Distance Learning 2020-2021
The Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education made the decision that students in middle, junior high, and high school will continue in distance learning for the rest of the calendar year and return to in-person classes after winter break on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. Starting in early November, we plan to expand in-person supports at the secondary level in ways that are manageable for each school community. These might include:
- Drop-in hours and space for students
- Targeted face-to-face meetings with unique subsets of students
- Careful opening of supervised spaces for student use
Additional information can be found here.
The Board of Education also decided that students in pre-K through 5th grade and sixth graders who attend an elementary school will return to in-person learning, but we will provide flexibility for families who would prefer to have their children continue fully in distance learning during quarter two.
If you would prefer that your child continue in distance learning from home during quarter two, please complete our Quarter Two Commitment Form by logging into SmartChoice at www.tulsaschools.org/Q2form. If we do not hear from you by Saturday, Oct. 31, we will plan for your child to have in-person classes at his or her school.
Please note:
- Students who remain in distance learning will continue to use their Chromebooks and Canvas as their primary learning resources.
- Students’ attendance will remain the same for quarter two - visit www.tulsaschools.org/attendance for more information.
- Students will have contact with their assigned teachers - this will be limited to a few touchpoints a week.
- School teams will plan these touchpoints to check in with students on their progress, maintain student/teacher relationships, and teach mini-lessons.
- Students will work with a combination of recorded videos and activities.
- Students in distance learning will still be able to pick up breakfast and lunch meals free of charge.
Help with canvas, zoom, and clever badge
- Canvas
- Use Canvas to see student learning plans.
- Video: How to access Canvas.
- Video: How a student creates a pairing code in Canvas (for their parent/guardian to connect to them on Canvas)
- Video: How a parent/guardian creates and navigates the observer role in Canvas / Graphic: Observing Your Student in Canvas
- Powerschool
- Log in to Powerschool to monitor your student's grades and attendance.
- Zoom
- Video: How to Zoom for students and families
- For additional help with Zoom, click here.
- Service Desk
- Tulsa Public Schools IT department is providing Chromebook support for students Monday – Thursday, from 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM at the Enrollment Center. This is only for district-issued Chromebooks that need repairing.
- Please note: Elementary students who remain in distance learning will return their broken devices to their schools to receive replacement devices. This does not include TVA students.
- Chromebooks
- Video: How to log in to Chromebook with a Clever badge / Graphic: How to log in to Chromebook with a Clever badge
- Video: How to log in to Chromebook without a Clever badge
Tech Support
Tulsa Public Schools is providing each student with a Chromebook in order to successfully engage in distance learning.
If your child's district-issued device is broken, you can exchange your device Monday through Thursday from 2pm-6pm at the Enrollment Center east dock.
While this service is housed in the Enrollment Center building, the staff at the Enrollment Center CANNOT support families with technology needs. They will be unable to answer any technology related questions. Please call 918-833-TECH between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. for tech help.
Please note: Elementary students who remain in distance learning will return their broken devices to their schools to receive replacement devices. TVA students will continue to get their devices repaired at the Enrollment Center.
Grading and Attendance
Click here for graphic.
While our schools are in distance learning, attendance will be based on students logging into Canvas and doing their assignments. Attendance will be taken weekly using assignments completed between Monday morning and Sunday night.
- Elementary students will need to complete a minimum of one assignment per half day of school to be counted present (10 assignments per week in a week with no holidays); and
- Secondary students will need to complete a minimum of one assignment per day per course to be counted present (5 assignments per week per course in a week with no holidays).
If students complete the required number of assignments for attendance for their grade level (10 per week for elementary, 5 per course per week for secondary), they will be marked as present for the week. If students complete part of their number of required assignments for attendance, they will be marked present for part of the week.
All assignments will be tracked and recorded in Canvas. Students must mark assignments in Canvas as completed.
Examples of Partial Attendance:
- Elementary: a student who completes 5 assignments by Sunday night would be marked present for 2.5 days of school.
- Secondary: a student who completes 4 assignments in a course by Sunday night would get credit for 4 days of attending that course.
We hope that every student can participate in “live” classes during distance learning, but we know that our families need flexibility. Students can watch recorded "live" lessons and work on assignments in the evenings and on the weekends.
Excused Absences
The excused absence policy has not changed: parents or guardians must provide written or verbal explanation to the school.
Student Grades
Tulsa Public Schools will return to regular grading in the 2020-2021 school year. Parents can use PowerSchool at www.tulsaschools.org/grades to view their child’s grades.
Support for Families
Tulsa Public Schools and our community partners committed to providing a wide variety of supports to families. For information about wellness resources, click here. For meal site locations, click here. Additional support information will be added here as soon as it becomes available.
Exceptional Student Support
We believe that:
- Providing special education and related services in any setting is essential to improving outcomes for our children.
- Continued support and services are critical to the ongoing development of our most vulnerable population of students.
- Our exceptional students need a very intentional plan on how to address potential learning loss and acceleration needs due to traditional school abruptly ending in the Spring.
- Providing the support and services, given the parental choices for learning environment and the current status of COVID concerns within our community, is critical to the safety and security of parents and family members.
- Investing in professional learning and flexible instructional tools to assist teachers in achieving high levels of student engagement regardless of the teaching environment.
Access, resources and supports will be considered as IEP teams review plans for individual students including:
- Student’s access to technology
- Student’s access to academic skills necessary to engage with instructional materials
- Student’s access to executive skills necessary to participate in distance learning
- Student’s cognitive needs that may impact access to distance learning
- Student’s access to communication to support engaging with virtual curriculum (e.g. verbal/written communication skills)
- Student’s behavior and social/emotional supports required to access virtual curriculum.
Our Exceptional Student Services team will work with the family to ensure that the student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is developed in a way that reflects the appropriate modifications and/or accommodations in order to meet the requirement for a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). The development of services designed at Tulsa Virtual Academy will be on a student by student basis as determined appropriate by the student’s IEP Team.
Level One Services
- Services include monitoring, Collaboration, and/or Co-Teaching
- Utilize the general education curriculum
- General education teacher is considered the Teacher of Record
- For Monitoring or Collaboration, the Special education teacher will regularly check in with parent, student, teacher via conference call or through technology platform to document progress of individual IEP goals.
Level Two Services
- Services include Direct Instruction in addition to all Level One Services.
- Utilize the general education curriculum
- For Co-Teaching, virtual services are provided by both the general education teacher and the special education teacher
- For Direct Instruction, virtual services are provided by the special education teacher
- For both level 1 & 2 Services, modifications and accommodations are critical to student success.
Level Three Services
- Students will have the option to be supported in person at least four days per week.
- Services are provided by the special education teacher in a small group or 1:1 fora reduced number of minutes through Zoom.
- Paper packets with activities will be distributed for students who are not able to engage with technology.
Level Four Services
- Students will have the option to be supported in person at least four days per week in these programs.
- Students will engage with general education curriculum as well as specially designed curriculum to address social emotional and adaptive needs.
- Regular check-ins will occur to monitor student progress with assigned tasks