This story was updated at 8:50 p.m. April 1 to add information from an MCPS community message that was not previously available.
Three days into a new online learning system, Montgomery County Public Schools officials are gearing up for week No. 2.
While schools across Maryland are shuttered amid the spread of the coronavirus, MCPS has transitioned to providing instruction online.
The first week was purposefully designed to be less structured, allowing students and teachers to reconnect and get familiar with the online learning platform.
The second week will have more structure, Niki Hazel, associate superintendent in the MCPS Office of Curriculum and Instructional Programs, said in an interview Wednesday night.
Beginning Monday, elementary school students will log in for classes in the morning, wrapping up for the day around 11 a.m., Hazel said. Then, MCPS will dismiss for a countywide “lunch break,” during which students can go to one of more than 40 sites to pick up free breakfast, lunch and dinner.
In the afternoon, middle and high school students will log on for their classes.
Some teachers are scheduling structured time for students to check in to their classes, while others will have virtual office hours, where students can ask questions about assignments or prerecorded lessons, Hazel said.
Each school’s schedule will vary slightly “based on the needs of the community,” Hazel said, and the schedules will be posted on school websites.
School officials have said students aren’t expected to have a full six-hour day of online classes. For elementary students, it might equal as little as 1.5 hours each day.
Elementary students will ease back into the MCPS curriculum, starting with math and literacy lessons. At all levels, MCPS teachers will work to finalize grades for the third marking period.
In a message released later in the evening, MCPS officials wrote that elementary students will do a math lesson on Monday and students who receive English as a second language (ESOL) services will do a math lesson.
On Tuesday, elementary students will do a live literacy lesson and be able to connect with their teachers during virtual office hours to ask questions. School counselors will also be available.
Wednesday, elementary students will do a math lesson and school counselors will be available.
Throughout the week, students will have opportunities to participate in art, music and physical education lessons.
Middle and high school students on Monday will begin completing assignments for each of their classes. On Tuesday and Wednesday, students will be able to check in with teachers during their afternoon virtual office hours.
There is no school on Thursday or Friday for spring break.
In a video message on Saturday, MCPS Chief Academic Officer Maria Navarro said it is still too early to divulge how the school district will approach grading policies for the remainder of the school year.
“Knowing we are in different modality of teaching and learning, we want to have students’ best interest in mind,” Navarro said. “… We really want to err on the side of supporting students through this time.”
Caitlynn Peetz can be reached at caitlynn.peetz@moco360.media
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