Education at Dr. Walter Cooper Academy, during the Pandemic

RES News - Tutoring Team

Education at Dr. Walter Cooper Academy, during the Pandemic…

With a “No Visitors” policy in place at all Rochester City Schools, the RES Tutoring Team will not be able to resume its good work at Dr. Walter Cooper Academy (RCSD School #10) (DWCA) in the foreseeable future.

The original plan for the Fall 2020 re-opening of #10 School was for a “Hybrid” protocol (two “cohorts” of students (“A” & “B”), each attending inperson two days a week and at home in a virtual learning environment, the other two days).

However, due to Covid-19 safety concerns for students, faculty and their respective families, this plan was changed, early last month, to one in which all learning, at all grade levels in the RCSD will be virtual, for the first ten weeks of this school year.

So, for the next few(?) months, we will be presenting a series of articles on “Education at Dr. Walter Cooper Academy during the Pandemic”. You may already know what’s happening in your own home school district, via your children and grandchildren, this series is intended to keep you enlightened and informed on what’s happening at “Our School” and also in the Rochester City School District. On my way to gathering information for the first few articles in this series, I reached out to Dr. Lia Festenstein, the new Community School Site Coordinator at Dr. Walter Cooper Academy. She took time from her busy (first week of school) schedule to respond to several questions I posed on the #10 School student body, their access to the hardware & software necessary for virtual learning and the expectations for student participation in this “new” learning environment. My sincere thanks to Dr. Festenstein for these thoughtful responses…

What is the size of this year's DWCA student body, by Grade level?

Total Enrollment: 320

How many DWCA students have the necessary equipment, and internet access, to allow them to participate?

All K-6 students have been assigned a Chromebook. If they shared that they did not have internet access they were also provided a MiFi by the district. On 9/11/20, DWCA held a “Meet and Greet” for parents to stop by the school and pick up a “Learning Bag” for their student. Each Learning Bag contained the assigned computer if they did not already have one, a MiFi if requested, and materials prepared by their teachers for the first ten weeks of school. This varied by teacher and grade, but typically contained items like workbooks for the ELA program, math manipulatives, etc. Each set of parents came during their “assigned time” so that it was possible to remain socially distant, and the event was held outside in the parking lot. Parents and children were able to meet their new teachers “live” at this event, and could ask any questions they might have had.

How many of these students have been "regularly" participating in the remote learning process?

We are only in week #1 of remote learning, so it is difficult to actually gauge what long term participation will look like. Also, we are still getting Chromebooks to some families that either had broken ones, or were unable to pick up one at School, for whatever reason. Over 70% of our Cooper Scholars have logged in during this first week. I anticipate that the numbers will change over the next couple of weeks, as we get into a routine.

How are you able to measure/confirm this participation?

At elementary school, teachers are using SeeSaw or Google Classroom and Zoom as their learning platforms. Most teachers require that students turn on their cameras at some point to actually view a student, and then students also turn in work electronically, so we also have that as a record. Again, we are only in week #1. So, in a few weeks, I will be able to give

Pre K 3 yr olds - 14 Grade 1 - 55 Grade 4 - 53

Pre K 4 yr olds - 14 Grade 2 - 53 Grade 5 - 47

Kindergarten - 40 Grade 3 - 49 Grade 6 - 66

you more consistent information.

Is there a follow-up process for ensuring that ALL DWCA students will eventually be able to participate in the remote learning process?

We look at attendance every day, just as we did when we were here, inperson. Almost all students have their technology at this point, and there are just a few stragglers for whom we are personally delivering equipment to their homes. All students have access to a Chromebook, and if they have their own internet that’s great, but if not, we provide all students who need one with a MiFi device.

What have been some of the challenges for the students (who are actually connected) and for their teachers in making the remote learning process work?

There are so many challenges… • Finding a quiet place to do school work, in a busy home. • Not being distracted by your environment (for both kids and adults). • Developing connections with each other, virtually. • And, there are always technology issues (unstable internet, hiccups with different platforms, etc.).

These are issues that plague everyone in this virtual learning environment; they are not unique to Dr. Walter Cooper Academy, though they are a constant topic of conversation.

We continue to seek options for connecting with families and students, in ways that are meaningful, and still keep us all safe.

Questions??? Reach out to RES Past President Lee Loomis and the RES Tutoring Team at…Rochester Engineering Society, (585) 254-2350,via website: www.roceng.org, or via email:

leeloomis46@gmail.com, (585) 738-3079 (mobile & text)

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| The ROCHESTER ENGINEER OCTOBER 2020 res news - tutoring