The fidelity of our curriculum amid the COVID-19 crisis, consistency in assessment and grading, and professional development for design and delivery of virtual instruction were key factors in our planning for the 2020-21 school year. While our school communities are unique, we always want to ensure that our students are receiving the full depth and breadth of our curriculum. Unlike the end of last school year where assessment and grading were suspended, we are returning to a robust assessment and grading model for the 2020-21 school year; students will earn grades. Transitioning between in-person and virtual learning spaces is challenging, and we are heavily invested in providing our teachers with quality professional development for the design and delivery of instruction. Thus, the need to achieve all of this to scale - across the entire middle level - precipitated the decision to create a common daily schedule and school-year calendar.

Middle school students will have a six period schedule. These 6 courses will meet in a “block” schedule format. Each block will be 100 minutes and meet every other day. During a typical five-day school week, Blocks 1, 2, and 3 will meet on Mondays and Thursdays, and Blocks 4, 5, and 6 will meet on Tuesdays and Fridays.  Wednesdays will be virtual, asynchronous days in which students will be assigned independent coursework, extended learning opportunities, etc.

Middle schools will still offer Advisory as a “home base” for students where they will connect each day with a caring adult and group of peers within a space designed for personal connection, developing and maintaining positive, trusting relationships within their online classrooms.  Advisory lessons and activities will be designed so that students feel valued, significant and an integral member of their online classrooms.

The block schedule simplifies students’ daily routine and allows for a more manageable schedule by having fewer classes and transitions each day.  It also allows for a deeper dive into the content area by providing time for meaningful synchronous and asynchronous instruction and engagement during each class period.

Class discussion, small group activity, independent assignment time, and breaks will be woven into a rhythm of the instructional day that allows for varying learning modes; we understand that this is especially important given the virtual learning environment this fall. The middle school blocks allow time for a lesson cycle of approximately 45 - 50 minutes, and assignment/learning activity time of approximately 55 minutes. Some of this assignment/learning activity time will be asynchronous.

If you select A2 Student Link you can anticipate that your child will be in that program for the first semester.  At the end of the first semester you can select another program choice or you can opt for your child to remain in A2 Student Link for Semester 2.

If you choose A2 Classroom Connect you will NOT be forced to send your child back to school in person.  You will have the option of keeping your child home to continue their learning virtually via A2 Classroom Connect.

The A2 Classroom Connect classroom will, upon return to in-person school, be a hybrid classroom composed of both students who are joining in-person and those who are joining remotely. In the hybrid phase of return, 50% of students are participating in in-person learning while other 50% of students join virtually.  Additional instructional support will be provided in these classrooms to support the blended nature of the learning environment.