Upper School: Remote Learning

Dear Upper School Families,
 
Greetings from…a kitchen table! A lot has happened since we all went on Spring Break, and hopefully your foray into social distancing has been as smooth as possible. All of us in the Upper School are ready to reconnect and re-establish relationships between teachers and students, school and families, and this letter here will provide you with some initial guidance and expectations as we officially embark upon the online experience starting Wednesday, March 25th.
 
At the foundation of online learning are the relationships we have already formed in yearlong courses, and those we were beginning to form at the start of the third trimester in trimester courses. Please know that it is our highest priority to remain connected (live classes fall into the category of synchronous learning) even when we are not in direct communication at that moment (that would be asynchronous learning). We also believe that learning to navigate this new virtual environment is a radical change for both teachers and learners. In other words, think of Wednesday, when the program will begin, as the first day of school!
 
Here are some basics for the next eight school days in Upper School, starting March 25 through April 3:
 
DAILY SCHEDULE
  • We are following our current letter day rotation and daily schedule in order to establish a routine for all students. That means Wednesday, March 25 is an F day.
  • We are recapturing Friday, April 3, as an A day. That was originally an US Faculty Work Day due to the ISAS Arts Festival. Thus, students are expected to be engaged in school on that date.
  • Each letter day will consist of three contact points for students and faculty to check in: advisory and two live (synchronous) classes, or three live (synchronous) classes on C and F days when advisory does not meet. Attached is a schedule of which classes meet synchronously on which day.
  • Faculty will also set up scheduled “office hours” for those periods in which they will not meet live, but be available for questions – perhaps via email or Microsoft Teams.
  • Students should take breaks for lunch, for physical activity, for mindfulness, and for interacting with family. Non-electronic breaks are the best! We are conscious of academic screen time for our students and hope that other kinds of activities can be built into the day.
  • Synchronous classes begin when their class would normally begin and may last anywhere from 20 minutes to the full 55 minutes. The first set of synchronous classes this week are focused on relationships and reconnecting.
  • Afterschool sports and classes also have designated letter days to meet synchronously, as do all Fine Arts courses during the day.
 
COMMUNICATION
  • Students will send their advisor an email on all advisory days (even those when we would normally have “class meetings”), completing the same template each time by 8:40 am. Advisors may also set up synchronous classes to reconnect as well. The template can be found here (link).
  • Faculty will use Canvas and Microsoft Teams to post assignments and to teach synchronous classes, respectively.
  • Faculty may incorporate work to be done without a teacher present (asynchronous), and this can typically be done during those class periods when they are not meeting synchronously.
  • If students or parents communicate with teachers after school hours, teachers will respond within 24 hours.
 
ATTENDANCE
  • Class attendance will be taken in advisory each morning, as well as in each synchronous class that day. If your child is unable to participate in synchronous learning for any given day, or specific time period on a day, please email usattendance@greenhill.org and be specific in the reason why.
 
GRADING & EXPECTATIONS
  • The Upper School has set positive community norms for online learning, and they can be found here (link).
  • Teachers may also introduce additional norms to students as they establish online expectations, or perhaps reestablish norms from their classroom previously.
  • Our grading policy for this first, eight-day timeframe in online learning can be found here. (link) We are developing a more definitive grading plan and will release that in the coming days when we have a better sense of our time away from campus.
  • In keeping with our goal of developing self-advocacy, we ask that students take on as much responsibility for communicating with their teachers as possible – just as if they were doing so on campus. At the same time, parents may need to communicate directly with teachers and advisors about specific issues, and we welcome those interactions.
 
We have heard from Lee from the beginning of these circumstances to practice grace, patience, and flexibility with each other. We know that your family situations may change over the course of our time away from school, and we want to work with you. All families are carrying additional burdens in these uncertain times, and we see this venture as the highest level of partnership between your homes and our homes.
 
With gratitude,
 
Trevor Worcester
Head of Upper School
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