We are committed to providing quality, equitable learning experiences for all our students. We will continue to communicate important information as it becomes available.
Thank you again for your continued partnership and for trusting us with your child(ren)’s education.
Sincerely,
Heather Pereira
Upper School Director | Uplift North Hills Preparatory 972.501.0645, ext. 224230 | hpereira@uplifteducation.org
OPEN RECORDS NOTICE: This email and responses may be subject to the Texas Public Information Act and may be disclosed to the public upon request. Please respond accordingly.
Below is the Email from Yasmin Bhatia:
Dear Uplift Families-
First, I want to thank each of you for your partnership with Uplift in your child’s education over the last academic quarter of the school year. I appreciate for many families, including my own, our daily schedules were upended and many found themselves serving as a “co-teacher” while juggling other responsibilities. I cannot thank you enough for the effort you made to support your child’s learning at home.
As our first day of school approaches, our Uplift team has been busy planning for a variety of learning options that meet the diverse needs of our families and of course does so in a high-quality and safe way regardless of which option is selected. As we designed our 3 options, we leveraged the feedback we heard from scholars, families, and teachers over the past few months. We also prioritized guiding principles around consistency, community, and continuity.
• Consistency: We want to make sure every scholar has a consistent, high quality experience regardless of what learning option they are in. We want to make sure scholars have consistent and regular access to live teaching from their teacher(s). We want all scholars to have access to high quality social emotional learning opportunities. We want to make sure we are meeting the needs of all our scholars- those who require SPED services, those who are ESL, etc. We want to be able to switch from in-person to remote learning environments seamlessly. We want our families and scholars to have one learning technology platform to leverage regardless of which school you attend or what grade your child is in.
• Community: We want to provide more opportunities for our scholars to engage in academic conversations with one another even in remote settings. We want to help our scholars reacclimate to coming back to school- in whatever setting- and building strong relationships with their peers and their teachers. We know building social connections and engaging with friends is an important part of school and child development. We will build more consistent and frequent touchpoints with our parents to help support them with their scholars’ learning and share progress.
• Continuity: We want to be intentional about weaving in important academic concepts and skills from last quarter into the start of the school year, so scholars have what they need to be academically successful.
We are pleased to offer our parents a choice between 3 options- All in-person, All remote, and Hybrid (2 days week from school/ 3 days week from home). In the survey link below you will get a chance to select which option you think is best for your scholar for the first academic grading quarter which goes through October 8th. Before each grading quarter, you will have the option to change your desired learning environment for your child or to keep it the same. If you require a more immediate change due to a change in your home or work situation, our leaders can work with you to try to best accommodate your need. Please note while Uplift is planning for 3 different learning environments starting on August 11th, we will continue to follow guidance and recommendations on school openings from the State, the Texas Education Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Here is an overview of each of the 3 learning models. You can find more detailed information and our “Back to School” FAQs on our Uplift websitehttps://www.uplifteducation.org/Page/17113.
ALL IN-PERSON
• Scholars will be grouped in “pods” and will stay with the same group of scholars during the day. The number of scholars in an Uplift classroom will vary between 8-14 based on the size of the classroom and maintaining 6 feet between each scholar.
• As needed, specific content or elective teachers will rotate to classrooms. Scholars will not change classrooms during the day.
• Scholars will eat lunch in their classroom.
• Specific movement activities and “brain breaks” will be built in throughout the day
• Scholars will wear protective face coverings provided by either the parent or Uplift. Scholars will wear masks from carline into the school building until they get to their classroom. They will then be able to switch to a face shield that will stay in their classroom and be cleaned daily. They will leave the school building in the mask they wore in that morning. Scholars will have regular opportunities to practice personal hygiene and sanitize their hands throughout the day.
ALL REMOTE LEARNING
• Scholars will have a remote daily learning schedule that is a mix of live virtual instruction and opportunities for independent work. During live instruction, scholars will have a chance for small group instruction and to ask questions of their teacher. Attendance will be taken daily.
• A “virtual” teacher will be assigned to a cohort of remote learning scholars and will assist the content teachers who will have their classes “live streaming” from our schools. The “virtual” teacher will also monitor scholar engagement and help facilitate their learning.
• Teachers will provide formal office hours each week to provide additional support and in the primary division, teachers will provide small group intervention and supports during the week.
• Scholars will be required to submit daily independent work based on what was taught in the virtual classes that day.
• Scholars will be able to go back and reference videos of the live teaching sessions from that day or prior days.
• Scholars will still participate in network Common Assessments, MAP testing (in K-8), and course exams. We are still designing our virtual testing protocols.
HYBRID
• Scholars will attend school in-person on either Monday and Tuesday OR Thursday and Friday. On the other 3 days of the week, scholars will learn from home in the model described for “all remote learning.”
• When scholars are at school, they will follow the same learning model as the “all in-person” model.
• Scholars will have a consistent in-person teacher and a consistent virtual teacher supporting their learning on remote days.
• Please note, your scholar will have a teacher from their campus for their “in-person” days. For their “virtual” days, they may have a teacher from their campus or a teacher from another Uplift school. All Uplift teachers will be following the same overall plan for learning.
Some parents have asked what they should consider when picking an option:
• What is the composition of your household? Do you have an elderly or health-compromised family member living with you?
• Is there an adult who can support a child who is learning from home, particularly at the primary school level?
• Does your child have any medical or health needs that need to be taken into account?
• What is your child’s personality? Do they crave social interactions with peers? Are they fairly motivated to work independently and stay focused in a remote learning environment?
• How is your child’s academic performance? Would they benefit from formal in-person time with their teacher?
• At the end of the day, which option gives you the most comfort as a parent?
In order for us to have time to plan student schedules, staffing, and preventative health and safety measures, we are asking that you complete this surveyhttps://www.surveymonkey.com/r/UpliftLearningOptionsby Friday, July 10th.
This will allow us to have the strongest start possible to our new school year. We also recognize that the COVID situation is fluid as are other factors impacting families. Hence, we will follow up on July 27th to make sure this is still your preferred option or if you need to make a switch.
Please visit our Uplift Education website athttps://www.uplifteducation.org/Page/17113for regular updates regarding our 2020-21 back to school plans. We will host virtual parent orientations in early August for families of each learning model.
I wish you and your family a healthy and fun remainder of the summer. We can’t wait to see your scholar in-person or virtually on August 11th!
Yasmin Bhatia
Uplift CEO
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