Implementation of the Northwestern Lehigh School District Academic Plan for Continuity of Education took a different turn on April 6 when the new curricula was delivered in a digital environment.

Superintendent Jennifer Holman addressed a letter to parents, guardians and students:

“All Northwestern Lehigh students will be continuing their education and course of study, as best as possible, beyond remediation and enrichment to include new content and learning, in addition to meeting the criteria as set forth by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.”

Going forward, each day will count as a regular school day and attendance will be taken.

The plan is designed to “provide students with the opportunity to grow and maintain content knowledge and skills during this extended school closure.”

High School Principal Aileen Yadush stressed new material will be introduced.

“The curriculum will be delivered both in a synchronous and asynchronous manner dependent upon the teacher, needs of the students and the content area being taught,” she said.

Students are expected to rise to the demands of an altered educational climate.

“I expect students to log into their school email every day as well as to access their teachers’ online platforms [such as] Google Classroom, Canvas and the school website, and to complete the work as assigned by their teachers,” Yadush said.

Many parents have responded positively to the plan.

“Since Mrs. Holman rolled out our district’s continuity of education plan, I have received several emails from parents thanking us for creating this plan and for making the best decision for their children given all of the things that we had to consider,” Yadush said. “We have spent many, many, many hours of time meeting together using Zoom.”

The last week of March was designated to ease students back to their formal education which is slated to start the first full week of April when “new teaching and learning will be happening and student attendance and submission of work will be required and graded,” at the direction of the superintendent.

Laptops will be instrumental in this educational endeavor.

“We are so fortunate as a school district to be able to offer every student access to a Chromebook or laptop,” Yadush said.

“Elementary had a Chromebook pickup day on March 16 for students to take home a Chromebook,” Holman said. “Teachers were [also] permitted with precautions and limited numbers to come to their classrooms to retrieve supplies needed for the next few weeks on [a designated] day.”

According to Holman, Internet providers providing free service are listed on the nwlehighsd.org/DEL site under the technology tab.”

“Many Internet providers and cellphone providers have made Internet connections free of charge and cellphone providers have made unlimited data hot spots with a cellphone.”

The list can be found at sites.google.com/nwlehighsd.org/dle/technology-support/home-internet-options.

“We tried to make the educational opportunities available but flexible enough for parents who are still working outside the home or parents who are working from home,” Holman said.

Students and teachers will likely encounter a learning curve moving forward, but Yadush expressed hope.

“Teachers have been learning new methods of delivering instruction and offering support using digital platforms,” she explained. “We expect that we will be able to meet the needs of all of our students as we move to online learning.

“[Even though] how those needs are met may look a bit different from face-to-face.”

All of the COVID-19 communications are listed at nwlehighsd.org/COVID-19.