Parents/Guardians

• I have been fortunate to not have experienced any challenges Due to Covid. My son is very discipline and is actually enjoying the online school.

Students

• I've had a very positive experience since beginning distance learning

Administration

• To date this year, zoom attendance has improved. Perfect attendance improved from 27% in October to 36% in January. Contributing factors which seem to have made a difference for the majority are admin making home-visits and phone calls. Attendance incentives are given out monthly via a drive-thru pick-up. Attendance has also improved for students who have returned to our cohorts. Parents with multiple children seem to be dealing with distance learning much better now. This might be because we are reaching out providing tutorials and in-person assistance. Office staff has learned to navigate technology and troubleshoot. We’ve found that the collaboration with parents is necessary for overall success.

Teachers

• -N/A-

Community

• -N/A-

Parents/Guardians

• I appreciate the parent square app. It is very helpful for attendance. I have concerns about requiring students to have screens on and the multiple levels of engagement tracked. It makes sense to invest for professional learning for staff in supporting them with strategic engagement techniques and trauma informed practices to enable and empower them to support students rather than the critical practices of charting their engagement on screen.

• It is frustrating as a parent to help students. It is helpful when teachers take the time to dialogue with students and see where they need help

• Want to see if there is a way for students who are in same class to do online learning as a group instead of alone if that’s a possibility so they can interact a lot more

• Increased professional learning for all staff to support students with engagement techniques

• I firmly believe the key to attendance is the parents. It may be beneficial to conduct root-cause interviews with parents of disengaged students about the reason why their students are not engaged? My third grader suggests more incentives for good attendance. I suggest getting students on campus as much as possible. It has really helped moral in our home the last two weeks. I also want to compliment our two teachers. I don’t know if all teachers are using their methods on zoom, but they ‘mix it up,’ engage the students and are very understanding of technical issues. I am thoroughly impressed with them. I have also heard that some teachers are struggling/discouraged right now. I suggest listening to what they need.

• My child has ADHD and I have found that distance learning has helped her a lot in focusing in her classes due to her constant distraction from social groups. I only request that teachers force students to have cameras turned on at all times during class and if a student has an excuse about a camera not working, the device must be checked by the school and be given an excuse letter for each student that has that particular issue. Distance learning should be used as a tool for the future for school suspension to avoid not having a child not attend school, which could affect the school financially.

• Any courses that require physical movements (like Dance or PE) need to be restructured to include an in-person test (or recording) to ensure participation.

Students

• -N/A-

Administration

• Additional experiences that support attendance include building relationships with students. Teachers need to make connections with their students.

• I wonder if more staff development providing on-line engagement would be a good investment.

• Conduct parent workshops regarding the importance of attendance/engagement. Create/expand incentives/recognition initiatives to motivate both students and families. We do have many students and families who are doing their part when considering current circumstances. Increase Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) support for students.

• Considering current attendance/engagement issues related to COVID, we should look into addressing graduation requirement adjustments, and have plans to address the learning loss for our most at risk students.

Teachers

• Consider prioritizing "non-engaged" students for cohort return, and social-emotional counseling if desired. Although I only give two assignments a week, and I go over the entire assignment during the first 45 of zoom, I would like to know how to reach those students who are not engaged, and I would like to know the district’s support to these ends.

• The more we can make the environment and the interaction like the normal classroom, as impossible as that might be, the more interaction seems to occur. During warm-ups, participation is good, but when things slow down or become teacher driven, participation drops. Utilizing breakout rooms in short increments and then having share outs as a group, seem to have positive results in my classroom, not what we want them to be, but in the positive direction.

• It appears that the engagement issues centers on the same students. It would be nice to hear what other school sites are doing to address the needs of students who are not engaged.

Community

• Inform students to log in prior to the start of school so they can be on time. For example, my daughter starts school at 8:30. Have her log in at 8:15

Parents/Guardians

• It is difficult to stay focused and motivated.

• Struggling with going to work and leaving kids to do online learning

• This year has been difficult for my high school student to stay engaged and wanting to be in class each day. We have tried to have a space in our house where she can work without distractions but that is difficult since we have two other children online also.

• My grandson is having a difficult time, as time goes by, feeling motivated and engaged. I notice his teachers are doing their very best to create activities and lessons to keep students engaged. However, I can see that my grandson is becoming apathetic if not depressed. The other thing is that the technology or Zoom links are unreliable some days which leads to frustration since it causes him to either miss a class or instructions.

• My third grader shares that it is difficult to focus on zoom for extended periods of time. He really enjoys when his teacher brings in art or science, which she does regularly.

• My first grader’s teacher is FANTASTIC at involving students on zoom. My son will still get distracted, but he enjoys zoom school and I have seen his reading dramatically improve.

• Our teachers have really made this experience a good one for us. We still prefer in-person learning, but their dedication and creativity have shined and made a huge difference for their students. Go Westfield!!

• The experience that I have with my children regarding attendance, sometimes we have problems with the internet.

• It is hard to motivate and keeps kids focused.

• We are doing the best we can do.

• My son is in high school and there are occasions when the teacher does not let him enter and he remains waiting for them to host him. And the teacher reports him as absent.

• Many students as they are in class but it is not known if they do not turn on their cameras. I think it should be mandatory for students to motivate themselves

Students

• I believe motivation is key in order to keep up with attendance. It can be difficult to focus or put in effort from home for many. I believe if students wish for the success and have the motivation to do good it wouldn't be a problem.

• In order to improve student attendance, it may be ideal to increase motivation. There are many students who struggle to start each day on a positive note, which may decrease their productivity. If student motivation is improved, they may be more willing to try their best and engage in class.

• Engagement is a difficult to improve when students don't have any motivation, but I have found that when teachers have a consistent schedule for assignments and lectures it gets easier for students to participate and engage in the zooms and assignments.

• Students are having a hard time finding the motivation to continue to be on their computers for such a long period of time and because of this they are struggling to attend classes and keep pushing forward through the homework, class, and year.

• As a student, most classmates attend class. However, there are multiple who may lack engagement (screens are off), they are kicked out of zoom because of internet issues, or they leave after being marked as "present."

• Since distance learning began, I have noticed that it has become far more difficult to focus and engage on my school work/zoom class sessions.

Administration

• We have had a difficult time to get students to engage in the learning. Of those students who are struggling, we notice a pattern of not turning in the work.

• One of the biggest challenges with attendance is trying to get a small group of students on their class Zooms every day. Our efforts to collaborate with some parents continues, but is challenging at times. A close working relationship with parents is considered an asset, especially during COVID.

• The guidelines for student "attendance" have changed due to COVID. Students who shows up only briefly for class, and then leave, are at jeopardy of not doing well on assignments and assessments

• Challenges for students include variations in homelife, degrees of instructional/educational support at home, and additional responsibilities for students (care for other siblings, chores, etc.) Students are experiencing challenges with their social emotional well being, and this affects their motivation to attend school. Due to factors related to COVID, some parents are faced with new challenges, such as struggling financially which adds stress. Some parents now juggle 2 jobs for the first time, which can be a challenge as well. It can be very challenging for teachers to engage students remotely . This challenge, along with the added stress onto parents, makes teaching a challenge.

• During distance-learning, attendance has been a major component of where we have focused our efforts. Our site regularly make phone calls, home visit and reach out to students and families to get them connected through distance-learning, and attempt to develop an understanding of the impact that attendance has on their students' educational career.

• As an administrator, one challenge that has increased due to school closure has been student attendance during distance learning. In speaking to families whose child has excessive absences, the story is very similar for many. Working families do not have a reliable person to get their children onto Zooms. Younger children cannot navigate the different platforms and a babysitter or elderly grandparent does not know how to navigate either. Internet connection has been an issue for many families as well. Issuing hotspots for families has greatly helped, yet we still have families who continue to experience slow connection. In addition, home environments vary, and all students have different learning experiences.

• This year has been more of a challenge, in particular, because of the degree that engagement plays into attendance is greater than ever. With distant learning, we have kids who are "gaming the system" by logging in and not engaging, and even walking away, or leaving. This is documented by teachers. One concern is that students who follow this pattern are not learning. This causes frustration for teachers and parents alike, even though the site conducts home visits to the homes of these students. Some phone calls are problematic, in part due to incorrect phone numbers, or non-answers. Parent collaboration is valued when considering the needs of their children. Administration

• Conduct parent workshops regarding the importance of attendance/engagement. Create/expand ncentives/recognitioninitiatives to motivate both students and families. We do have many students and families who are doing their part when considering current circumstances. Increase Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) support for students

• Considering current attendance/engagement issues related to COVID, we should look into addressing graduation requirement adjustments, and have plans to address the learning loss for our most at risk students.

Teachers

• Positives: Different student modality; Negatives: lack of supervision of students Teacher

• Students struggle with their new learning environment, and thes has an affect on their learning. There may be distractions, such as family, siblings, and other outside distractions. I find making connections with students and having empathy for the situation they are in, helps them become more engaged. They also seem to respond to being acknowledged when they are participating effectively, as well. Teacher

• Different modalities (video) allow students who struggled previously in an in person class to go through the Zoom recordings on their own time or at a later date and play, pause and repeat as many times as they'd like.

• The lack of supervision of students includes their unwillingness to turn on cameras, thus not knowing the status of their safety, attention and or motivation. Are they tuned in? Or are they just a blank screen?

Community

• Attendance was little hard at times when zoom times or reading times would change. Also, my parents didn't have internet so I had to stay home with my kids to have access.

Parents/Guardians

• I really don't know what can help other than school going back to the way it was.

• What can we do about barriers when you have made phone calls and home visits. How do we get those students to login, attend, and participate?

Students

• -N/A-

Administration

• In order to improve attendance we need to strive to have students in classes longer.

• In-person learning at the elementary level has been beneficial for many students in need of intervention and who have not been successful with remote learning. Parents have expressed the need for a longer in-person day.

• Teachers documenting that students are present and not engaged, and then messaging that to families, appears not to be increasing the engagement rates.

Teachers

• N/A

Community

• N/A