Distance Learning

Dear SPA Families,

As you know, the unprecedented challenges of the moment require that SPA embrace the world of distance learning. On Wednesday, April 1, your children will meet with their teachers and advisors and classes will start on Thursday, April 2.

While developing a curriculum for distance learning, several questions informed our deliberations. What are the essential skills and knowledge that should be central parts of courses and classes? What are the quintessential features of SPA’s pedagogical approach that should inform our classes? How do we finish the year and ensure that our students are ready for promotion to the next grade? How do we embed our community’s mission, rituals, and routines in this new phase of school?

Answering these questions has pushed our faculty and leadership to dissect our curriculum and ask searching and fresh questions about who we are, what we do, and how we do it. Their work has yielded impressive results. We have retained the sturdy heart of the SPA experience.

Studying and learning in the virtual classroom will be a collaborative and challenging experience, where students will continue to develop their skills as critical thinkers in a collaborative setting inspired by a challenging curriculum. The program is framed by a somewhat familiar schedule and a very familiar culture, both of which will enable us to sustain and nurture supportive relationships between teachers and students which are a defining ingredient of our school.

Preserving as much continuity between our program in distance learning and school as we traditionally know it will be crucial to our success. Students will continue to receive grades, and teachers and the academic leadership team are evaluating different approaches for assessing and understanding students’ progress. We will evaluate students in ways that will offer them the best and fairest opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned while working from home.

In the attached teaching guide, you will see references to synchronous and asynchronous learning. Synchronous refers to teachers and students working together in real time in one-on-one tutorials, class meetings, or in small groups. In the Lower School, synchronous learning will be introduced over the first two weeks, during which time teachers will work with students through videoed lessons and activities on Seesaw. Synchronous meetings and classes will be virtual versions of experiences that are hallmarks of SPA’s program. The same will be true of asynchronous sessions, which refer to students working independently at the direction of the teacher and with resources provided by the teacher. Distance learning will include important components of off-line asynchronous learning opportunities, much like the homework we customarily assign to students.

Based on our experience as educators, advice from colleagues around the country, and research in neuroscience, we elected not to replicate our traditional class schedule. For any of our students, consecutive days of hours in front of a computer screen would be counterproductive and unhealthy. Students’ schedules will be a blend of class meetings, small group gatherings, and individual tutorials with teachers, all of which will be supplemented with homework assignments.

Social networks and friends are vital components of a student’s life at school. Helping students remain connected to their fellow students and SPA in customary and familiar ways will also be important. We have included different opportunities for students to gather as a community. The definition and configuration of these meetings will vary by division: there will be assemblies in the Lower School; advisories and divisional meetings in the Middle School; and advisories, assemblies, and clubs in the Upper School.

SPA is frequently the hub of our students’ social world and we want this to continue. Students who feel a sense of purposeful connection will be healthier and much more inclined to enthusiastically embrace the academic opportunities and challenges that await them.

SPA is ready to embark on its first foray into distance learning. I hope that the virtual rendition of SPA will provide comfort and certainty for you and your children in a time of social tumult. This will be an iterative process. We will adapt and change our model as we learn the best way to bring SPA into your home. I encourage you to consult our new Distance Learning website, created to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the program, or to contact your division principal or me directly if you have questions.

I appreciate your support and know that our strength as a community will be a decided asset in the months ahead. Take care and I trust that you and your families are safe and well.

Best wishes,

Bryn S. Roberts

Head of School