Sikeston Senior High School

The unforeseen events of the last few weeks have placed our country in a situation of historic significance as we address the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation has created a lot of questions and few answers as all of us struggle with this new, temporary reality where we’ve found ourselves.

In an ideal situation, our faculty and staff would have spent months preparing for a move to this Alternative Method of Instruction, but time did not allow for this level of planning. Instead we’ve had two weeks to prepare to move learning from the physical locations of our schools to learning in each of your homes.

In developing the implementation plan, we placed a priority on the fact that each of you have life situations you are facing while you work to keep your families safe or adjust to the new realities in which we find ourselves.

You may notice the assignments for each week are limited. The grading when grades will be taken are very parent and student friendly and we will be attempting to identify the barriers that your child might have to participating in the activities and assignments and to work with you on overcoming these barriers.

We have struggled and currently continue to struggle with the lack of contact with all of our students. Our first priority has been in providing meals to students who were accustomed to receiving breakfast and lunch at school each week. Now, we are expanding to re-establish the contact with our students and their parents and to be a support in continued learning during our time of closure.

However, we do want to stress to all of our parents and students that we are also adjusting to the unique situations in which we find ourselves. Most of us are working from our homes. We are collaborating in online meetings. In addition, we are attempting to also keep our families safe. It is truly a stressful time for all of us.

We ask for patience as we continue to reconnect with each of you and implement the Alternative Method of Instruction. It continues to be a work in progress, but we are excited to be working academically with you again.

The following paragraphs explain the plan that we’ve established through April 20 and beyond if necessary. As adjustments are made to address the pandemic, we will make adjustments as well. If parents or students have questions, feel free to reach out to teachers, principals or the Board of Education office.

Students will receive one assignment/activity per week for each subject/course in which they are enrolled. Teachers will collaborate to create this one assignment/activity so that all teachers in a course or grade are making the same assignment. For example all first graders within a building will be doing the same assignment or all the English II teachers would make the same assignment or activity.

Elective classes will also provide one weekly assignment/activity per grade level/course.

Grades 7-12

In grades 7-12, teachers will post their assigned assignments/activities on their teacher webpage. In grades PreK-6, a web page is being constructed that will give parents a quick link to the activities/assignments for the week. This page will be updated by 11:00 AM on Monday mornings.

Phase Two

In phase one of this work, we'll establish connection with those who have access to the internet and access to a device. We realize there will be students who have barriers to this type of interaction.

In phase two, we will be attempting to contact the parents of students with whom we’ve not been able to make contact. Our goal will be to identify barriers to participation and to make every effort to remove these barriers.

There will likely be instances where the online delivery of assignments/activities will not be a possible delivery method for students to access their assignments. In these instances, we will ask teachers to provide a paper/pencil activity or assignment that might be picked up at school (curbside delivery) or delivered through our meal distribution method. We are not limited to a paper/pencil delivery method for the distribution of assignments/activities. It may be that a phone call may be made with instructions or that we may come up with an unforeseen manner to distribute these assignments or activities.

Offline Assignments

Teachers may choose to provide offline assignments especially at the lower grade levels. These assignments may be uploaded to Google Drive for parents or students to download. In instances where students are not able to download the information, parents may arrange to pick up the materials at the schools (curbside pickup) or delivered through our meal distribution method.

From April 6 until April 17, feedback on assignments will be given to students, but no grades will be taken. Teachers may allow students to redo a previous assignment and adjust the student’s grade or allow students to complete missing assignments and adjust student’s grades during this time period. .

If the school closure is extended beyond April 17, teachers will use current grades for students and their final 4th quarter grade will not be any lower than their current grade for the course. However teachers will grade current assignments and use these grades in calculation of the 4th quarter grade if by doing so the student’s grade increases. The end result is that assignments/activities cannot harm a student’s grade, but could help them improve a student’s final grade.

Teachers are required to have a two hour office hour window daily for students and/or parents to contact them if necessary with questions or for assistance with assignments and activities. This two hour window will be posted on the District Lesson Plan Page.

Teachers will monitor their email during the time and may choose to be online on Facebook or Twitter. Teachers may also choose to be available at this time through Google Classroom or ClassDojo. In addition, teachers may call parents who request to have a conversation with a teacher.

1. Will elementary teachers make assignments in Science and Social Studies?

Yes, teachers will make assignments or activities in science and social studies. Teachers may choose to make assignments that address multiple core areas.

2. My child is an AP student, will there be only one assignment per week?

Yes and no. Teachers will only assign one required assignment or activity per week, but additional optional assignments or activities may be assigned and your students are encouraged to complete additional assignments which will prepare them for the upcoming AP assessments.

3. Will Dual Credit classes only have one assignment/activity per week?

No. The assigned activities and assignments will meet the requirements of the university from which the Dual Credit is offered and may exceed the one assignment per week limit.

4. Will all elementary teachers of one grade level need to have the same assignments?

For example, do all 2nd grade teachers at Lee Hunter, Wing, and Southeast, need to make the same assignments?

No, the assignments for each individual grade level in a building need to be the same, but teachers are not required to make the same assignments across all buildings.