With schools closed through the end of the academic year by Governor Tom Wolf due to the coronavirus pandemic, local administrators and teachers have had to work quickly to adjust their practices to continue to deliver education to students. Bethlehem Area School District Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Dr. Jack Silva sat down with us – virtually – and shared some of what has been happening in the district over the past few weeks.

Secondary education initiatives pay off

Although nothing with technology is ever quite as easy behind the scenes as it may seem, Silva and his team had already laid the groundwork for online middle and high school learning with the completion of the one-to-one Chromebook initiative in August 2019 and the implementation of Schoology and DiscoveryEd over the past few academic years.

These moves have enabled BASD to provide online instruction to all middle and high school students using the Chromebooks and educational tools they’ve been using all year. Secondary education is being conducted asynchronously: Students and teachers are not required to interact in real time, which provides greater flexibility for students to log on at times during the day that work for them.

The district explains in a statement, “Teachers at each grade level will provide common weekly assignments that will drive the core instruction for the week. Teachers will provide online instruction in support of the weekly assignments (in Schoology) and communicate (using established communication tools) directly with students and parents each week. Core subjects will use BASD online curriculum resources such as EnVision, StudySync, and Discovery Techbook accessed through the Clever portal. During online instruction, the window of time for completing core assignments (available online, as well as in hard copy at BASD meal distribution sites for students without home internet access) will be one week, starting on Monday at 9 a.m. and continuing through the following Monday at noon when assignments are due.”

The elementary schools schools are getting creative in their efforts to encourage their students to study online and keep reading during this challenging time. Formal instruction for these students involves both Chromebooks and online learning, as well as some programming from local public television station PBS39.

Elementary students have been using Chromebooks in the classroom, and now the district’s IT staff is working to make them available for home use. Service Electric and RCN are providing free or low-cost high-speed internet connectivity to qualifying families who request it. For elementary students who do not – for whatever reason – have access to a computer or the internet, paper learning packets with the same content that is online are available for pickup at the district’s free meal locations.

The district’s statement about elementary education during this “Tier 5” coronavirus response informs parents, “Instruction will be delivered using weekly assignments […] that incorporate Wonders language arts lessons and related science and social studies concepts. Online instruction also includes math topics that can be instructed with First in Math, as well as EnVision Math for grades 3-5. Other curricular resources may supplement and extend core instruction. Related Arts teachers will provide academic continuity to students by offering bi-weekly learning opportunities […] that review and/or enrich class topics taught prior to the school closure. BASD will continue to provide a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) consistent with the need to protect the health and safety of students with disabilities and those individuals providing education, specially designed instruction, and related services.”

In addition to the online/paper resources provided by the district, students in the elementary grades have access to state-leading resources via local public television, the brainchild of Silva and two PBS39 executives.

Lehigh Valley Learns

“We shared our curriculum map for Bethlehem for March and April with PBS39, working very closely with CEO Tim Fallon and Chief Content Officer Yoni Greenbaum, who aligned the TV station’s content delivery with the maps,” creating a programming schedule dubbed “Lehigh Valley Learns,” Dr. Silva explains. “Families across the Lehigh Valley, not just in Bethlehem, who can view PBS39 on TV – and that’s most families – have access to K-5 educational programming consistent with grade-level curriculum in the core subjects.”

PBS39 is working on aligning content with the May curriculum map, should the need arise to continue home-based learning beyond April 30. “They have same-time programming each day for each elementary grade level,” Silva added, noting he has been impressed with the shows developed for the current elementary school generation, like peg + cat, which teaches math concepts to young children. Curated episodes of peg + cat at 8:30 a.m., for example, will teach kindergarteners counting from 1 to 100, number sense (counting objects), shapes, measurement, and pictographs during early April.

“Our community partners have really come through for us,” Silva said, pointing to the efforts of not only local public TV station PBS39, but also ArtsQuest, local colleges, and First in Math founder Robert Sun. “They’ve opened up quite a bit of material to increase children’s ability to access it.”

Read more about PBS39’s “Lehigh Valley Learns” initiative in a companion article by Christian Tatu.

Districtwide effort

Silva gives credit to a wide range of district employees, from the IT department to maintenance workers to principals, for enabling students to pick up paper learning packets, Chromebooks, and WiFi hotspots in the middle of a pandemic. “I haven’t spoke to a single person who hasn’t said, ‘Jack, what do you need?’” he said. “Everybody’s focused on getting through this.” And teachers who weren’t as comfortable with online meetings and video creation have taken professional development to a new level: “Teachers have done a great job – the amount of collaboration and professional development that has gone on over the past few weeks is staggering – I have nothing but respect for the teachers who are doing the big lift of switching to online learning.”