MCPS Goes Online First Semester

By Kirsten Wheeler

On Mar. 13, schools all over the country closed their doors to the public due to the vast spread of COVID-19. Instruction was to be online for two weeks, then for the rest of the school year. When the decision was made to make the remainder of the school year online, there was hope that things could get back to normal the following year. Now the 2020-21 school year starts anew in the now-familiar environment of students’ homes.

On Aug. 6, MCPS officially approved the virtual only model to take place through the first semester, until Jan. 29, 2021. But this year’s online learning environment will be different from what MCPS students got acclimated to five months ago. While the previous format was put together in just two weeks as an emergency response to the fresh outbreak of the pandemic, this new format has been brewing all summer long, providing more structure.

The Draft Recovery Guide has been released by MCPS (which can be found on their website), going in-depth on what to expect in this non-traditional start to the school year. As opposed to simply logging on to complete assignments emailed by teachers, with the occasional Zoom meetings, there will be live instruction of full class periods. This means that there will be an actual schedule, with classes assigned for certain times. Schedules will vary depending on the level of education, from Pre-K to high school, and form of education, such as ESOL, ALO, and Special Education.

Middle and high school students will share the same schedule format, which will be a block schedule instead of the usual seven period a day schedule. Mondays and Thursdays will contain periods one, three, five, and seven. Tuesdays and Fridays will contain periods two, four, six, and eight. Each period will be an hour long, with 10 minute breaks in between each period, plus an hour long “lunch and wellness break.” Wednesdays, however will look different, with the first half of the day being reserved for independent work, followed by periods one through eight for the rest of the day, each lasting 20 minutes. Instruction will begin at 9:00am each day.

Because each student at Einstein only has seven periods, it is unclear what will be done in place of an eighth period. That time may be reserved for extra curricular meetings, extra study time for individual classes, or “additional support or team collaboration” according to the county’s draft recovery plan.

Attendance will also be more closely monitored this fall. Although there are no specific details as to how this will be achieved, the guide indicates three options of marking attendance - attending live Zoom classes, completing a student check-in via MyMCPS Classroom, or participating in an online discussion thread, also via MyMCPS Classroom.

As for grades, there is little known except the intention of following a “traditional grading system” with possible modifications, which have not been specified.

While there is now a secure plan for the fall there remains a lot of uncertainty for the spring. The guide concludes with briefly addressing what may happen, depending on the level of virus spread in the community, with plans including phasing in students by grade as the weeks progress as well as blended virtual learning.