WES 2020-2021 School Year Q&A with Mrs. Keech - wcpss
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WES 2020-2021 School Year Q&A with Mrs. Keech
Virtual Academy Questions
i. How will WES facilitate the Virtual Academy?At this time, we have enough students en-
rolled at WES to assign each grade level a virtual teacher from our Wakefield Elemen-
tary staff. As numbers change daily, we will adjust the number of classrooms/teachers
that will be available to teach in the virtual academy. There will be an established daily
schedule for the students (similar to a regular school day with ELA, math, break, recess,
specials etc).
ii. What will be the schedule under the Virtual Academy? How will attendance work?If a
student has chosen the WCPSS virtual academy, he/she will be expected to be in at-
tendance. The Virtual Academy week will be a 5 day week, Monday-Friday. There will
be about 2.5 hours of virtual instruction that is a combination of live and pre-recorded
lessons. Then about another 2.5 hours of course work/activities/small group work to go
along with the virtual instruction. Altogether a 5-6 hour day. This total instruction time
may be a little less dependent upon the student’s grade level.
iii. Is the Virtual Academy the same thing as the remote learning under Plans B and C?Yes,
they are very similar. The county is working diligently to make sure students on both
Plan B, Plan C and Virtual Academy are provided the same type of instruction and learn-
ing opportunities for all students.
iv. If we sign up for the Virtual Academy, but the state/district moves to Plan A, will the stu-
dents be allowed to leave the Virtual Academy and return to school?If a student registers
for WCPSS Virtual Academy, the district asks that they commit to at least a minimum of
one semester. Therefore, if the district moves to Plan A, the Virtual Academy students
are expected to continue online for that semester.
v. If we sign up for the fall only option under the Virtual Academy, will we be able to sign up
for the spring semester later?
■ Students enrolled for fall only will automatically be assigned to the state directed
plan (A, B or C) for schools at the semester change(spring). Students will have
the option to apply to continue in the WCPSS Virtual Academy in the Spring if
they were enrolled for the fall. Acceptance in the Spring is not guaranteed.You
may choose to enroll in Virtual Academy for the full year.
Plan B Questionsi. What will a typical day/week look like under Plan B (in school and remote learning)? Ex-
ample using specific grade levels?The school day hours and Monday-Friday schedule
will remain the same. Prior to school entry, the students will undergo some health ques-
tions and a temperature screening. They will then enter school and report to their as-
signed class in all grade levels. They will spend most of the day in their assigned class-
room with the exception of recess and bathroom breaks. Recess will be outside as pos-
sible, but no play structure activity will be allowed per county recommendations, nor will
students be able to play with each other closer than 6ft apart. Teachers will be imple-
menting structured play time that follows social distance guidelines. Specialists will visit
the classrooms, students will not be transitioning through the hallways. Students will not
use the cafeteria for lunch, they will eat in their classrooms.
ii. If we select Plan B, who will be teaching during the two weeks of remote learning?WES
teachers will be teaching all instruction. There will be in person teachers assigned to
classrooms along with a coordinating remote teacher for the grade level. Your child
would consistently have the same in person teacher/virtual teacher throughout the expe-
rience. In the event that a teacher becomes ill, online teachers may rotate into the class-
room setting and vice versa until they can return. All grade level teams in person/remote/
virtual academy will be working together as a team to keep all instruction consistent.
iii. What will lunchtime look like under Plan B? Will students who receive free or reduced
breakfast/lunch still be served? What will those meals be?Lunch will be served in the
classrooms. The meals will be served in the classrooms from a cart brought down from
the cafeteria. Students will not eat in the cafeteria. It is uncertain what those meals will
be, but they will be packaged and delivered to the kids. All students who receive free and
reduced meals will be served. Parents please be sure to fill out your free and reduced
lunch form as soon as possible.
iv. Will there be recess and specials under Plan B? Any field trips?Recess will be provided,
but students will engage in activities that honor social distance guidelines. They will be
unable to play closely with each other. There will be no out of school field trips. There is
a possibility of some virtual field trips.
v. If parents choose to start the year under Plan B, but see that it is not a good fit, will they
have an option to choose the Virtual Academy?If Plan B does not work for your family
you may enroll in virtual academy. You just may not be able to be assigned to a teacher
from WES if there are no seats available there. You would be assigned to wherever
there are seats available in the county.
Other Questions
i. When will children be required to wear a mask?Students are required to wear a face
covering for the duration of the school day. They will be able to remove the face covering
to eat. There are exceptions for those who have a medical doctor’s excuse/developmen-tal excuse from a doctor. Please see the “Return to Campus” guidelines on the district
website. https://www.wcpss.net/returntocampus
ii. My child will need a device. Do you know when those will be distributed and from
where? If I have multiple children at WES, will they each be able to get a device, or will
they have to share?Device distribution will be discussed by the district next week. If you
have a device from the spring semester, you are asked to continue using it in the new
school year. Each student who requires a device may apply for one.
iii. Will students in foster care, ESL students, or students with IEPS have the ability to be
served in school on a weekly basis like other counties (Durham and Guilford)? If not,
what is the plan to provide virtual services to these students who may not be able to do
the virtual work without significant help?The teacher assigned to the student who may
have an IEP or another need will coordinate directly with the teacher how to best ac-
commodate the needs of the student in that class.
iv. How will students receive free or reduced lunch services if they choose the Virtual Acad-
emy?Yes, be sure to fill out the form to qualify for these meals as soon as possible. The
county will continue to serve students from the assigned locations they used in March
and possibly other locations.
v. How will the district know to pair siblings in the same group at different schools?The dis-
trict uses many filters to determine pairing siblings in the same cohort/group. One of the
first is by transportation. After transportation, they have the schools balance the class-
rooms to help ensure a variety of gender, socioeconomic status and ability levels are in
check. Requests for siblings to be in different cohorts will not be accommodated.
vi. Can you discuss the sanitation procedures that have been put into place? What will be
done to keep staff and students healthy and safe? There will be a health question check-
list and temperature check prior to students entering the building. Then students will be
remaining 6ft apart in hallways illustrated by stickers and enforced by staff. There will be
limited transitions throughout the day. Custodians and teachers will have proper clean-
ing materials/checklists to use on all surfaces throughout the building as needed. Stu-
dents and staff will wear face coverings all day except to eat and drink. There is a proce-
dure in place to screen students that seem symptomatic. There will also be a designat-
ed separate room for students to go to in the event that they are symptomatic and await
to be picked up by their parents/guardians. Students who do not pass the health screen-
ing prior to entering the school building will immediately be sent home.
vii. What will happen if a student or teacher in my child’s school/class tests positive for
COVID? Will the entire class/entire school have to quarantine due to possible exposure?
This varies per case. There is a procedure that the health department will go through to
determine how to treat the case. This varies based upon how much contact the staff
member had with other staff/students, when the symptoms started and various other
principles. There is a chance for either just that staff member is quarantined or possibly
the whole class. It will vary per case.viii. Can students request friends be in classes with them? Unfortunately we are unable to
accommodate these types of requests at this time. We are doing our best to keep the
classes as balanced as possible.
ix. I heard that schools will be supplying five masks/child. Can we use ones we already
have, or do we have to use the ones the school provides?As long as the face covering
properly covers the nose and mouth area students may wear their own face covering.
Clear face shields alone will not be enough. The mouth area will have to be completely
covered, even under the chin.
x. If my child is “regular sick”, ie not with Covid, will they have to be quarantined? There will
be a separate room for students who show symptoms of being “regular sick”. Symptoms
of COVID are changing daily and we will be on high alert of those symptoms. If there
are symptoms of some other illness, again there will be a separate “sick room” aside
from the “quarantine room” for students to go to if need be.
xi. Will students still be allowed to walk home or ride bikes home?Yes. However, if they do
not pass the health screening prior to the school day, they will be sent back home imme-
diately.
xii. If I have a high schooler or middle schooler that picks up my younger child at WES, will
they still be allowed to walk to WES and get them?Yes. However, parents/guardians it
will be critical that you have a conversation with the older siblings about how to properly
social distance during pick-ups. Even though outside, we ask that the siblings continue
to wear their face coverings and honor the social distancing 6 feet apart guidelines from
people other than their siblings.
xiii. Will teachers be adjusting their curriculums to adjust any gaps in learning that the 2020
spring semester may have left for students?Yes, the state Department of Instruction is
working with teachers to make sure any content that needs to be taught from the spring
2020 year is integrated into this year.
xiv. Are there any resources for children with parents that both work outside the home/work
split shifts?The district is working with local businesses and organizations like the local
YMCA to provide paid childcare during the 2 weeks of remote learning. The parent/
guardian will be responsible for the payment. These organizations will be training their
staff to be equipped to help students navigate their remote learning classrooms/tasks.
The district will share more information on this in the weeks to come.
xv. Obviously there is a great deal of parental concern over students “missing out”, especial-
ly amongst our rising kindergarten parents. Can you address how the school will help
students (and parents) during this time? Our district, staff and teachers are diligently
working hard to stay connected and maintain relationships with our families. We will be
providing more virtual opportunities like a virtual “meet the teacher event” and some
small group activities to continue to build community amongst our families. Please also
get connected to our PTA to stay up to date with what is going on in the school and
which services/virtual events/spirit nights will be coming up or happening. This also getsyou connected to other parent groups, support groups and events to help your family this school year. Thank you again to all who participated in gathering these questions for Ms.Keech!
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