With a challenging 2020-2021 school year in the rearview, most students are returning to the classroom in person for Fall 2021.
However, some students are not. Whether it's concerns about COVID-19 or another reason, some local students and their families are opting for a more digital approach.
Gainesville City welcomes students back to updated Virtual Academy
In Gainesville City Schools, the K-12 Virtual Academy that was held separate from schools in the '20-'21 school year has been fine tuned.
"After talking with all of our administrators with how the program went, the decision was made that we would best be served to offer the option for virtual students in our sixth through 12th grade for the upcoming school year," said Chief Technology Officer Jill Hobson.
Families were able to apply for the virtual schooling in the spring.
"One of the things we did notice last year was some of our students just struggled a little bit with the online learning environment," said Hobson. "It's not for everyone, so we decided that this year, as part of our application process we would use a tool to be able to ascertain how well students are comfortable with learning in a virtual environment."
From there, middle and high school administrators took a look at the data and matched them with things like grades and attendance to see which students would best be suited for the virtual option.
Hobson said there was a big difference this year in applicants, with not as many applying to be part of the virtual schooling this year, with only 137 students submitting applications. Out of that, there are 16 middle school students and 20 high school students virtual.
Meanwhile, Hobson said the school district also provides technology, including Chromebooks, to students so they, too, can work remotely. They started embarking on the Chromebook purchases in the Spring of 2020.
"We knew that we had a greater need for students to have a device to be able to learn," said Hobson. "And we want our students to be competitive. We want them to be able to compete with the best of the best across the state and the nation. Having a Chromebook, having that device in their hand and having it available to them gives us one more way to help prepare them for the future."
We previously reported on the technology buses the Gainesville City School System has to help students maintain access to technology and internet.
Hall County uses programs of choice for remote learners
In Hall County Schools, the program of choice option is for the virtual learner, from grades third through 12th. Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Kevin Bales said the program of choice is a yearlong opportunity primarily for students that have had success with school-from-home in the past.
"We wanted to make sure this year, from the application process we were able to identify the students that could thrive in this environment," Bales said. Some grades just didn't work out with remote or virtual teaching.
"We found out last year it was very difficult to teach a kid to read, in kindergarten through the virtual platform," said Bales. "That's why this program is specific to grades three and up, three through 12."
This is 100% virtual learning, Bales said. "We will have some synchronis and asynchronis times, so times they will have virtual teachers that are providing instruction to them during a certain set of time," he said. "But they will not be on an in-person campus."
Bales said enrollment has varied over the summer, but there were a little over 200 students enrolled Thursday, the day before school starts. "And that will change a little bit as we go through the first week of school, even though the application deadline has passed, we still have some families I think that have watched the news about the [COVID-19] Delta variant, realized their student was successful last year in school from home... and have put in requests late," Bales said. "We try to with the families that have that interest."
There is technology available in the Hall County School District for students who need it, including Chromebooks, and Bales said they were working with their technology department before the pandemic.
"Students who will be involved in virtual have been afforded the opportunity to get Chromebooks from the system, if they need one," he said. "In our district, if you step away from virtual choice programming, we're almost a one to one district where we're able to put Chromebooks in each and every students' hands."
Bales said it was "almost" one to one because they felt some of their youngest students didn't need to be utilizing Chromebooks the same way as older students.
The school district also uses an online program called Canvas for students to access schoolwork from home, and Bales said personal and home devices like laptops, desktops, and even smart phones can access Canvas.
Last year, Bales said Wi-Fi access points were placed in schools so they could be accessed in parking lots, but he said they're researching to see if that's the best way to support families, which their technology director is working on how to best give students access to Wi-Fi outside of school.
