Dear Students, Staff, and Families,
On behalf of the Board of Education, thank you students, staff, and families for your contribution to successfully launch the 2020-21 school year this past Monday. Thanks to our technology department and school site support staff and principals for helping our families connect to the virtual classroom, whether it be recover passwords, access class codes, or navigate the technology. And thanks to our families and students for being patient while we problem-solved and addressed issues as they arose. And thanks to our teachers for adapting seamlessly to new learning environments, and in some cases new curriculum or grade-level assignments, as our principals and counselors balanced our hybrid and virtual school classrooms. We will continue to balance classes as we usually do the first few weeks of school as we identify no-shows, register new students, and confirm enrollment. Thank you in advance for your continued patience throughout this process.
We have never opened a school year with our school buildings closed. We have never experienced a back-to-school year with the uncertainty of a pandemic turning many of our student's, staff's, and family's lives upside down. And never before have we experienced such a disproportionate burden on our most vulnerable populations, including students with complex learning, health, and social needs, as well as families who were already experiencing socioeconomic barriers in their lives. We have bolstered our student support team to increase our outreach services to students and their families. Our academic, social, and human service team of education specialists support both our students and their families, and work closely with our teachers to provide and coordinate services to help our students succeed.
As the leader of our school district, I am proud of how our community has come together to make the most of a difficult situation. While distance learning has its challenges, together we can thrive until such time we resume in-person instruction. But until that time comes, our students will continue distance learning while we all unite to protect our community and members of our Alvord family who are at higher risk for the virus.
I observed many virtual classrooms last week while I visited schools. It was obvious to me as an observer that our teachers are utilizing best practices for distance learning, all of which are student-centered approaches. In virtual learning environments, teachers assume more of the role of facilitator or coach. Parents who are observing their children during the virtual school day will notice how teachers are striving to strike the perfect balance between synchronous (live with the teacher) and asynchronous (working independently) learning. In the virtual classroom, it is context, as well as content, that matters most. Our teachers have adapted well to utilizing "marketplace" technologies to drive and support learning. And our students will continue to get better and better everyday as they practice and eventually master the use of 21st Century learning tools.
Leveraging technology as a teaching and learning tool has been a goal in schools since the large-scale induction of computers in the early 1980s. The silver lining for students (and teachers) during this pandemic is that they are developing new skills in the process of learning at a distance, leading to independent learning skills (lifelong learning). For our teachers and instructional support staff, electronically-delivered instruction provides new channels to deliver instruction. As more and more people conform to technology, technology will conform more and more to the diversity of the people using it, leading to increased equity and more favorable outcomes for previously underrepresented student populations.
The most frequently-asked questions I've received this week have to do with technology, information systems, laptops and connectivity. Here's the questions and answers:
Q: What do I do if my information in Aeries is not current?
A: All families are expected to log-on to Aeries and complete the data confirmation process, usually prior to registration.
Q: How can I access Aeries if I forgot my password? (See images below)
A: Choose Aeries Parent Portal. Choose Forgot Password. Reset your password.
