"School from home" may not be just for snow days for high school students in Hall County next year.
Dr. Terry Sapp, a high school improvement specialist with the Hall County School District, Monday night asked Hall County School Board members to approve two days in next year's calendar for so-called "learn from home" days.
"As you may recall, in years past we've implemented a 'school from home' model during our snow days. During that time, teachers actively delivered instructions and assignments to students from their homes while students continued learning from their homes," said Sapp. "We received overwhelmingly positive reviews from our community and our school staff members."
Sapp said the proposal would apply to high school students only and include one day in the fall semester and a second day in spring semester. Under the plan, teachers would report to school for work, while students would take online instruction at home.
"There are lots of benefits that could come out of this, potentially moving our students and our teachers to more of a 21st century learning model," said Sapp.
North Hall High School Principal Jamey Moore also addressed board members, outlining a list of benefits for both students and teachers.
"If you look at teacher benefits, we're imagining that as teachers have the ability to work from school with no students on those days...teachers would have the ability to work on things they just don't have as much time for," said Moore, noting that high school teachers typically have less than an hour of in-school planning time each day.
He suggested teachers would have more time for grading papers, parent conferences, classroom preparations and meetings with other teachers.
"So on the student side...we believe that the more we can deliver online content to students, the more it will prepare them for some of the changes that we're seeing in education. For instance, post secondary uses a lot of digital content delivery," Moore said.
The "school from home" days would also develop student proficiency with online learning tools they might need for online testing; and the model would provide opportunities for parent engagement, as well, according to Moore.
School Board Chairman Nath Morris voiced concern that some students would not be motivated enough to use the "school from home" plan wisely. Board Member Bill Thompson said, however, that teachers need the extra preparation time. He pointed to the fact that the school district had lost some teachers to other systems who provide more planning time during the day for teachers.
In the end, the Board agreed to take up the issue in January when the 2017-18 school calendar will be adopted.
