The Cheltenham School District is committed to designing the most effective methods
and systems available in the district for the continuation of our high-quality education despite the exceptional circumstances of the full school closure in the state of Pennsylvania. The purpose of this document is to outline how CSD will offer a Distance Learning model for the continuation of the educational program. Much of the Distance Learning will involve Asynchronous Learning. An Asynchronous Learning Environment is a learning environment that does not require participants, teachers, and students to be online at the same time. With varying availability to technology within each household, our intention is to create a Distance Learning Plan that makes it possible for families to adjust to the shared usage of technology within the home. We have also kept in mind the many responsibilities the parents in our community have outside of being a support system for their students’ at-home learning. As such, the Distance Learning Plan will strike a balance between making progress on learning outcomes and keeping the learning challenges reasonable so that students have a high chance for success. Distance learning will present “unique challenges” and will require patience, understanding, and cooperation from the district, our families, and students. Our level of ease with a distance learning program will naturally evolve as we utilize it more often.
This CSD Distance Learning Plan will define the following:
Implementation Procedure to conduct school remotely until the resumption of normal operations;
The expectations required of both teachers and families for the successful continuation of student learning and family communication; and,
The District plans that address developmentally appropriate and meaningful student learning experiences.
The following CSD Distance Learning Plan is designed to address the following scenario:
Asynchronous learning to ensure the opportunity to learn for all students;
Synchronous engagements when possible to support learning and socio-emotional well-being of students through real-time engagements as identified;
Limited and/or variable online access to technology and internet for some students;
Extended flexible timeline for Distance Learning delivery;
A commitment to monitoring and improvement of this plan and the student experience during the time of its implementation.