Fort Worth K-12 school among first in DFW to start online classes due to coronavirus
Monday was deemed “bring your pet to class” day in Hannah Hatcher’s sophomore English course. So the 16-year-old scooped up her family’s gray tabby cat, Winnie, and got situated in her room in front of her computer.
It would be unthinkable on a normal school day for every student in her class to bring a small animal with them.
But this wasn’t a normal school day.
All Saints’ Episcopal School in Fort Worth has shifted to virtual learning for at least the next two weeks due to the coronavirus, and is among the first in the Dallas-Fort Worth region to do so. As students in other area schools have been on extended spring breaks, waiting for the word from administrators on the path forward, the Age 3-Grade 12 All Saints’ Episcopal has wasted no time taking classes online. Students are using software they’ve become familiar with in classes such as Google Classroom or Seesaw.
The Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth also began online learning on Monday. Other private schools, including Fort Worth Country Day and Trinity Valley School announced plans to start online learning Wednesday.
Each morning since Monday, Hatcher has logged into her computer to check what lessons and assignments her teachers have given her. Some virtual classes are based around a teacher’s video lessons and written instructions, while other classes utilize Zoom video conferencing so every member of the class can see each other, connected through their screens.
Hatcher said the transition is “not as hard as one might think” since they already knew how to use the different apps and websites. She expects having school at home could get old, she said, but for now she’s enjoying having classes with her two sisters, mother, cat and two dogs nearby.
“I think everybody’s kind of handling this in their own way,” she said over the phone Wednesday. “For me, it’s not too difficult to not be in the classroom with them. I mean, it may be difficult going into next week where we get assigned more once we all figure this out.”
Her mother, Marci Kramer, 44, said it’s been fun to have all three of her girls, including her senior and her third-grader, at home. But she knows it could be difficult.
“Not being able to interact with their friends and their teachers they’ve been with all this time — it’s hard,” she said.
The unprecedented decision by All Saints’ Episcopal to move classes online could be a model for other local schools as the country continues to grapple with the far-reaching impacts of COVID-19. Kansas has shut down all schools for the rest of the school year, Florida has canceled state testing and other states are considering their own drastic measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Students at All Saints’ Episcopal were informed on Thursday of the new class format and teachers began modifying their lessons at that time, according to a press release from the school. The change has led to some interesting assignments — walking the “Great Wall of China,” aka 13 flights of stairs; recording pieces of music from home so a teacher can review them and taking a virtual field trip the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
“From an internal process standpoint, we have been preparing for a scenario such as this for several years and we are excited to flex our creativity to support our students,” All Saints’ Episcopal CFO Becky Grimmer said in the release.
Parents and students who spoke with the Star-Telegram on Wednesday said kids received emails from their different teachers before Monday about what to expect. They check their various portals each day for assignments, which almost look like Facebook posts where people can leave comments. Teachers can track students’ progress.
Students in grades 6 through 8 have already been issued laptops and students in other grades are expected to use their own devices, according to school spokesperson Meg Hasten. If someone doesn’t have access to a device, they can get in touch with their “division head,” who can provide them with an extra iPad or laptop.
Many of the daily assignments have later deadlines so students can have a little freedom with their days, which are now spent almost entirely at home.
‘It’s slowed down the pace of our life’
Nicole Brown’s fifth-grade daughter and seventh-grade son were outside on Wednesday afternoon, tossing a frisbee back and forth.
The siblings have been limited to spending time with each other and their parents as their family socially distances to try to avoid catching the coronavirus. Nicole, 40, is a stay-at-home mom and her husband has been working from home. They have been having family ping-pong nights and movie nights.
Each day Nicole makes sure her kids are up by 9 a.m. so they can begin school — her daughter is at their computer and her son likes to take his laptop into her bed, his favorite spot. She also wants them to have fun.
“It’s slowed down the pace of our life,” Nicole said of having her kids at home. “We’re taking the social distancing very seriously. Our family of four — we’re only hanging out with each other. So I reflect almost daily about how grateful I am that I like and enjoy our little family unit.”
Her fifth-grader, Lexie Brown, 11, said online school is “fun because I don’t have to be at school.” She’s also liked her new lessons, including one where she used emojis to rank her feelings about different items.
“I like emojis a lot,” she said with a laugh.
Kramer, whose husband has still been reporting to his job in Weatherford for the time being, has spent a lot more time with her three girls during the day. It’s been interesting, she said, to have to “get creative” to come up with activities to fill all the time they have.
Still, she said it’s been hard for everyone, including her senior student who’s missing out on the end of her final school year.
But she’s glad they’re able to at least continue school.
“It means a lot, especially with a senior and her going off essentially on her own next year,” Kramer said. “I am just so proud of what the school has done for them and preparing them to handle changes and adapt to them.”
The school has said parents and students will know by the end of next week the status of future classes.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 6:17 PM.
