By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The Delavan-Darien School District hit the ground running when COVID-19 shuttered schools across Wisconsin and continues to move forward in educating and providing food for its students.
Administrator Jill Sorbie surveyed the landscape ahead of Governor Tony Evers closing schools and prepared the district for that possibility. The last day students were in school on March 13.
That day, Chromebooks were sent home with students in the upper grades and packets were sent home for those in lower grades in case school was canceled that weekend. Sure enough, school never resumed in the physical buildings however, virtual learning has allowed the students to continue their education without missing a beat.
“It was nice to be ahead of the curve,” Phoenix Middle School Principal Hank Schmelz said. “Jill (Sorbie) took this seriously and we began planning quickly.”
“This is a fabulous community of professional, dedicated educators that have really taken on the challenge of virtual teaching alongside wonderful students that are working hard to persevere through to engage their learning,” Delavan-Darien High School Principal Jim Karedes said.
Sorbie said being ahead of the curve allowed staff to prepare for the possibility of having to go virtual and time to prepare work for the students they could take home with them.
“Staff and students were able to quickly normalize, for whatever that means, in these challenging times,” Sorbie said.
Darien Elementary School Principal Kelly Pickel said her staff was given two weeks before school closed to prepare for the possibility. In that time, they were able to establish the essential standards that would need to be taught in every area, discuss the best ways to reach all students and how to communicate with them and parents, and how to collect and assess work.
Sorbie said teachers were told to carefully review student performance data and state standards to target only the essentials during virtual learning. Pickel said some time has also been allotted for art, music, computers and physical education.
According to Sorbie, the challenges in going virtual included engaging all learners and communicating with all families. Pickel said her staff has been grappling with not being able to actually see and engage with their students on a daily basis.
An attendance log, Sorbie said, has allowed teachers to determine which families have engaged and allowed administration and student services to reach out to families who have not. Pickel said some families said there was too much communication coming home at first, so that’s been adjusted. She said teachers are also looking for the balance in how much time they spend connected to their devices sending messages and assessing work.
Sorbie said the district has had great success engaging students and it’s been a team effort. Pickel agreed saying teachers, support staff, and paraprofessionals all worked together to engage students and reach out to families in a variety of ways when necessary.
The district is trying to be sensitive to the situation and the demands some students and families may be under during the current health crisis. Therefore, the district is following Department of Public Instruction recommendations to plan for 4.5 hours a day of instruction for grades 6 through 12, 3.5 hours of instruction for grades 3 through 5, and 2.5 hours for grades Kindergarten through 2.
Additionally, the district is providing breakfast and lunch to all children under the age of 18 with funding provide by the USDA, even if they do not attend district schools. Meals can be picked up at the high school or Darien Elementary every day school would be in session. On Fridays, enough food is distributed to ensure enough food for the entire weekend.
Sorbie said the number of families taking advantage of the program continues to grow every day. She and Pickel said staff are taking social distancing precautions in distributing the meals.
Overall, Sorbie said she was pleased with how things are going.
“I am very proud of the students, staff and families,” she said.
“While the circumstances are certainly not ideal, everyone is embracing the new world of teaching and learning,” Sorbie added. “I believe what everyone learns out of this will greatly impact how they interact in the teaching and learning process for years to come.”
Pickel said the staff would prefer to be in the building in front of the students.
“(But) we are making the most of it,” Pickel said. “The staff have been amazing at being available and supporting parents and students during this transition.”
