Holy Family Catholic Academy well positioned to transition to e-Learning
The abrupt closing of schools in response to the pandemic seems surreal to parents, students, teachers, and school administrators. Few of these stakeholders could have imagined or planned for the mandated school closures that transpired this week.
Perhaps the ability to address this disruption speaks more to the culture of the school rather than anything else, and it is the culture of Holy Family Catholic Academy that positions the Inverness school to meet this challenge and continue to serve its community of over 500 students in preschool through grade 8.
HFCA's culture is built on its commitment to continually improve its curriculum and instruction, and it is the steadfast commitment of their faculty and staff that has earned HFCA national and international recognition.
Critical improvements made over the year have helped HFCA transition to e-learning which began today. HFCA implemented a formalized e-Learning program, along with training and clear expectations, before the 2019-2020 school year began. Technology is integrated routinely and transparently throughout the curriculum, and Technology Coach Mrs. Janice Geisheker works with students and teachers to build research and information fluency. The Academy has moved to Google Classrooms to promote critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration and provides one-to-one devices in grades three through eight. In addition they have piloted i-Ready, an assessment and instructional resource that is designed to address students' learning needs with personalized online instruction.
HFCA also upgraded its website this past summer and created teacher webpages for students and parents to access in anticipation of using e-learning to reduce the impact of school closings due to winter weather. And, as recently as Friday, when the Office of Catholic Schools announced school closings effective at the end of the day, teachers at HFCA were undergoing training in the use of ZOOM, a popular app used by corporations for tele-conferencing and webinars.
Technology preparedness alone does not ensure a smooth transition. HFCA has kept families informed of every step and utilized a variety of communication tools. Monday morning, Principal O'Brien, in keeping with the Academy's daily routine, used Facebook live to address HFCA students and share birthday announcements, the Pledge of Allegiance and a daily prayer.
Most importantly, Principal O'Brien credits the HFCA faculty. "Our teachers are amazing! I am so impressed to see how they have supported each other professionally with shared resources and personally with emotional support. It is their efforts that have positioned us to transition so well to e-learning."
Grateful parents agree. Emails have been coming in all day, sharing photos of students engaged and learning. One comment captured the sentiments of many, "Thank you for running such an amazing program at HFCA. This school is innovative and top-notch!!"