Hoover schools gearing back up to start alternative instruction Monday

After three weeks of being shut down due to the new coronavirus, Hoover public school officials say they are ready to gear back up with instruction on Monday — just through alternative means.

Twelfth-graders are officially finished with classes for the year and considered graduated, but all other students are expected to continue learning through online instruction and/or packets that parents can pick up from schools, said Ron Dodson, a school system administrator who has been coordinating instructional efforts to close out the year.

So while students won’t be physically coming back onto their campuses this school year, there is still work to be done through May 22, the official last day of school for Hoover students this spring.

“I’m excited just for our students to get back to learning,” Superintendent Kathy Murphy said.

While it’s not an ideal situation to have all students learning from home, the Hoover school district has been preparing for broader online learning for a long time, Murphy said.

All students in grades 3-12 have Chromebooks and are accustomed to the digital platforms they’ll be using at home, she said. Some students already were taking advantage of complete online instruction, but now it will just be done on a much bigger scale for almost all students, she said.

The problem is that some students don’t have internet access at home. About 3.5% of students — slightly fewer than 500 — have indicated they lack either an internet connection or electronic device at home, Dodson said.

So Hoover school officials have shared information about how parents can obtain free or low-cost internet and WiFi access through private companies.

The school system also has deployed eight school buses equipped with WiFi to various apartment complexes to serve as WiFi hotspots for children.

Other students are being given the option of receiving physical packets of educational materials put together by their teachers and available for parents to pick up at school every one to two weeks. Take-home packets also will be used for K-2 students, Dodson said.

State schools Superintendent Eric Mackey has approved Hoover’s blended learning plan, Murphy said.

She is proud of the leaders in the district who have come together to ensure that children can continue to learn, she said.

Students will not be expected to sit at a computer and do livestream classes with their teacher and fellow classmates the entire school day, Dodson said.

There will be some of that, but teachers are being encouraged to come up with alternate instruction plans as well, he said. That could include recorded video lessons that allow students to view the lesson at different times, as well as assignments that students complete on their own, he said.

School officials realize that the whole world essentially is working online right now and that bandwidth capacity and data packages vary, Dodson said.

Students will have ways to communicate with their teachers if they need help, and teachers also are being encouraged to make telephone contact with students, Dodson said. There is still something to be said for that human element of interaction, he said.

Teachers have been given a lot of leeway in how they design their instruction, Dodson said.

However, students in grades K-8 will not get grades on the traditional A-F or numbered grading scale, Dodson said. Instead, they will either pass or fail, depending on whether they show they can meet the standards of the curriculum, he said.

Students this spring won’t take their typical standardized tests approved by the state, and there will be fewer traditional-style tests as well, Dodson said.

While some parents will pick up the take-home packets, they won’t be bringing a lot of paperwork back to the school, Dodson said. School officials are trying to minimize the amount of materials that must be physically transferred to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease, he said.

School officials also will have virtual meetings with parents of special education students and others who need special accommodations to find ways to provide assistance.

All sports and arts performances, such as band and choir concerts, have been canceled for the year, but the academic side of arts instruction will continue, Dodson said.

Unfortunately, it will be difficult to carry on with some of the more hands-on instructional classes, such as many of those offered at the Riverchase Career Conneciton Center, Dodson said. “You can’t virtually hammer,” he said, referencing the Skilled Trades Academy.

“I do feel bad for the seniors especially,” he said. “At least they had three-fourths of a year.”

Younger students hopefully can make up for any missed instruction on those kinds of classes when they return the next school year, he said.

While seniors are not required to continue any instruction, it will be available for those who want it, such as those preparing for Advanced Placement tests, which the College Board will continue to offer as an option, Dodson said.

The principals at Hoover and Spain park high schools have not yet decided whether they will have an official graduation ceremony. He’s almost certain there won’t be any indoor ceremonies, but it’s possible there could be outdoor graduation ceremonies, he said. That will depend upon the weather and how things unfold with the COVID-19 disease, he said.

Murphy said the whole situation caused by the new coronavirus may not be ideal, but, as one teacher told her, “we don’t get to pick the music, but we do get to pick how we’re going to dance.”

There’s no question this is a challenging time, Murphy said. “All of us are on a learning curve here.” There may be some glitches when students begin their alternative learning, but she’s confident that everyone will rise to the challenge, she said.

“Ready or not, here comes Monday, and we’re ready,” she said. “I feel like we’re going to be fine.”

School officials also have answers for what they say are frequently asked questions on the school system website. Other information related to the school system’s response to the COVID-19 disease can be found here.