The definition of daily work at FASNY includes both synchronous and asynchronous activities. Live class gatherings are synchronous, when the teacher and students will be working together at the same time, reviewing material, introducing new work, ensuring everyone is on the same page in a given class and building connections. Activities posted on and through Seesaw (including Google Classroom) are asynchronous. Students will be working on their own time, reading and writing, conducting research, engaging in learning apps, reviewing recorded lectures or collaborating on projects with peers. Teachers assess and respond to student work in real time throughout the day in addition to preparing asynchronous activities.

Wednesday is a "catch up day" and an independent reading day. There is no new work assigned on Wednesdays.

• Join from a quiet spot in your home and do not move around

• Avoid drinking and eating during class sessions

• Mute yourself when you join the meeting

• Raise your hand to participate

• Watch and listen to the person who is speaking

• Stay in the screen frame

• Avoid distracting behaviors

• Use the chat box for questions to the teacher only

• Have your materials near so you are prepared

• Make sure your video is on so we can see your happy face!

Please note that students who disrupt an online class may be muted, turned off video or removed from the session at the teacher’s discretion. The integrity of synchronous sessions must be preserved for the benefit of the whole group.

Why have you decided to go full class and not stick to small groups?

When planning class activities, we need to keep in mind the fact that students have different levels of autonomy, maturity, and attention spans, based on their age and learning style. With this in mind, we understand that our elementary school students cannot follow what would be an efficient schedule at the middle school. As educators we plan program that is developmentally appropriate for each grade and its' different needs and capacities. For 4th and 5th grade students, a setting as a full class is a possibility. But for 1st graders, as an example, they need to practice receptive and expressive language concurrently in small groups as much as possible. We are adopting the model of full class with longer Zoom sessions for 4th and 5th graders so that they can all fully participate in whole group sessions.

Why English Zoom classes aren't increased?

We understand how important both languages are and we also understand that confinement puts an obvious constraint on resources. However, given the nature of our school, there is a real stake of keeping the connection to French language as much as possible. Also, our English colleagues, all teach two classes and from a logistical perspective, we need to remain considerate of this factor as they also spend valuable time recording videos, creating and posting activities and providing regular feedback to their students. In 4th and 5th grade more specifically, we have also revisited the breakdown of our English Zoom sessions so that there is a more frequent and regular exposure to English.

Are the zoom sessions always at the same time?

We did our best to harmonize the schedule, for instance, on Mondays and Fridays, it will be French only. Then, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, students will get both French and English so that we can increase the exposure to both languages as much as possible and make it more regular for English. We need to keep in mind that English teachers teach two different classes, and some at different grade levels. Teachers will communicate specific schedules directly to parents.

Why the Elementary students do not have as many Zoom sessions as their siblings at the Upper School?

Education is a path. One made of challenges. Education is about providing students with the tools, technics, knowledge, and strategies that will allow them to become independent lifelong learners. How students learn, their developmental stages inform how we teach and how we adapt our protocols. It comes with the understanding that we need to provide a tailored and personalized education experience. One that speaks to who our students are as learners at the Elementary school, and eventually at the Upper School. Education cannot be a one size fits all model - from Nursery through 12th grade - and needs to be adapted to the reality of students.

My child has completed their activities quite quickly, therefore, may not have anything to work on, on Wednesdays. Could the school give additional work on this day?

All students work at a different pace and we need to remain mindful of this. This partly explains why we decided to implement Wednesdays as a catch up day. It is also a way to provide students with the opportunity of having a "break" during the week. Actually, even when school is in session, Wednesday is already a half day for elementary students. Nevertheless, education is about differentiating, based on students' needs. Therefore, teachers will suggest additional activities that can be worked on on Wednesdays. As we explained, we need to value our partnership during this crisis. We have to respect all students' pace and cannot impose additional activities to students who need more time to complete activities from the previous days. Teachers can suggest and provide additional activities to those who may need more with the understanding that their parents support and reinforce positively this opportunity with their children.