Jefferson City middle schools temporarily transition to distance learning

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Jefferson City School District sent a letter home to families of Lewis & Clark and Thomas Jefferson Middle School students Wednesday as they get ready to temporarily transition to distance learning due to staff shortages.

The school district says this is due to an increase in the number of staff members being quarantined from exposure to positive COVID-19 cases outside of the school.

The district cites a lack of substitute teachers as creating a challenging environment for the staff who remain in the buildings. It has also made it increasingly difficult to provide the type of safe and quality learning environment for students.

The district will now go to distance learning to temporarily allow time for staff to complete their current quarantine, and will also serve to stop any spread of COVID-19 within the school environment.

The last day for middle school students to be in-seat this week will be Thursday.

Students will return to in-seat on Oct. 19 at the earliest.

WHAT WILL DISTANCE LEARNING LOOK LIKE?

• Students will bring home their chromebooks on Thursday, October 8th and will begin distance learning on Tuesday, October 13th (teachers will spend Friday preparing for the transition to distance learning, and schools are already closed on Monday, October 12th for a staff professional development day).
• Building administrators and teachers have been preparing for the potential for additional distance learning since last spring. Teachers have been communicating and modeling a variety of digital tools and platforms with students at various times during in-seat instruction since the start of school.
• There are two major components of distance learning that will differ from last spring.
• The school day schedule for distance learning will be exactly the same as the in-seat school day schedule. Students will engage daily in a variety of instructional activities and will follow the same bell schedule.
• Expectations will be communicated by teachers using Google Classroom.
• Unlike last spring, the grades students earn on assignments during distance learning will count the same as if students were in-seat and be included in the quarter grades recorded on report cards.
• Middle school staff is working to determine which students will need MiFi devices in order to access their school work virtually.
• A breakfast and lunch for Friday, October 9th will be available for students to take home tomorrow (Thursday, October 8th) at the end of school.
• Beginning on Tuesday, October 13th, meals will be made available for pick-up between 11:00 am-1:00 pm at the drop-off location for morning car riders. These meals will follow the regularly scheduled lunch menu.
• Middle school activities will continue with normal operations and practice and game schedules.