LISD’s Virtual Empowered Learning as a Choice
As we prepare to welcome students back to school, providing the highest quality educational experiences, building relationships, and offering choices in a safe and healthy learning environment are our top priorities. The emergency remote learning we were all thrown into this spring provided us with a unique real-life opportunity to learn, research, and collect feedback to design a vastly improved, robust virtual learning experience for the fall. We aim to provide our parents with the freedom to choose the 100% Virtual Empowered Learning environment if they believe it is in the best interest of their students and family.
Virtual Empowered Learning will provide a balance of both live, face-to-face interactions with educators and fellow students along with self-paced learning activities, projects, and assignments based on the LISD curriculum, aligned to state standards. A numerical grading system measuring student mastery of content and standards will be utilized. At the high school level, grades will be calculated into GPA. Teachers will utilize a common, consistent instructional delivery system that will reduce email traffic to parents, and enable students to access their coursework independently.
If we find ourselves in a situation where there is a substantial spread of COVID-19 and we are led to provide 100% virtual learning for all, we have the capacity and are prepared to move all students to LISD’s new and improved Virtual Empowered Learning!
In-Person and Blended School options being considered
We are continuing to work with the state and local public health agencies for final guidance regarding a blended approach to learning, where students will be in buildings and learning remotely through virtual learning opportunities. The blended approach provides students the opportunity to utilize learning resources to learn and create on devices.
In order to meet health and safety standards recommended by public health agencies, as well as state and federal government, we will consider the following possible proactive strategies:
- Staff and students (ages 6 and older) wearing Personal Protective Equipment such as masks and gloves when appropriate
- Frequent classroom and common area surface cleaning.
- Frequent hand washing practices implemented.
- 6 ft of distance between students.
- COVID-19 symptom screening upon arrival at campuses.
- Staff health and safety protocols related to COVID-19 as part of August Professional Development.
- Special Considerations for students and staff to stay home if they are high-risk or believe they exhibit symptoms of COVID-19. – Guidelines that limit student interaction.
We want to provide families the choice for their students to learn in school buildings. All decisions will be made considering state guidelines, social distancing and overall safety of all students and staff.
For elementary:
Two different options are:
- Students in school full time, utilizing one or both of the following strategies:
- Class size reduction using campus spaces (i.e. the cafeteria, hallways, offices, etc. as classrooms)
- Spread students out across multiple facilities if necessary
- Divide students into groups to rotate days in buildings
- Students rotate in between school and blended learning at home
For secondary:
- 50% of students attend school on alternating days
- Fine arts, athletics and extracurricular activities plan accordingly
Special Education and Special Programs:
- Continue to provide services based on individual, unique needs of each child
- Come in-person daily, three days a week or two days a week depending on the individual student’s need.
- IEPs and 504 plans will be sustained
- Individualized instruction
- Specialized instruction
Plan for Graduation
Our 2020 graduation plans are set! We will be hosting graduation at Gupton Stadium on July 9, 10, and 11. Social distancing guidelines will be in place to ensure the safety of our students and spectators. With this change to the outdoor venue, we will be adjusting graduation ceremony times to the morning and evening to avoid the heat of the day.
Each graduation ceremony will be live-streamed for family and friends that are not able to attend the live event. The live stream information will be posted to www.leanderisd.org/graduation prior to July 9.
For additional information about the reporting and start times, required health pre-screen, tickets, parking, seating, graduate report time, face coverings, and more, click here.
We look forward to this opportunity to celebrate our senior’s accomplishments with you!
Registration Verification
Returning Student Online Registration Opens Monday, July 6
To ensure the district has accurate, up-to-date information on every student, we will be asking all returning families to complete the registration verification process. This applies to families who have:
- returning LISD students from the 2019–2020 school year
- pre-registered students (students who have already registered for 2020–2021, but did not attend LISD last school year)
The parent/guardian who is designated as the primary contact for the student within Home Access Center (HAC) will receive a separate email for each individual student with online registration instructions by July 6. This email will come from [email protected]. Please be sure to whitelist this email address to ensure it is not sent to a spam folder. Only the primary parent/guardian of a student will be able to complete this registration and verification process. The primary guardian will be accessing the returning student registration form through HAC and must be completed by August 1st, 2020.
For information on how to enroll new students to LISD (did not attend LISD last school year), including a list of the required documents, visit Registration Info.