After six weeks, the parents, students, teachers, and administration of Laurel Magnet School of the Arts have settled into the new daily routine of distance learning. An emphasis on community building, academic excellence, and clear, consistent communication is at the core of the school’s successful distance learning program. When the district closed its buildings in mid-March due to Covid-19, Laurel Magnet School of the Arts quickly pivoted to making plans for distance learning under the creative leadership of Principal Dr. Kiana Pendleton.
Pendleton received the word in the middle of Spring Break that the school break would be extended, and she would need to implement a distance learning plan. She and her teachers spent the remaining days of their Spring Break, developing a plan for distance learning to be ready by March 23. On Tuesday, March 24, the parents were to pick up their children's learning packets for the week.
"We had two hundred-eighty-three parents out of three hundred come up here and pick up their scholars' work," stated Pendleton. "With the teacher's commitment, coupled with the parents’, makes for a successful situation."
Overall, the school is experiencing very high engagement in distance learning via a combination of e-learning and printed materials. Assignments are posted daily on Google drive, and printed packets of learning materials are available for safe pick-up.
The A-rated school is maintaining its focus on academic rigor as teachers continue to deliver standards-based instruction via Ready Math and Language Arts. Students are encouraged to achieve 80% pass rates with i-Ready online instruction, which also provides detailed insights and data, so teachers know exactly which students need further support by phone or video chat.
The i-Ready online instruction is one that the students at LMSA typically use throughout the school year. Pendleton said that with distance learning, they now have to partner with the parents for accountability and to facilitate the required assignments. However, the teachers are available, virtually, to assist the students if needed.
"The teachers can see if any child is struggling with the lesson," said Pendleton. "They can see the amount of minutes they’ve spent on their lesson, and they can see if they've logged on at all. There are several things that I require the teachers to monitor each week so that we can support our scholars from afar.”
For those with no access to the online lessons or prefer traditional printed material, hard copies of each lesson were distributed to them. The teachers call and check-in with each of their students to monitor their weekly progress and help those who are struggling.
Meshuna Bridges’ son Joshua is in the 5th Grade at LMSA. She said she and Joshua both enjoy Pendleton’s Facebook live morning announcements and that the distance learning is working well for them.
“The school has done a great job keeping the kids engaged,” said Bridges.
Kalea Thigpen, at LMSA teacher and parent, said the distance learning for her Kindergarten children has been a little harder to manage because of their age and limited technological experience.
“It’s new to them and new to me,” said Thigpen. “I’ve been taking a lot of webinars and watching a lot of videos to try to get ideas on how I can incorporate things into my Kindergarten virtual classroom.”
Two of Thigpen’s own children, Jace, who is in the 5th Grade and Karalynn, who is in the 2nd Grade, attend LMSA. She said as a parent, it took a little while to find the right schedule that works best for her and her family.
“Getting the bulk of the work done in the morning seems to work best for us,” exclaimed Thigpen.
The school asks the students and parents to post pictures on social media or send them to the LMSA Web page of the children working on their lesson packets. The students are then featured, and their efforts acknowledged.
Pendleton loves creativity and engagement. As a means of easing the angst and tension of the pandemic and the new distance learning, Pendleton thought it best to have the lessons focus on one subject each day.
"In an ever-changing world, things change; death rates are increasing, cases are increasing, but one thing that they know for sure is that every Monday is going to be Book Worm Monday," exclaimed Pendleton. "Every Tuesday is Tuesday equals MC squared, and they know to do their math and science lessons that day; every Wednesday is WOW Wednesday for writing, and this is what can remain consistent.”
Thursday is Creative Thursday, and the students have an activity choice board with different art activities to choose from. Friday is Finish Strong Friday, in which the students check their daily To-Do list and make sure all assignments are complete.
During a typical school day, Pendleton would start the day by giving the announcements. So, to keep things as normal as possible, she holds an upbeat live announcement session on the school’s Facebook page each day.
 "They like knowing that they haven't been forgotten and that we care," exclaimed Pendleton. My live morning announcements is just one way that we try to stay connected with them. We might do a spirit week periodically to keep them motivated and let them know they're not doing this alone."
“Each Monday, I announce the i-Ready Rockstars from each grade," exclaimed Pendleton.Â
A list of their names is posted on an announcement board, and a picture of the board is posted on their Facebook page and in Google Drive, where all their other schoolwork is posted.
They can also find instructional videos on Google Drive from several teachers. The teachers have been very creative in producing those videos and promoting real-world connections. For example, one teacher gave a math lesson by going through the drive-thru at McDonald's and purchasing breakfast. The McDonald's employee also participated in the video.
"If we've not heard from a child in a few days, we may call the parent and make sure that their basic needs are being met in addition to academic needs," explained Pendleton. "If someone is struggling with having enough food or may have lost their job, we refer them to our communications director for help."
Pendleton said the distance learning would continue until the end of the school year, which is the week of May 20. They are working on ways to virtually acknowledge the students' end-of-the-year accomplishments. She added that they are hoping to have some summer enrichment programs throughout the district should funding become available.
End-of-school state testing for all schools in the state of Mississippi has been waived. Each school will keep their previous year school’s accountability rating, which for LMSA was an A-Rating.Â
