GLS Update: Academics
Please read to learn about the academic plan for this Fall.
Looking Back...
“Green Local Schools are doing an AMAZING job! They are rock stars! The teachers are putting out assignments and communicating with students and parents on record time! Every text, email, remind message I’ve sent has received an answer/reply nearly immediately! I couldn’t ask for a better staff.”
“We really appreciate all the help green local has provided. The teachers have been great and very helpful.”
“Green Local Schools is doing a great job serving our family right now. We appreciate all of the work the teachers have put into turning school into remote learning. Thank you all for your commitment to our kids.”
“I feel like the teachers and staff have been doing amazing. I’m so thankful to be a part of this school.”
“Everything has been pretty smooth considering the situation and limited amount of prep time for staff.”
“I feel all of the teachers we are working with are doing a fantastic job with the circumstances we all are facing.”
“We are so grateful for all that has been done. Just keep doing a great job!”
Planning Ahead...
We want to begin with confidence while preparing to be flexible.
Families have two options for school this Fall:
1. In-person school, five days a week
- Guidelines for a safe return are being developed
- OTUS - learning management system to organize online learning resources
- Acellus will be used in the classroom
2. Remote online learning
- Well-established online curriculum through Acellus
- Monitored by a GLS teacher coordinator
- Access to content specialists
- Optional in-person instruction
*A survey will be coming the week of July 20th for families to communicate their decision to the district for further planning.*
As we look ahead to the Fall, we know that we need improved plans and resources for the following scenarios:
1. Students who will choose online learning due to health and safety concerns
2. Students and teachers who will start in school and have to transition to online learning due to health concerns
3. A plan for students and teachers if we all have to transition to online learning
Our academic plan is broken into three areas:
1. A well-established online curriculum
We want our teachers to be able to focus on teaching the students in the classroom
without having to also teach students online.
Students who will be learning online from the beginning of the school year will receive instruction from Acellus, an intuitive, comprehensive, video-based online curriculum. They will be monitored by a GLS teacher (the teacher assigned to this position has not yet been determined) and have access to content specialists.
All teachers will be trained in Acellus. Teachers will use Acellus in the classroom in some capacity. We believe that you will find this tool to be helpful for intervention and enrichment. Additionally, if we had to transition to online learning, both the teachers and students will be familiar with the curriculum. Below is a link to the Acellus website.
2. A K-12 online learning management system (LMS)
Our staff used a variety of resources to successfully support online learning in their individual classrooms this Spring.
But when everyone is using a different platform in a different way, it is difficult to support students and families online.
We need a streamlined system to organize K-12 online learning and communication.
All teachers will be trained in OTUS, an online Learning Management System (LMS). OTUS integrates with all of your favorite online resources and organizes them in a user-friendly way. OTUS will be used for all online resources, lessons and communication starting this Fall.
In the case we all need to transition to online learning, teachers will supplement the Acellus curriculum through OTUS.
Below is a link to the OTUS website and an introduction video.
3. Professional Development
We understand that learning two new online resources will take time.
The Board will be voting to add additional professional development days to the school calendar. Students' first day back to school will be August 25th.
There will be online options for professional development provided in July and August for both OTUS and Acellus. A professional development plan will be sent out next week.