During the 2021-2022 school year, Parkway Virtual Campus will continue as a full virtual option for families who wish to select a virtual learning expeience as an alternative to in-person learning.  Parkway Virtual Campus teachers and staff members will work from a physical Parkway location.  The location will be determined once enrollment numbers have been finalized.

Elementary Virtual Campus will operate as a “stand alone” entity and students should expect to be in class with students from other Parkway schools.

Virtual Campus class sizes will mirror in-person class size guidelines.  

Parkway Virtual Campus will be primarily synchronous with opportunities built in each day for asynchronous learning and academic support.

• Virtual Campus will have a dedicated administrator, Special School District area coordinator, and counselor(s).  The process for determining the number and scope of these roles will be determined once enrollment numbers are available. 
• Classroom teachers will be dedicated to Virtual Campus as it will operate as its own school, separate from any existing elementary school. 
• If Virtual Campus student enrollment declines in 2022-2023, dedicated Virtual Campus teachers and counselors will have first preference to return to their home school if a position is available.  This process will only be utilized for 2022-2023.  In subsequent years the regular voluntary and involuntary transfer process will be used.
• For special areas such as Art, Music, PE, Gifted, EL, Reading, and Library:
  • If enrollment allows, elementary will have dedicated specials teachers including Art, Music/Strings, PE, Special Education, Library, Reading, Math Intervention, EL, and Gifted
  • If enrollment does not support dedicated staff, specials teachers will be split between existing schools and Virtual Campus
• In order to have a full teaching schedule, it may be necessary for teachers to have both sections of virtual students and sections of in-person students.
• Any full-time, Virtual Campus teaching positions will follow the voluntary transfer process outlined in the PNEA agreement, then, only if necessary, the involuntary transfer process.

The Elementary Virtual Campus students will follow the same daily schedule as the 2020-2021 school year.   

Parents of elementary students enrolled in Parkway Virtual Campus are expected to:

• Be ready to provide daily and ongoing guidance, supervision, and motivation for your child.
• Students in grades K-3 students are still developing as learners.  Parents/guardians may, at times, need to assist with the learning process (re-reading instructional text, submitting independent assignments, navigating technology, etc.) to support their child’s learning goals.   For this reason, Parkway strongly encourages students in the early grades--especially K-1 students--to select an in-person experience.
• Establish a routine for your child.  Daily and weekly schedules at home will help students to be successful.
• Check your email daily for important information from your child’s teachers. 
• Assist your child(ren) in accessing Schoology daily to access class meeting links, assignments, and resources.
• Ensure your child has a devoted learning space and easy access to learning materials such as textbooks, paper, writing utensils, Chromebook chargers, etc. 
• Assist your child in accessing Zoom meetings when necessary.
• As Virtual Campus moves from being a pandemic response to a learning preference for families, our expectations for students having cameras on will increase.  Beginning next school year, having cameras on is required except by approval of parent, teacher, and principal. 
• Ensure your child is attending all virtual class meetings in their entirety, including breakout rooms.  Attendance is taken by the teacher daily.
• Encourage your child to be focused and engaged with what is going on in class and redirect distracting behavior when appropriate. 
• Ensure your child uses all school-issued devices appropriately.
• Ensure your child(ren) complete all independent assignments and submit them according to teacher instructions.
• Ensure your child completes assessments independently to accurately represent their learning.
• Communicate with your child’s instructor regularly. 
• Coordinate opportunities for additional instruction and academic support for your child when needed.

Contact the Parkway Technology Help Desk for technical support and assistance.

Planning for Instruction

• Learning in Virtual Campus is primarily synchronous with opportunities built in each class period for asynchronous learning and academic support. 
• In order for families and students to plan appropriately, instructors will post a weekly schedule of learning opportunities.  
• Provide students with a weekly checklist or assignment tracker, which includes due dates, assignments, and any required or optional whole-group, small-group, or individual instructional lessons.
• Students may schedule additional time with their instructor during asynchronous learning time outside of the allotted course time as long as it does not conflict with required synchronous learning for another class/subject area.  Instructors  are expected to remain logged in during asynchronous time to respond to student questions in a timely manner. 
• All live, synchronous lessons will be recorded and made available to students who may have missed class or would like to review the lesson.

Delivering Instruction

• Facilitate synchronous Zoom meetings and post high-quality and age appropriate online lessons daily through Schoology as the primary platform for Parkway Virtual Campus courses. There are multiple benefits to using Schoology as our primary platform:
• Using Schoology as our single point of access provides consistency for parents and students so they have one place to go for all of their classes. 
• All Parkway teachers and students have Schoology accounts and upon logging in can see all their courses. From their Schoology course, students will be able to access any materials and resources needed to complete work. If you use a different platform (Clever, Google Classroom, website, etc.) link from Schoology to that platform and give students instruction to access your materials. 
• Parents can also access Schoology to see what work their child has been assigned. 
• Ensure that navigation for the Schoology course is age appropriate and intuitive and that it meets district standards.
• Utilize office hours, help sessions, and asynchronous time to support students.
• Design and use materials that do not require students to print or use a method they may not have access to. Students should complete their work using Schoology, Google Drive or other Parkway-supported tools and materials.
• Recognize that there will be times that the internet may be unreliable for students. Provide flexibility for those who experience technical issues.
• Provide extended time to students for learning and reflection when assigning due dates to assignments.
• Course content will utilize Parkway district curriculum.
• Grading and feedback will be ongoing, actionable, timely, and report on district schedule.
• Attendance for Virtual Campus courses will be taken in Schoology.

• Student privacy must not be compromised and all course postings and activities must follow FERPA guidelines.
• Teachers must respond to students in a timely manner; a response within 24 hours is required during the work week.  If the teacher will be away and unable to respond to students, they will inform the students and parents in advance.
• Email accounts and discussion boards must be checked daily.  Timely and specific student feedback is critical in an online course.
• The teacher must be in regular and consistent contact with students and parents.  If the student has repeatedly missed deadlines or is missing assignments, the teacher will contact the student and parent to find out why he/she has not engaged in their online course.  Phone contact is expected if the parent is not replying electronically. If the student is still not actively working in the course, the school counselor will be notified.
• Teachers will contact every student in the class within the first week to ensure student understanding of course workflow. (Specialists may need to do this through group/class communication.)