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"On Campus": Justin-Siena and COVID-19
Justin-Siena is proud of the preparation we had in place for distance learning.
The COVID-19 Pandemic has led to many vocabulary words and phrases that just three months ago were not part of the everyday vernacular used by any of us. Phrases such as “Shelter in Place”, “Social Distancing”, “Essential workers”, and even “Digital Learning” are commonplace now. Because of the fore-sight of our administration and teachers at Justin-Siena, digital learning has been a part of the vocabulary at Justin-Siena for over a year. While some school districts have struggled to onboard their students to new learning platforms and keep them engaged, Justin-Siena students literally did not miss a single day of scheduled instruction. As an alum of this incredible school, I feel such pride for our school leadership and our teachers; their ability to execute a swift pivot to digital learning was a major accomplishment. How exactly did “digital learning” become a part of the Braves playbook? And what challenges have we faced? (Yes we’ve had them!)
As you experienced, and all know, this past month is not the only time in the last few years we have been forced to close our on-campus school operations. In the past four years, we have been affected by earthquakes, wildfires, air-quality “smoke days,” and planned power shut offs instituted by PG&E. Because of these closures, our administration developed a contingency plan, which was the start of “digital learning” as we know it now. First, the faculty spent several professional days learning and sharing best practices for online learning. They developed lesson plans specifically for distance learning and then in the fall tested them while students were physically present during calendared practice Digital Learning Days. We were first able to put our lessons to the test when the power was shut off in the fall. While not everything went perfectly (having no WiFi can be a major issue to digital learning), we were able to make adjustments and improve with every school cancellation.
This March, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Justin-Siena students and faculty to adhere to shelter-in-place and move once again to digital learning. We had a weekend to move our entire curriculum fully online.
This document as well as others that explained the schedule, were sent to the students to help reiterate to them the digital learning process and procedures. According to Interim Chief Academic Officer Marisa Bartalotti, the first week was not necessarily the smoothest. “We were not good at judging how much work to give, and we were following our regular schedule, which turned out to be too much. But we learned, very quickly, that we needed to be flexible and adjust every single day.”
With much internal discussion, using survey results from students and teachers, and anecdotal feedback from parents, we created this schedule, which is currently still in place. Teachers are using the 75% rule, which means that they are teaching about 75% of their normal curriculum during digital learning while focusing on the essential skills and content necessary to move forward in the class. We also added a “Wellness/Community Day” to our calendars on Fridays, which includes activities, games, Fitness Challenges, and more. Bob Bailey, Chief Operations Officer, adds that these activities “support mental, physical, and emotional health and offer a break from the screens and keep our community whole.”
We held our first Justin-Siena Zoom Prayer Service, our first ever Justin-Siena Zoom New Student Welcome Night and we are planning a Back-to-Zoom Night as well. We have honored our senior spring athletes on social media both internally and externally with bios every day. On Friday, the senior class will be receiving their caps and gowns in a socially-distanced car parade, at which they will pick up their graduation attire and enjoy a wave and cheer from the counselors, administration, and LSL leaders. Justin-Siena plans to hold a graduation ceremony and Baccalaureate Mass to celebrate the class of 2020, and are envisioning ways to get creative in the venue and in the procedures to ensure everyones’ safety.
We are confident that we are better and stronger because we have been prepared for and faced this pandemic; we know that we can get through any adversity with the support of our wonderful community. At Justin-Siena, we are proud of our teachers, our students, and our larger community for stepping up to the challenges of distance learning. We applaud the support we have received from our community to continue to achieve our mission and to continue the education of our students during this pandemic. Our students have felt the love, care, and compassion of the JS faculty and staff and we feel blessed to continue guiding them, even if by Zoom.
Justin-Siena High School
Justin-Siena is a Lasallian Catholic college preparatory community that serves young people in grades 9–12.