The Washington Court House City School (WCHCS) District has opened registration for online learning for the 2020-21 school year until Aug. 3 at noon, which director of marketing and communications Trevor Patton explained will be altered from the remote learning plan that was offered in the spring.
“Since Governor DeWine closed schools in mid-March (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), our teachers were incredible in the ways that they continued to facilitate education and care for the well-being of our students with little warning,” Patton said. “From their outside the box thinking and to their above and beyond effort, we couldn’t be prouder of how hard our team worked to continue to teach and connect with our kids for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. For months our back-to-school task force, consisting of teachers, principals, and staff from across the district, has worked tirelessly on a plan to return to school this fall in a way that is safe and compliant with the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Department of Health’s guidelines.”
With this in mind, Patton explained that as they get closer to the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, the schools understand that some families may be more comfortable with their children continuing to learn from home. For those considering online learning for the beginning of this school year, they encourage those families to read the guidelines completely before making the decision to do so.
Via a PowerPoint on the district website (http://www.wchcs.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=6G00P20&dasi=3AB2), the remote learning is described as, “Virtual learning.” The PowerPoint states that “students do all coursework online, taught by their teacher(s) with support from parents. Students are enrolled in WCHCS. Must meet grade level and graduation requirements established by Ohio and the WCHCS Board of Education for academic promotion.”
The WCHCS school year for students is scheduled to begin Aug. 24.
Various other aspects of remote learning at the district are also explained in the PowerPoint — including expectations of students, and Patton heavily encouraged parents to review the information before submitting an application.
“We want to emphasize that the option for online learning for fall 2020 will be much different than the Emergency Remote Learning that our district offered this past spring,” Patton said. “We look forward to providing an enhanced online option to our families who choose to opt for remote learning this fall. Families who choose to utilize our online options at the beginning of the school year will get an opportunity to reassess after the initial nine weeks.”
Additionally, Patton said that families who begin the year with their student(s) in-person learning and decide to move online may do so, however the student(s) will remain online for the remainder of that grading period. The reason is to ensure pacing of online versus traditional curriculum, to ensure standards alignment and due to the allocation of staff positions.
“We thank our parents, guardians, and community for their patience during these unprecedented times,” Patton said. “As procedures and protocols change daily, WCHCS is working with Fayette County Public Health-OHIO to continue educating our kids in a safe manner within the guidance of the state of Ohio. Parents can find more information, frequently asked questions, and register on our website homepage at wchcs.org.”
For building-specific questions, parents and guardians are encouraged to email the building principals. For general questions, they can call the Central Office at 740-335-6620 and leave a message with their contact information.
