Online Learning
As of October 2020, The Fay School's Online Learning Program transitioned to a Livestream as our teachers are teaching a higher number of In-Person Learners. In the event of a mandated school closure or a group of In-Person Learners need to transition to Online Learning, the program will look similar to the one outlined below.
This year, The Fay School will offer each family the choice between In-person and Online Learning. We have prepared for the health and safety of In-person Learning while also continuing to enhance our Online Learning further. Regardless of your preference, Fay has created a full and robust online plan for your child to learn, connect with friends, and build relationships with teachers. While some students will be participating in Online Learning full time, even families who choose In-Person Learning may need to transition to Online Learning in the event of mandated school closure. If an emergency dictates an interruption of normal school attendance, The Fay School will endeavor to provide continuous learning through technology. The Head of School will announce if a full or partial school closure will go into effect for specific grade-levels or the entire school, thus launching our Online Learning program for our students.
- Communication: Should the school declare a full or partial closing, you will receive an email from the Head of School. Following the email from the Head of School, you will receive communication from your child’s teacher. Contact and instruction will be developmentally appropriate and vary by department.
- Delivery Platforms: The main avenues of delivery will be Seesaw and Zoom. All Zoom sessions will be recorded, and links posted in Seesaw in the event students are unavailable at the assigned time. Fourth and Fifth Grade Students will also use Microsoft Teams to communicate with their teachers. Sign-Up Genius will be used for individual sign-ups as needed. Please email faytechsupport@thefayschool.org if you are having difficulty accessing any of the Online Learning platforms.
- Parent Participation: Work with your child to create a healthy daily routine that includes regular wake-up and bedtimes, academic times, off-screen times, and physical activity. Please communicate with your child’s teacher if your child struggles with their distance learning experience, either academically or emotionally.
- Attendance: Attendance will be taken each morning. Regular attendance and participation in academic activities are strongly encouraged to keep your child engaged and learning.
Below are some Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Fay's Online Learning Program
Over the summer of 2020, several teacher leaders have been participating in professional development courses to learn about new tools and techniques to make Online Learning more hands-on, individualized, and engaging for your child. During our teacher in-service weeks in August, all teachers will be learning and practicing these new skills to implement them at the start of the school year. An overview of how our Fay Faculty prepared over the summer is below:
Fay Faculty prepared for the 2020-2021 school year over the summer and during our teacher in-service weeks before school started. Many teachers attended Seesaw and Zoom online academies on their own. Before school started, all lead and assistant teachers refreshed their Zoom skills and learned new features such as breakout rooms. They also learned how to create choice boards in Seesaw, use Flipgrid to facilitate video discussions, and use Nearpod to create interactive lessons. The Fay School purchased Dreambox Math for Kindergarten - Fifth Grade students. This responsive program builds Math skills, adjusting to individual student needs. We also purchased Units of Study Virtual Teaching Resources as a companion to the Units of Study by Lucy Calkins and Teachers College Reading and Writing Project we use to teach Reading and Writing.
Like educators across the globe, we learned a tremendous amount about Online Learning last spring! During June Term, we used what we learned to make Online Learning easier for parents and more engaging for your child. Each student will have a schedule document with standing links, so you won’t need to log into Seesaw to find links for live classes. Your child will participate in Language Arts, Math, Leadership Development, Science and Social Studies. Your child will participate in Specials units for two-week sessions at a time. P.E. will be offered daily with a combination of live and prerecorded lessons. Progress reports and report cards will be issued at regular intervals.
Please see the sample schedules below for each division. Your child will have a combination of live video sessions with their teachers and prerecorded lessons to work through on their own. Though the live times will be standing appointments, families will be free to configure the rest of their child’s day as they choose. The following is purely a suggested schedule of activities. As always, we encourage you to participate in family times and chores. We listened to parent feedback from the spring and have incorporated more live sessions in small groups. At this time, Primary and Lower Elementary groups will be 4-6 students. At this time, Upper Elementary groups will be 6-9 students. Small groups will rotate between Lead and Assistant Teachers and may periodically change so students will see a variety of friends in small group sessions.
Teachers will continue to utilize Zoom, Seesaw, and Teams (Fourth and Fifth Grade only). We believe that students’ familiarity and comfort level with these platforms will facilitate a quick start to learning. In addition, we will implement tools such as interactive whiteboards, virtual math manipulatives, and websites to promote video discussions. All children will participate in Dreambox Learning, an adaptive learning platform that will supplement our math lessons by providing additional individualized activities. These tools will increase your child’s active participation in the classroom, connect them with their classmates, and allow teachers to gain a variety of feedback from your child.
Periodic supply pick-up and drop-off days will allow teachers to send home supplies such as books, papers, and musical instruments for your child’s learning to be hands-on and active. This will also minimize the need for parents to print papers. These days will also be a fun, socially distanced opportunity for your child to see their teacher in-person. Lower and Upper Elementary students will be issued school devices. We advise that students use these devices so our Tech Team can remote into them to help troubleshoot issues if needed.
Please see the sample schedules below by division. We strive to alternate screen time with independent work, outside time, and play in order for your child to have a balanced day. Time spent on the computer is intended to increase connection with peers and provide intimate small group instruction for students to build skills. We are cognizant that our young learners need more time with hands-on materials such as paper and pencils.
Community and social-emotional learning will continue to be a primary tenet of The Fay School education. All students will participate in a daily Morning Meeting to build community and develop social-emotional skills. Small group morning meetings, work sessions, and lessons will provide time for teachers to know their students individually and give your child opportunities to interact with their peers. At the beginning of the school year, teachers will administer individual assessments and have one-on-one time with your child. In Upper Elementary, students will participate in a social time each day to provide an adult monitored, but child-driven time to be with friends. Lower Elementary children will interact with peers during small group sessions with their assistant teachers each day. We will also hold periodic fun online events for your child, similar to the Fay Family Seesaw page last spring.
Lead and Assistant Teachers will administer periodic individual formal and informal assessments to gauge your child’s learning and guide their lesson plans. Most assessments, including tests and quizzes, will be given in Zoom sessions. We will start the school year with individual Zoom sessions for teachers to learn about your child’s strengths and stretches. Work will be submitted through Seesaw and Teams (Fourth and Fifth grade only). Regular progress reports and report cards will be issued at the same time as In-person Learning.
Specials classes will be a mixture of prerecorded lessons on Seesaw and live small group interactions with Specials teachers during which your child can discuss and receive feedback about their work. Links for these sessions will be easily accessible on your child’s schedules.
Teachers in both settings will coordinate to teach the same skills and units as well as keeping pace with each other. Lesson objectives will be the same, but the manner in which they are carried out may look different. For example, something that might be given as homework for In-person Learning will be part of the regular independent work and may not be called homework. In-class assessments such as quizzes and tests, progress report formats, and report cards will be the same and issued concurrently. We hope that if your child engages with Online Learning, they will participate fully in the Online School Day. However, we know that the home setting presents unique challenges. To that end, we ask that if you decide that your child will not participate in certain parts of the Online School Day, you will let your child’s teacher know in advance.
To provide for staffing needs and create a stable classroom community, we will ask parents to commit to In-person or Online Learning for the first trimester of school. We will be monitoring the changing conditions and consider local health department advice, CDC recommendations, and parent feedback to plan for the trimester. We anticipate offering a choice for at least the first two trimesters. After the first trimester, parents may elect to change how their student attends school. We will endeavor to maintain classes, but we know that if many families change their learning plans, we may have move teachers to accommodate the demands of new class configurations. Given our previous experience with Online Learning, we expect students in both modalities to reach the same level of achievement.
At the beginning of each week, the Lead Teacher will send an outline of the week to parents, letting them know what materials are needed for each day.
Sample Schedules:
Upper Elementary
*Text in BLUE indicates Independent work. All other text indicates Zoom time.
Time | Group A | Group B |
---|---|---|
8:00-8:30am |
Watch recorded Science or Social Studies Lesson/Check Seesaw and Teams |
Watch recorded Science or Social Studies Lesson/Check Seesaw and Teams |
8:30-9:00am | Morning Meeting with an advisory teacher | Morning Meeting with an advisory teacher |
9:00-10:00am | Small Group Check in with Assistant Teacher (15 minutes per small group) | Small Group Check in with Assistant Teacher (15 minutes per small group) |
10:00-10:30am | PE Zoom | PE Zoom |
10:30-11:00am |
Math Zoom with Lead Teacher |
Language Arts Zoom with Lead Teacher |
11:00am-12:00pm |
Math / Science Independent Work Time |
Language Arts / Social Studies Independent Work Time (Assistant teacher-Spelling small groups) |
12:00-1:00pm |
Lunch and Recess |
Lunch and Recess |
1:00-1:30pm | Language Arts Zoom with Lead Teacher |
Math Zoom with Lead Teacher |
1:30-2:00pm |
Language Arts / Social Studies Independent Work Time |
Math / Science Independent Work Time
|
2:00-2:30pm | Specials Zoom | Social Zoom |
2:30-3:00pm | Social Zoom | Specials Zoom |
3:00-3:30pm | Finish any necessary classwork/Upload work to Seesaw | Finish any necessary classwork/Upload work to Seesaw |
Lower Elementary
*Text in BLUE indicates Independent work. All other text indicates Zoom time.
Time | Group A | Group B | Group C |
---|---|---|---|
8:30-9:00am |
Morning Meeting with Lead Teacher |
Watch Seesaw lesson and Start Classwork |
Morning Meeting with Assistant Teacher |
9:00-9:30am | Watch Seesaw Lessons and Start Classwork | Morning Meeting with Lead Teacher | P.E. Zoom |
9:30am- 10:00am | Small Group with Lead Teacher | Snack/Break | Watch Seesaw Lessons and Start Classwork |
10:00-10:30am | Snack/Break | Small Group with Lead Teacher | Snack/Break |
10:30-11:00am | Small Group Work with Assistant Teacher | Outside Play | Small Group with lead Teacher |
11:00-11:30am | Small Group Work with Assistant Teacher | Independent Reading/Math | |
11:30am-12:00pm |
Lunch |
Lunch | |
12:00-12:30pm |
P.E. Zoom |
Lunch |
Small Group Work with Assistant Teacher |
12:30-1:00pm | Quiet Time in Room |
Quiet Time in Room |
|
1:00-1:30pm |
Specials Zoom |
P.E. Zoom |
Quiet Time in Room |
1:30-2:00pm | Independent Reading/Math | Independent Reading/Math | Specials Zoom |
2:00-2:30pm | Outside Play | Specials Zoom | Outside Play |
2:30-3:00pm | Upload work to Seesaw | Upload work to Seesaw | Upload work to Seesaw |
Primary
*Text in BLUE indicates Independent work. All other text indicates Zoom time.
Time | Group A | Group B | Group C |
---|---|---|---|
8:30-9:00am |
Morning Meeting with Lead Teacher |
Watch a Seesaw Lesson and Complete Work | |
9:00-9:30am | Watch Seesaw Lessons and Complete Work | Watch a Seesaw Lesson and Complete Work | Morning Meeting with Lead Teacher |
9:30am- 10:00am | Music and Motor Zoom | Snack/Break | Snack/Break |
10:00-10:30am | Snack/Break | Music and Motor Zoom | Specials Zoom |
10:30-11:00am | Specials Zoom | Watch Craft/Science Lesson | Music and Motor Zoom |
11:00-11:30am |
Watch Craft/ Science Lesson |
Specials Zoom | Watch Craft/Science Lesson |
11:30am-12:00pm |
Finish/Upload Work to Seesaw |
Lunch |
Lunch |
12:00-12:30pm |
Lunch |
Outside Play |
Outside Play |
12:30-1:00pm | Outside Play |
Finish/Upload Work to Seesaw |
Finish/Upload Work to Seesaw |
1:00-1:30pm |
Listen to Recorded Story/Rest Time |
Listen to Recorded Story/Rest Time |
Listen to Recorded Story/Rest Time |
1:30-3:00pm |
Please email faytechsupport@thefayschool.org if you are having difficulty accessing any of the Online Learning platforms.