Tips for success in Wichita Falls ISD's School@Home programs, beginning week of March 30

Wichita Falls ISD will soon dive into school at home programs as the push continues to combat COVID-19. A top district educator offered tips and information to students and parents to navigate the sweeping changes coming soon. 

Associate Superintendent Peter Griffiths said WFISD is poised to roll out school at home — both the online and low tech versions  — the week of March 30.

The effort to prepare involves over 1,000 teachers and 14,000 students during the school closure extended through April 10 by the district. 

"It’s enormous, and we're doing it in basically three days," Griffiths said Friday morning.

Gov. Greg Abbott's order to close Texas schools triggered an urgency to quickly create a website for School@Home and a drop-off system for the low-tech paper version, School@HomeDelivers.

The school closure was slated through April 3. But WFISD announced Friday that the district was keeping schools shuttered through April 10 in light of the development of two weeks of lessons for School@Home. 

District educators will continue creating lessons in two-week increments, providing updates every Friday, officials said.

WFISD will let students and parents know as soon as possible if the school closure is to stretch further, officials said. 

“We are making plans for an extended time period. We have to just in case," Griffiths said.  

It's uncertain whether Abbott will reopen schools as coronavirus cases climb across the Lone Star State. 

Texas was at 1,658 confirmed cases with 24 deaths Friday morning, Griffiths said, citing numbers provided by Johns Hopkins University.

At this time last week, the state had 307 cases, he said.

When does school at home begin?

Griffiths said the new School@Home website goes live Monday. Delivery of paper packets for the low tech version is planned to begin Wednesday.

For School@HomeDelivery, bus drivers will drop off paper packets to kids' homes, he said.

The system for schoolwork will be similar to WFISD's free meal deliveries except the paper packets will go right to the students' doors, he said. 

Students using packets will either take pictures of their completed schoolwork and email them to teachers or have phone conversations about with them, Griffiths said. 

And while the school at home programs might reach students differently, they will contain comparable materials, he said. 

Parents and students should check WFISD's social media accounts and www.wfisd.net for updates and a link to the new website for School@Home on Monday. 

Griffiths noted that WFISD doesn't just teach kids but is also a huge part of the community.

"If we can do this well, it will help the community overall," he said. 

Tips for success

He had five tips for parents and students as WFISD sails into new waters with an unprecedented short time to prepare: 

Be flexible. "Things will change," Griffiths said. WFISD tapped into the experience of other Texas school districts that preceded Wichita Falls in beginning school at home. But educators will be assessing what works and what doesn't. 

Give grace. That means give yourself, your children and your teachers permission to make mistakes because they will happen.

For instance, parents should give themselves "permission to say, OK, I could not get my kid to get online. We could not figure out how to turn on the microphone," Griffiths said. This change is happening fast, and school was never 100% perfect. 

Develop a structure. WFISD educators believe parents and students still need structure, so the district will provide a daily schedule for students.

Posted on the School@Home website, it will provide parents with leverage to get kids going. But it's somewhat flexible since parents might need to deal with another obligation.

Be patient. "I think this is going to be one of those things where we’re going to probably run into some bumps, but as a community we’ll be fine," Griffiths said. "And we’ll be stronger after all of this."  

Be positive. "You can’t just turn off the emotions. I get that," Griffiths said. "But allow yourself to say, 'OK, I might be anxious, but it’s going to be OK because it usually does turn out to be OK." There will be issues, but just keep on going. 

Face-to-face online 

The district will use Google Meet for students who can get on the Internet, Griffiths said. 

The videoconferencing app works with the devices across the board from cell phones to Macs and Chromebooks. 

Campuses already using a platform such as ClassDojo can stick with it, Griffiths said. 

“One thing that we have said is #Nothingnew," he said. 

District officials didn’t want to introduce a brand new program if kids, parents and staff are already using another one, Griffiths said. 

It's worth noting the district will require students to be dressed appropriately for face-to-face sessions online. 

Griffiths said he used videoconferencing tools for 25 online meetings in a recent week, and that will be the new reality for teachers, too. 

Teachers were expected to continue reaching out to kids Friday to find out what they need for school at home, Griffiths said. 

WFISD requested that parents use a Google form provided on www.wfisd.net and the district's Facebook and Twitter pages to update contact information if a teacher hasn't been in touch yet.  

"I know that we’re going to be playing catch up and trying to find people," he said.

Come Monday, the district will begin turning to counselors or social workers to help find kids that teachers still can't reach, Griffiths said. 

Meeting needs during the pandemic

In addition, WFISD is setting up a hotline button so kids can click on it and get in touch with a counselor for needs other than academic ones, he said. 

A form is available online to request assistance for a child needing help with stress, anxiety, other emotional needs and social services. 

"School fulfilled a lot of needs for our kids and our parents," Griffiths said. "Now that’s all of a sudden gone. That’s hard, so we’re trying to find ways that we can still help the community."  

The district aims to meet nutritional needs Monday through Friday with a free meal distribution program that offers grab-and-go meals at 10 school sites and delivers them along certain bus routes.

Children don't have to be present for parents to pick up their kids' meals. 

More:UPDATE: WFISD parents can pick up kids' meals during COVID-19 closing, bus routes added

In any case, Griffiths is going through much the same thing as other WFISD parents. 

"I’ve gotten phone calls from both of my kids’ teachers, and that was good," Griffiths said. 

His teens have already looked into their Google classrooms and at assignments. 

“They’re anxious to see what this look likes," Griffiths said.

But as high school students, they're more independent, he said. 

Griffiths said WFISD is hearing from people who want to volunteer, for instance, by helping pass out the free meals or with their delivery along bus routes. 

"It just warms your heart when you hear so many people wanting to help out the kids," he said. 

Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news, politics and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.