Bulldogger Back To School Plan
Part 1 - July 9, 2020
Learning Pathways and Bulldogger Online School (BOS)
As we look forward to the 2020-2021 school year, we recognize the uncertainties and challenges that are ahead of us. We have district committees working on safety measures, operational policies/procedures and educational needs that deliver our district mission of being student centered, future focused. We hope to share those pieces of our BULLDOGGER BACK TO SCHOOL PLAN the week of July 20th in PART 2. All plans continue to evolve and require flexibility from us all as we continue to gain knowledge of COVID-19 and how to mitigate its impact.
However today in PART 1, I am happy to share information regarding the academic side of our BULLDOGGER BACK TO SCHOOL PLAN. For the 2020-2021 school year, we will offer 2 basic learning pathways, traditional and 100% online. Within the traditional pathway, we have included a distance learning pathway that will be utilized as circumstances require. The following is a breakdown of each pathway as it relates to the chart within this communication.
- Traditional Pathway - This is our typical educational model that all students will be enrolled in unless intending to enroll in Bulldogger Online School (BOS). This pathway will include new procedures and protocols for the health and safety of students and staff. It will also include the use of a new Learning Management System (LMS) called Schoology by classroom teachers district wide. The purpose of the LMS is to provide a digital desk or hub for all daily lessons and resources. While the LMS will be an asset within the traditional classroom setting, it will also help us better transition and support the distance learning pathway when necessary.
- Distance Learning Pathway - Although there are many unknowns as we approach next school year, we do know that it's necessary to plan for times when students may not be able to attend on-campus classes for undetermined amounts of time. This pathway allows the traditionally enrolled student to continue to receive educational services, as closely related to the traditional pathway as possible, when experiencing health issues or during school closures (For very short term school closures, ES students may be provided a "menu" of learning options until they can safely return to school). You'll notice on the chart below that the arrow graphic indicates that our intent is to provide an in-person school setting as much as possible. As the number of local COVID cases/concerns rise, it may call for a shift to this pathway with teachers using the same software pieces that they utilize daily in the classroom. This pathway affords students to stay on pace with classmates and be fully supported by their classroom teachers.
- Bulldogger Online School (BOS) - This pathway is new to Dewey Public Schools and is intended to support students who are concerned about the traditional pathway of instruction and may better serve their educational needs during the global pandemic. This program will be available to K-12th grade students who were enrolled in Dewey Schools last year and/or are residents of the school district. The primary instructional tool will be a content management system called Edgenuity with content covering all Oklahoma Academic Standards. While Dewey Public School teachers will not be actually providing direct instruction in this program, students in BOS will be supported, guided and held accountable for attendance/educational progress by DPS faculty. This pathway also offers optional participation in school sponsored extracurricular activities as long as students attend 1 course on campus daily throughout the school year. The addition of BOS will include an expansion of our 1:1 Chromebook program to include all students K-12 so that any student that enrolls in this pathway will be provided a take home device.
I urge any parents that are interested in Bulldogger Online School to complete the enrollment form below by July 27th. Its understandable that some may desire to gather more information about our BuIldogger Back to School Plan before making a decision on a learning pathway. We will work to get that information to you as close to July 20th as possible. However, if you wish to know more about BOS, I encourage you to reach out to your school principal with any questions or concerns.
Thank you for your support, understanding and confidence in our staff. Please understand, planning for the school year is continuing. Many final decisions have yet to be made including the use of facial coverings by students. I respectfully ask for continued patience as we attempt to make decisions that gets students and staff back to school safely but that are feasible and practical as well. I look forward to sharing more information with you in mid to late July for the upcoming school year. Stay tuned for Part 2!
Sincerely,
Vince Vincent
Superintendent