PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Gresham dad Jeff Reynolds was trying to work with his two kids to keep them learning with schools shuttered, but ran into problems that could affect other families as students now will be learning at home the rest of the school year.
He was working with his high school son. “I’ve been having him do things on Khan Academy, and it (the Chromebook) stopped working,” Jeff Reynolds said.
Reynolds’ son Max attends Reynolds High School and was issued the tablet earlier in the year. But one day he couldn’t get into his computer.
Jeff Reynolds contacted the school, and after a week finally learned there was new log in information that had not been shared with families.
The Reynolds School District said that one challenge for them in the new remote teaching is “the availability of resources to effectively manage distance learning such as manning help desks and developing training tools.”
Schools across Multnomah County and the state have scrambled to be ready to restart school by April 13 with students learning from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students will spend the rest of the school year learning at home.
“This is the biggest experiment in the history of public education across the US. It will not be without its set of issues and obstacles along with equity and access issues,” Guadalupe Guerrero, superintendent of Portland Public Schools said in a message to families.
Portland Public Schools started it’s distance learning programs Monday, April 6, tiny Corbett School District with 1,200 students launched April 1, and other districts are taking a bit more time to plan and train teachers and will reopen by the Monday, April 13 deadline set by Gov. Kate Brown.
Because of the pandemic, Gov. Kate Brown ordered schools closed through April 28 and asked schools to provide meals and “limited learning and support services.” Then, that changed on March 30, and schools had only two weeks to meet the new requirement to provide distance learning by April 13.
On April 8, Brown announced schools would be closed the rest of the year. Washington also shuttered its schools for the remainder of the school year.
Since the announcement requiring distance learning, teachers have been busy getting up to speed on remote learning and the computer platforms they will use. Districts have been distributing Chromebooks and other tablets to students that don’t have them and trying to help arrange internet access for students who lack this now vital service.
Jeff Reynolds said his 9-year-old daughter’s work with charter school Rockwood Preparatory Academy was going well.
Rockwood Prep had been in touch about what to expect beginning April 13 and had been giving kids opportunities to “meet” in their virtual classrooms prior to April 13. His daughter “really misses her friends,” he said.
But, he said last week, “I haven’t heard anything from Reynolds High School.”
Some teachers have tried to stay in touch with students. Educators from East Orient Elementary School in the Gresham-Barlow district drove in a caravan through the neighborhoods where their students live, honking and waving to their students, some standing curbside waving back from a safe distance.
David Douglas School District is posting cheerful, short videos of their teachers greeting students on the district’s Facebook page.
It’s key for students to have family support to make distance learning work, which may be difficult for parents still working away from the home or others with language barriers.
“It takes a lot of partnership with the family side,” Paul Coakley, superintendent of the 6,000-student Centennial School District said in a video chat with Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis.
The new distance learning will not necessarily have kids glued to the computer for the entire time.
Teachers can guide students through independent reading and other offline work.
“Distance learning is not synonymous with online learning,” said Colt Gill, director of the Oregon Department of Education at an April 8 press conference.
Families with multiple kids may also have to juggle computer time.
Some families can’t access internet services, despite the help districts provided. But Gresham-Barlow, for example, plans to provide packets of paper materials at meal pickup sites in the district for families still without computer access.
Katrise Perera, superintendent of the 12,000-student Gresham-Barlow School District said the district was handing out 8,500 computer devices the week of April 6 with high school seniors as the first priority, so they have every chance to graduate.
There have been pickup locations for computer notebooks in Gresham-Barlow and also plans to have bus company First Student deliver the devices to those who can’t make it to the pickup locations.
The Hermann family, with eight kids at home, have some of their kids in public school and some are homeschooled, depending on their needs.
“We’re making it work,” mom Summer said.
Their oldest at home, Matthew, is in adult learning in Gresham-Barlow, which readies special needs students from 18 to 21 years old to live as independently as possible. Matthew has been logging in to a virtual classroom online and is ready for school to start in earnest April 13.
Hermann said Matthew really misses his internship work experience at the local Olive Garden restaurant, something that can’t be done virtually.
Hermann praised her kids’ teachers
“I’ve had a really good experience with the teachers. The teachers have been exceptional,” she said.
The Hermann’s neighborhood organized an outdoor Zoomba class with the appropriate social distancing, so the kids could at least wave at their friends, get some exercise and have fun.
A big focus of all schools will be on seniors to ensure they get sufficient credits to graduate. Gill and Brown said seniors who were passing their classes when schools closed will get a passing grade in the class and credit for graduation.
Centennial’s Coakley urged parents “to continue to be patient with us as we give guidance and information out … We’re following the state guidelines. So there is a lot of work happening behind the scenes and if it feels like it’s slow with information, it’s because we are waiting for information from the state. … Things are constantly changing.”
Check out the library
Although all branches are closed for the duration of pandemic restrictions, The Multnomah County Library stands ready to help out the new “home school” parent-teachers in multiple ways.
The library has allowed people to get a library card online without the usual trip to a branch.
Parents and students can download books, educational and documentary films on Hoopla and Kanopy and more, all at the library’s regular price of free. The library blog has a list of children’s performers live streaming performances and online scavenger hunts that help students uncover the library’s resources. Visit multcolib.org and drop down the “E-books & more” section to see information in the blog and what’s available in E-books and films.
The library offers free online tutors with a service it calls Live Homework Help and that help is available in in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. There is also a beginner’s guide to homeschooling. Educators and parents can connect with the library’s School Age Services at multcolib.org/educator or by calling 503-988-5123.