The Lethbridge School Division says it has worked through its first “pivot point,” where students have the opportunity to transition to or from online learning.
The division released its plan to have three pivot points throughout the 2020-21 school year back in August, which land on Nov. 10, Jan. 29 and March 31. The plan was created as part of the school division’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data from the division shows that out of 18 elementary and middle schools, 74 students have moved from in-class to online learning, while 135 opted to return to class.
Cheryl Gilmore, the division’s superintendent of schools, said the school division didn’t have any expectations going into this survey, but the transition was fairly easy to manage.
With just over 200 out of nearly 12,000 students changing their minds, the system as a whole wasn’t disrupted.
“This pivot point was fairly seamless, and so I was very happy for that,” she said.
According to Gilmore, staff are currently working with new at-home learners who are adjusting to their new learning environment to ensure they are up to speed with technology and format.
For students who moved back to in-class learning, most are transitioning in to existing cohorts.
“For one school that had a large number of students returning to in-school, we did move a teacher from at-home learning to in-school learning,” she said.
As for high schools, a different process needed to be discussed on a case-to-case basis, due to challenges with maintaining semester-long classes.
“Students in high school needed to directly connect with their administrators, to have a conversation about what a pivot point might mean to them, because they’re in semester courses,” Gilmore explained. “For those that did switch at high school, the school have made that work within their own structure.”
With the next pivot point coming up in January, there is a higher potential for a larger transition with the semester end for high school students.
“If we were to get a significant number of students to move one way or the other, that (takes) a significant shifting of staff and reassignment of staff.”
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