7 minute read
Education at Dr. Walter Cooper Academy, during the Pandemic
RES News - Tutoring Team
With a “No Visitors” policy in place at all Rochester City Schools, the RES Tutoring Team will not be able to resume its good work at Dr. Walter Cooper Academy (RCSD School #10) (DWCA) in the foreseeable future.
The original plan for the Fall 2020 re-opening of #10 School was for a “Hybrid” protocol (two “cohorts” of students (“A” & “B”), each attending inperson two days a week and at home in a virtual learning environment, the other two days).
However, due to Covid-19 safety concerns for students, faculty and their respective families, this plan was changed, early last month, to one in which all learning, at all grade levels in the RCSD will be virtual, for the first ten weeks of this school year.
So, for the next few(?) months, we will be presenting a series of articles on “Education at Dr. Walter Cooper Academy during the Pandemic”. You may already know what’s happening in your own home school district, via your children and grandchildren, this series is intended to keep you enlightened and informed on what’s happening at “Our School” and also in the Rochester City School District.
On my way to gathering information for the first few articles in this series, I reached out to Dr. Lia Festenstein, the new Community School Site Coordinator at Dr. Walter Cooper Academy. She took time from her busy (first week of school) schedule to respond to several questions I posed on the #10 School student body, their access to the hardware & software necessary for virtual learning and the expectations for student participation in this “new” learning environment. My sincere thanks to Dr. Festenstein for these thoughtful responses…
What is the size of this year's DWCA student body, by Grade level?
Total Enrollment: 320
Pre K 3 yr olds - 14 Grade 1 - 55 Grade 4 - 53
Pre K 4 yr olds - 14 Grade 2 - 53 Grade 5 - 47
Kindergarten - 40 Grade 3 - 49 Grade 6 - 66
Follow up… How many DWCA students are currently not attending and instead being “home-schooled”, “pod-schooled”, or just not schooled at all? We have had a number of “drops” where students are unenrolled and enroll in another school, but this typically because the family has moved out of the City of Rochester. We have not had any children change their enrollments to Home Schooling. Homeschooling is a specific enrollment so they would no longer be DWCA students if they chose to enroll in homeschooling.
How many DWCA students have the necessary equipment, and internet access, to allow them to participate?
All K-6 students have been assigned a Chromebook. If they shared that they did not have internet access they were also provided a MiFi by the district. On 9/11/20, DWCA held a “Meet and Greet” for parents to stop by the school and pick up a “Learning Bag” for their student. Each Learning Bag contained the assigned computer if they did not already have one, a MiFi if requested, and materials prepared by their teachers for the first ten weeks of school. This varied by teacher and grade, but typically contained items like workbooks for the ELA program, math manipulatives, etc. Each set of parents came during their “assigned time” so that it was possible to remain socially distant, and the event was held outside in the parking lot. Parents and children were able to meet their new teachers “live” at this event, and could ask any questions they might have had.
Follow up… Are any additional “meet & greet” events between teachers, families and students being planned for this Fall?
Parent Teacher conferences are entirely digital this year. Due to guidelines around social distancing there are no other events planned at this time.
How many of these students have been "regularly" participating in the remote learning process?
We are only in week #1 of remote learning, so it is difficult to actually gauge what long term participation will look like. Also, we are still getting Chromebooks to some families that either had broken ones, or were unable to pick up one at School, for whatever reason. Over 70% of our Cooper Scholars have logged in during this first week. I anticipate that the numbers will change over the next couple of weeks, as we get into a routine.
Follow up… Have you been able to monitor remote learning to determine if there’s been any improvement in remote learning participation, since week #1?
Yes. Teachers take daily attendance based on work completed off line
and/or participation in online synchronous meetings. Our attendance has greatly improved over the last month. We also have weekly attendance meetings to look at attendance across the school and identifying trends, hotspots, and areas of need. This team consists of district administrators and employees from School #10 as well as partnering agencies and central office staff.
How are you able to measure/confirm this participation?
At elementary school, teachers are using SeeSaw or Google Classroom and Zoom as their learning platforms. Most teachers require that students turn on their cameras at some point to actually view a student, and then students also turn in work electronically, so we also have that as a record. Again, we are only in week #1. So, in a few weeks, I will be able to give you more consistent information.
Follow up… How is this progressing?
Every week gets better and better as students, parents, and teachers become more and more comfortable with the online learning platforms.
Is there a follow-up process for ensuring that ALL DWCA students will eventually be able to participate in the remote learning process?
We look at attendance every day, just as we did when we were here, inperson. Almost all students have their technology at this point, and there are just a few stragglers for whom we are personally delivering equipment to their homes. All students have access to a Chromebook, and if they have their own internet that’s great, but if not, we provide all students who need one with a MiFi device.
Follow up… Have ALL students now received, and been utilizing the technologies available to them?
Yes, with a few exceptions. There are always a few folks that are having issues, but we work individually with all families that have needs that are impacting their ability to regularly participate.
What have been some of the challenges for the students (who are actually connected) and for their teachers in making the remote learning process work?
There are so many challenges…
• Finding a quiet place to do school work, in a busy home.
Are you able to inquire about success in this effort, at student’s homes?
Teachers work individually with their families to assist and guide.
• Not being distracted by your environment (for both kids and adults). Have you been able to interact, on an individual level, with students toward helping with this? Some students have worked with different staff members to mentor them towards being able to participate more fully.
• Developing connections with each other, virtually.
Are there any available “after school” study support venues in the
Nineteenth Ward?
All RCSD students have access to any of the City’s Rec centers where they can receive support.
• And, there are always technology issues (unstable internet, hiccups with different platforms, etc.).
Have the technology issues been getting attention, toward resolution?
There has been a great deal of work around providing access to technology. All students have been issued a laptop and if they request one, a MiFi device which provides them internet access.
These MiFis have a finite amount of data attached to them and if they are overused they will throttle the data at the end of the billing period. This can lead to issues with connectivity, however, once the new billing cycle starts data is unthrottled. Of course, even families with Spectrum or another provider also run into connectivity issues from time to time based on how many people are simultaneously using these platforms. As we become more fluent with the technology and the flow of online teaching this has become less and less of an issue or problem. Teachers and students are amazingly flexible with accommodating these sorts of issues and working around them.
These are issues that plague everyone in this virtual learning environment; they are not unique to Dr. Walter Cooper Academy, though they are a constant topic of conversation.
We continue to seek options for connecting with families and students, in ways that are meaningful, and still keep us all safe.
Follow up...Are there any existing (or new) issues with which the RES Membership (Engineers, Scientists, Academicians) might be of assistance to your efforts?
At the moment we are working to start a food cupboard and once that is up and running it would be great if your members could help us fill it.
Questions??? Reach out to RES Past President Lee Loomis and the RES Tutoring Team at…Rochester Engineering Society, (585) 254-2350,via website: www.roceng.org, or via email:
