A Look at the PCS Remote Learning Program

For those who’ve been wondering — our remote learning program is, by necessity, quite different than the in-school PCS learning experience that we’ve worked so hard to build over the past 8 years, and yet in many ways it’s very much the same. Structurally, live daily Zoom sessions by class and small group are interspersed with asynchronous assignments posted via Google Drive and Classroom. Teachers provide daily schedules of meetings, activities and tasks differentiated by learning group that can be followed to the letter to replicate a full school day or scaled to meet family needs.

学生们继续在t独立工作rimester-long projects related to our Integrated Studies Unit, World Oceans, checking in with each other and sharing progress via Zoom. They also work in groups on Math and Literacy: sometimes with discrete instruction related to specific skills and concepts, sometimes on elements of their independent projects or on smaller projects that integrate their Ocean learning, and sometimes playing games to practice skills. Special area instruction in Spanish, Art and Music continues with both asynchronous materials, resources and activities provided weekly for each class and live Zoom classes meeting once each week.

Remote learning for PCS’s youngest learners in Early Childhood and Kindergarten is a true collaboration between teachers and families — with teachers providing prompts, extension activities, and modifications so that families can have learning unfold based on their observation of the children’s interests and inquiries much as it would at school (Kindergarten’s daily letter to families reads like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure: “if you child notices X, then Y; if they are interested in Y, then try A or maybe B”).

All classes schedule weekly opportunities for more social Zoom meetings: snack with classmates, weekend story share, and problem-solving/concern-sharing meetings, and we host regular whole school virtual meetings to share news, projects, announcements, celebrations, songs and stories.

So, while we’re separated by screens — we really are still deeply committed to staying connected by spirit and shared pursuit. We are still meeting everyday, sharing and supporting our learning. We are still all diving into projects around a single topic and marveling at the different and individual elements students are bringing to their work as they work independently! We’re reaching out to our communities to understand how this pandemic is effecting our neighbors and what help they may need. And, as always, our school work is about experimenting with materials, stretching boundaries, sharing discoveries, working toward new understandings, and recognizing opportunities to be of service and advocate for change.

There is so much that we don’t know, and so much that we can’t predict or plan for. But, in many ways, that’s what we’ve been doing all along. PCS is built on the idea that the most authentic, meaningful learning comes out of our current moment, our home community, and the interest and inquiries of our students, not on a prescribed curriculum. We are always listening. So that we can shift, take off, and find resources to weave a thread from one idea to another, bringing us from one understanding to another in a way that makes sense and answers to our students. When we learn together like this and engage in our current world together, we strengthen our connections and commitments. Both to each other and to our community.

Of course, this pandemic presents us with unprecedented challenges physically, logistically, and emotionally. And, yet, here we are, still listening, shifting, taking off, weaving threads and connecting.