Milpitas Unified School District's five secondary school principals shared their successes and challenges over the first week of the EducatEverywhere flexible learning program.
Principals Francis Rojas, of Milpitas High School; Carl Stice, of Calaveras Hills High School; Sean Anglon, of Thomas Russell Middle School; Casey McMurray, of Rancho Milpitas Middle School; and Giuliana Brahim, of Adult Education, had both commonalities and unique circumstances within their school communities when it came to the implementation of EducatEverywhere.
Virtual staff meetings for planning and collaborating; initial and regular contact between teachers and students; delivery of lessons, projects and class assignments; use of Google Classroom, Google Hangout and Zoom online platforms; working toward 100 percent engagement with families; and keeping students connected to their schools during the Shelter in Place were prevalent at all the secondary sites.
At Cal Hills, teachers have switched to a block schedule in a collective effort to support students with classwork and assignments.
At Milpitas HS, Principal Rojas shared that 100 percent of teachers are engaged in EducatEverywhere and will shift from its regular bell schedule to an hourly period schedule. About 300 students took advantage of the opportunity to return to campus to get books, calculators and any materials from their lockers.
At Russell, educators are in teams and those teams have developed websites for easier access to information for students and parents. Student leadership also created a school spirit page for students to visit and share photographs with their schoolmates on spirit day.
At Rancho, teachers are utilizing Google Classroom to provide learning experiences for students. Office staff is using a GoToConnect app to check voicemails and connect with families not yet engaged.
At Adult Ed, the Ayer staff has embraced EducatEverywhere with all students and teachers on board. Teachers have been using WhatsApp to communicate with students.
Vice President Chris Norwood commended all staff for being able "to create a sense of normalcy with the education system in MUSD while there's a lot of chaos and uncertainty going on out there."
President Hon Lien was contacted by parents of other districts asking if their children can be part of EducatEverywhere.
To watch a video recording of the March 24 virtual meeting, click
here.
