WOOLWICH TWP. — The Kingsway Regional School District Board of Education announced that it will make-up the Feb. 20 snow closing day with a district-wide “Cyber Day” on Monday, April 22.
As a result, school will be closed to students on the Monday after the Easter holiday in lieu of completing a technology-based learning assignment per class. The day will instead be used as a staff training day as originally planned in the 2018-19 school calendar.
As a result, Kingsway’s middle and high school teachers, grades 7-12, will communicate assignments directly to their roster of students, prior to spring recess, which is scheduled to begin Monday, April 15 through Friday, April 19. Each “Cyber Day Assignment” will be tied to the existing curriculum and serve as a purposeful continuation of learning for the student. Teachers are expected to make every effort to use technology as a channel through which the student engages in the learning experience.
Dr. James J. Lavender, Superintendent of Schools, recommended the plan to the Board of Education and stated, “We are embracing technology as a way to enhance education and prepare our students for life after high school. Many of them will enroll in a college or university that will take a blended approach to education, utilizing both traditional forms and e-learning platforms, to deliver instruction and facilitate learning. Other students, whether its post-high school or post-college, will be employed in organizations that will most likely utilize technology to complete work responsibilities from home. As time goes on, technology will continue to enhance these opportunities and we want our students to be ready to embrace each one.
District administrators plan to follow up the proposed Cyber Day with surveys to better gauge the success of this approach for future consideration as a viable means to make up snow closing days.
