The Covid Slump
From Mrs. Meadows
“Where does Christ Academy stand as a result of the Covid in-person school shutdown last
spring? We were in a very good place to meet this challenge for three significant reasons.”
Dear Christ Academy Family,
Last March, schools across the country shut down and shifted to distance learning because of the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the latest terms in the field of education is the Lost Covid Generation, with many schools needing to remediate anywhere from one-half to one full year of academic loss.
Where does Christ Academy stand as a result of the Covid in-person school shutdown last spring? We were in a very good place to meet this challenge for three significant reasons:
Christ Academy uses standards-based reporting for each grading period for grades EC through Junior High. Our students still had to meet the standards, and thus, their assessments and final report cards were based on their meeting these end-of-the-year standards. Our reporting system set the guidelines for what was taught and where the students needed to be by the end of the year.
Especially in grades three through twelve, our students are used to using technology as a part of their instruction. The learning curve for distance learning was not nearly as high for our students in these grade levels as it was for many other students nationwide.
Our high school students are already learning in a blended learning environment. They did not miss a beat.
Junior High students were ready for the new year day one. Mrs. Ross, our junior high department head commented that, “Our junior high students received the same quality of content and delivery that they would have received on campus. We went to great lengths to make sure there were no gaps.”
By the first quarter of 2020-2021, students in the Upper Elementary were where they needed to be.
Our Early Childhood and Lower Elementary students had a little more of a learning curve, but their teachers effectively used Zoom meeting and packets to maintain the skills of their students.
Christ Academy teachers are used to thinking creatively to meet the needs of their students. They are already used to creating well-designed curriculum, using research based strategies, and differentiating instruction. Covid-19 certainly called for a little more outside-the-box thinking for our teachers, but because this is a part of their skill set, they successfully stepped-up-to-the-plate to deliver quality instruction and keep their students academically on track.
So, Christ Academy students are currently in a good place academically with very little, if any, remediation needed, and full-steam-ahead into the regular academic standards and curriculum for the 2020-2021 school year.
Respectfully,
Donna Meadows
Director of Learning & Counseling
940.692.3852 | christacademywf.org