Quaker Digital Academy
Continuity Plan
PURPOSE
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) provides federal resources to support states and local school districts. Recent federal guidance clarifies that districts submit to the state of Ohio a plan that fulfills the requirement that districts publish local “Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plans” by June 24, 2021. Each district school should then post the plan on its local website and then submit the plan to the Ohio Department of Education by June 24. This overall plan is being built upon existing district plans that address many of the elements of the federal requirements.
As such Quaker Academies has organized this plan to include the current and prior health and safety plans developed in collaboration with local departments of health. Since the district is an online digital academy and has the following in place: continuous improvement plans, Covid Safety Plans, and other similar plans that encompass aspects of these requirements they are listed below and comprise the requirements to address Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan. Those previously developed plans together with the below aspects meet the relevant requirements of the federal assurances.
POLICIES FOR INCORPORATING MITIGATION STRATEGIES
Describe to what extent the following policies have been adopted to incorporate the following CDC Mitigation Strategies and provide a description of any policies being implemented:
- Universal and correct wearing of masks
The school will work with local health department, CDC, and local and state guidelines when making decisions about mask wearing. For the 2021-2022 school year, Staff and students will be invited to employ safety measures such as wearing masks according to their preference. The school will supply face masks to those who chose to wear them. Similarly, those who do not wish to wear face masks will not be required to do so.
- Physical distancing (e.g., including use of cohorts/podding)
The Quaker Academies reopened to in-person instruction for the 2020-2021 school year with 3 ft. social distancing in all offices Beginning with the 2021-2022 school year, social distancing will be encouraged and utilized where feasible. When it is appropriate 3ft of spacing will be used throughout the offices and all students and staff will be respectful of 3ft of personal spacing of others.
- Handwashing and respiratory etiquette
Handwashing and hand sanitizing will be encouraged and used throughout the school building. The school will supply sanitizer to those staff and students who choose to use it throughout the school year. Similarly, those who do not wish to hand sanitize will not be required to do so.
- Cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities, including improving ventilation
The Quaker Academy’s maintenance and cleaning protocols will continue to observe cleaning standards and/or practices recommended through CDC or local health department guidance to ensure a safe learning environment for students and staff.
- Contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine, in collaboration with the State, local, territorial, or Tribal health departments
The Quaker Academy follows the guidance and orders of the Health Department with regards to quarantining. The Quaker Academies conducted its own contact tracing of all students and employees, in consultation with the Tuscarawas County Health Department and the New Philadelphia Health Department. The Quaker Academy will continue to follow all contact tracing protocols required by the local boards of health, state department of education, and the sponsor. Practices may include quarantining persons based on guidance from authorities.
- Diagnostic and screening testing
Health Screening Protocols/System - All students, staff, and visitors were required to complete the COVID19 health protocols before entering any office. The Quaker Academy will continue to work with our school nurse, CDC, and Local Health Dept. to provide guidance to our families when testing and screening may be necessary.
- Efforts to provide vaccinations to educators, other staff, and students, if eligible
The New Philadelphia City School District participated in vaccination clinics for the Moderna vaccine on February 23, 2021, and March 23, 2021. The Quaker Academy will continue to work with the local health dept. to either host or promote vaccination clinics available to staff, students, and families.
- Appropriate accommodations for children with disabilities with respect to the health and safety policies
The district provided additional plexiglass screening when needed for students with disabilities. Individual student needs were addressed through consultation with the Student Services Department. We will follow all guidelines for ensuring any unique safety needs of students or staff with documented disabilities as is practicable on site. Accommodations requiring adjustments in placement or instruction will be developed and honored based on documented medical and/or individual education plans
PLAN TO ADDRESS CONTINUITY OF ACADEMIC AND NON-ACADEMIC SERVICES
Supporting the academic and social-emotional growth of all students remains a priority as we recover from the pandemic. Regardless of the learning model, students will continue to receive and have access to all student services.
Our Strategic Plan is an ongoing endeavor that includes stakeholders from community business, staff, students, and parents. We met every month to review our goals and continue to work on our plan to help students become their best self. We have worked on the Portrait of A Graduate with the following competencies identified:
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We brought these competencies into our focused future with the following chart:
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Developing an Informed View of Our District’s Future |
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Change From: As is... |
Change To: To be... |
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Perseverance |
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Negative mindset, hand-holding
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Positive Self-Talk, Having a Plan of their own & working toward their own goals - allowing for small wins
Refinement of Self |
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Communication |
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Not a personal touch, most on the negative side
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Reach out to help others, take care of themselves, Find Joy
Communication as Vehicle to MOVE |
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Global Citizens |
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Community/Parents generational mindset, just getting by
School is just another thing
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Making a Difference, experiencing projects that may change the outlook of their whole family/community
Learning is important
Embrace Selflessness |
The following goals were established as priority for the upcoming school year to get us closer to our future vision:
Priority One:
By the end of the 2024 school year, the district will begin a curriculum review for all grade levels and subject areas and an action plan for curriculum refinement.
Priority Two:
Increase Family Engagement
Priority Three:
By the conclusion of the 2025 school year, all students will experience a safe and inviting learning environment that supports their social, emotional, and academic growth as measured by a 3% increase in attendance and a 3% decrease in behavior incidents measured by attendance records, school climate surveys, and discipline data.
Priority Four:
All Staff will be trained in Social Emotional Techniques
PLAN REVIEW & PUBLIC INPUT
The district will periodically review all key aspects of this plan at least every six months for the duration of the ARP ESSER grant period (i.e., through September 30, 2023), and revise its plan as appropriate. Plan review will include but is not limited to collaborative work by the district administrative team, district operations team, and building and department leadership teams.
The district considers whether revisions are necessarily based on feedback at public board meetings and correspondence with parents and local health officials.
7/7/21
The Local Use of Funds Summary: (added on 8/18/2021)
- How will ARP ESSER funds be used to implement prevention and mitigation strategies that are, to the greatest extent practicable, consistent with the most recent CDC guidance on reopening schools, in order to continuously and safely open and operate schools for in-person learning?
ARP ESSER funds will be used to purchase online curriculum to ensure the ongoing learning of students while keeping students in a safe environment. The importance of organization in an online world is a research based strategy and with the proper curriculum and devices for the teachers, this can be more effective than any other form of learning. For this reason, document cameras will be purchased for use by the instructors to virtually show students how to complete different problems. For those students who are considered ultra rural and do not have access to some of the newer equipment, we will be providing a mobile learning lab to reach the "hard to reach" areas of Ohio. In short, we are using the funds for three big goals: 1. Purchase reliable online curriculum 2. Purchase electronic devices for instructors to demonstrate skills for students. 3. Purchase a mobile lab to reach rural and economically disadvantaged students in Ohio.
- How will the LEA use the funds it reserves under section 2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act to address the academic impact of lost instructional time through the implementation of evidence-based interventions, such as summer learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive afterschool programs, or extended school year?
Our Summer School Extended Learning is in two different arenas. We offer social emotional activities throughout the summer months that bring online families and students together with a fun collaborative event. We also offer an academic curriculum in the summer for students who need to catch up or need additional support to be successful in their next school year. All students have the ability to choose either of these summer school learnings or even both of them.
- How will the LEA spend its remaining ARP ESSER funds consistent with section 2001(e)(2) of the ARP Act?
As stated in question #1, we are using the funds for three big goals: 1. Purchase reliable online curriculum 2. Purchase electronic devices for instructors to demonstrate skills for students. 3. Purchase a mobile lab to reach rural and economically disadvantaged students in Ohio.
- How will the LEA ensure that the interventions it implements, including but not limited to the interventions implemented under section 2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act to address the academic impact of lost instructional time, will respond to the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students, and particularly those students disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including students from low-income families, students of color, English learners, children with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children in foster care, and migratory students.
All of our activities, summer school, and mobile lab are available to all of our students. We also employ a social worker, parent liaison, and guidance counselors to ensure that we are not missing any issues that families and/or students may be experiencing throughout the year. Our instructors meet with students once a week to ensure that relationships are strong. The mobile lab will give us the additional face to face opportunity to ensure that families are not experiencing any life issues without the proper support. We also are in direct collaboration with the Group Homes to help students that are house bound for a variety of reasons. This mobile lab will give them an additional opportunity to interact with teachers and other students.
- Briefly describe how the LEA determined its most important educational needs as a result of COVID-19.
We survey students, staff, and parents each year to collect data on the needs of both school and family. As a result of our data and conversations with our community leadership team, we collaborately decide what is the potential need for the following school year. As we start into the year, we monitor attendance and academic completion on a daily basis to see if we need to adjust in any way.
- Briefly describe the LEA's proposed timeline for providing services and assistance to students and staff with these funds.
July 2021 - Order the online curriculum and document cameras and research mobile labs
Aug. 2021 - Begin with students in the new curriculum
Aug to Apr. 2021 - Training of Staff on effective online strategies and Foundational Literacy
December 2021 - Mobile Lab on line and mapping out routes
January 2022 -- Full implementation of all parts of this plan
- Briefly describe the extent to which the LEA intends to use ARP ESSER funds to promote remote learning.
We are an online school and intend to use all of the funds to continue to grow and get better with the engagement of our families and students. The document cameras will be an addition to the live sessions with students. The curriculum is a newer more rigorous version for our students. The mobile lab will provide additional technology to students who live in remote areas.
- Describe the LEA's plan for addressing learning loss by: administering and using high-quality assessments to assess students' academic progress and meet students' academic needs, including through differentiating instruction; implementing evidence-based activities to meet the comprehensive needs of students; providing information and assistance to parents and families on how they can effectively support students, including in a distance learning environment; and/or tracking student attendance and improving student engagement in distance education.
The ability to travel to testing sites becomes an issue with some of our students. The mobile lab will help with this issue by bringing the testing to the students. The curriculum offers high-quality assessments that teachers can use to implement interventions to help students throughout the year. The curriculum is electronic which allows students to differentiate up or down as necessary to be successful. The learning from anywhere at anytime allows are students to work beyond a typical school day. Our professional development for our instructors are centered around evidenced based activities for our students. Our attendance rates are high due to the number of one on one calls and Zooms that are made each day to our students.
