When the COVID-19 pandemic closed physical class, schools had simple days to get up and running online. And not just did they have to satisfy trainees academic needs, they needed to satisfy their emotional and social requirements, too.

Hosted by Carl hooker, panelists are Seth Feldman, EDD, JD, superintendent of Bay Area Technology School; Scott M. Borba, superintendent of Le Grand Union Elementary School District; and Janice Pavelonis, inbound superintendent of Carbondale Elementary School District 95.

With a light at the end of the tunnel and plans to open in-person this fall, 3 superintendents are sharing lightbulb minutes, what innovation theyre utilizing this fall, and what practices they would leave behind if able.

Carl Hooker: Reflecting on the previous academic year, what were some a-ha minutes that made you recognize what did– or didnt– work truly well?

Newest posts by Laura Ascione
( see all).

Janice Pavelonis: One of the things that went truly well for us was, we spent, right before school started here in Illinois, we had some freedom with the State Department to begin a little later and supply more training. And that brought us long-term through the school year.

Scott Borba: One of the important things that we actually welcomed out here was really remaining connected to our scholars, something that weve prided ourselves on, being a small rural school district, we know our kids. Were personally linked to them. And the pandemic really presented a difficult challenge of staying gotten in touch with our kids. Therefore, as schools closed in March, that early spring, that was the main subject of conversation going into the end of that school year was, “How do we stay linked with our scholars?” And so, it was all about that personal one on one contact, calling kids, visiting kids, following up with parents, and ensuring that we were staying linked for their most social psychological well-being, for that relationship ease that we value a lot. And we bring that into this school year, was that connectivity. Making certain that we had individual connections with all of our scholars. And anytime someone fell off the radar, we followed up from the workplace to make sure that we were reaching out, “Hey, is everything alright? What can we do to get you linked? Is it a Wi-Fi concern? Is that the time concern?” Whatever it may be, whatever the barrier was. Really, it was connection, relationships, keeping that going, thats going to maintain. That was here in the past, and its going to stay after.

And offering a break every 5 weeks to reconnect with parents was a big shift in our school paradigm.

Janice Pavelonis: One of the important things that went actually well for us was, we invested, right before school started here in Illinois, we had some freedom with the State Department to start a little later and supply more training. So, we supplied about 2 weeks of technology training– it was how to utilize the items we utilize anyway, in remote methods, how to tape-record yourself, video, and then modify, and just about everything we might believe that our instructors may need for remote teaching and knowing. So, that went actually well. Our instructors regionally kept discussing how well prepared they felt like they were. Which carried us long-term through the school year.

Scott Borba: One of the things that we truly welcomed out here was truly staying linked to our scholars, something that weve prided ourselves on, being a small rural school district, we understand our kids. And we carry that into this school year, was that connection.

Seth Feldman: We went back 3 weeks early … and we adjusted our calendar to go 5 weeks on, one week off, where we then took all of the information, and whatever teachers and moms and dads and students informed us, we [had] a week to fix whatever went incorrect. And after that, during that week, we had moms and dad conferences. And what was fascinating for us, and its a big a-ha moment because were keeping that, is, we have 400 students, approximately, when we have parent teacher conferences, its crickets. Due to the fact that we had every 5 weeks to plan for it, we personally invited parents to conferences, and it might be done when and where they wanted … And we went from having roughly 10-ish percent participation in parent conferences to, throughout this year, were approximately 50 percent. And providing a break every 5 weeks to reconnect with parents was a huge shift in our school paradigm.

Laura Ascione is the Editorial Director at eSchool Media. She is a graduate of the University of Marylands prominent Philip Merrill College of Journalism.