Regarding art class - My Cate senior is taking Advanced Art. The teacher had each student go through their house and list what art materials they have available and is structuring individual work based on each student’s supplies. The schools are trying to adjust at lightning speed - let’s all be patient and understanding! Many of the teachers are home with their own school-age children, and they are also trying to help them with their school work.
Just wondering. How many schools went to P/F? Ours did not which my kid was very happy about.
Also, did anyone’s S/D receive a funny message regarding making sure you are dressed appropriately for classes (ie boys wearing shirts) and do not have anything in the background that is ahem, unusual? I thought this brought some levity.
@Happytimes2001 - There is still a risk of being dress coded 
with virtual classes.
^^DS just found out they went to P/F for the remainder of the year, which we have mixed feelings about since he’s a junior. He had a delayed diagnosis of pneumonia (once again) in October which caused him to not do too well on a few tests. His grades have steadily been climbing since. We told him that the teacher recommendations will be key, so to put it in high gear no matter what and hopefully that will overshadow the marginal grades from the fall.
We’ve been quite pleased with the quality of the online classes from Mercersburg so far. The faculty have done a great job adjusting in a short period of time, and my son is being kept busy with quality work to do. The classes meet at scheduled times each day, and are recorded so that those in other times zones can view the lectures at a more appropriate time.
The school has not made a decision on pass / fail at this time - they are concerned about how pass / fail may impact college admissions later on. They also have not pulled the plug on the rest of the year yet. I am grateful for their measured responses, taking things a week at a time and putting significant thought and research into their decisions. They are still hoping to celebrate graduation on campus, even if it means it has to be sometime in the summer months. All that will depend on how things play out nationally and locally, of course.
Meanwhile, my 8th grader in public school, has had no work to do for the past two weeks. The district posted some (limited) resources that are not required, and says they will start more structured work on April 6th. At the moment our state is hoping to reopen schools on the 6th, but I don’t see that as a reasonable timeline. If they are not in school, then work will be sent or made available for students to do at home. There will not be online lectures, except maybe pre-recorded ones they could watch.
I only mention the disparity between my BS kid’s work and my public school’s kid work because even though I am paying thousands of dollars for my BS kid to stay at home to do online classes, at least I know it is quality instruction and work.
Mercersburg has also said that they are discussing prorated refunds on room and board if the students will not be able to return to campus for any part of the Spring term.
Regarding public schools - I believe one of the issues they face is equity teaching. There are rules about teaching for ALL kids and making sure if you are teaching all the “normal” learners you are also teaching all the kids with IEPs etc. So some school districts seem to be totally hampered by these rules and are therefore doing basically nothing.
Agree @one1ofeach that exact issue is what is hampering learning efforts in our district. If they can’t meet the needs of everyone with an IEP, then they can’t do much at all/
Kidddo’s school has told the students to dress appropriately - nobody should be shirtless or in an appropriate T-shirts.
On another note…more emails from teachers came through @ 10 PM-11 PM last night. Attention all teachers who may be lurking on this thread: Please do NOT send emails @ homework, tests, or projects after 9 PM at night. The “stress meter” is already high at night and some of us have other kids at home who hear the screaming!
We’ve had no indication that grading will be P/F. DS has a little dip in the winter and needs to finish strong, so he knows he will be participating in every available session, whether mandatory or not.
Although distance learning doesn’t start till 4/1 (they are still on break), we’ve gotten a comprehensive packet describing the programming, including dress code (not jacket and tie but I believe, “dinner casual”). They’ll be starting at 8 am every day and have a pretty full schedule plus evening hours for supplemental meetings, extra help, etc.
DS’s summer team had a Zoom check-in meeting with their coach last night, and it was great for the kids to connect.
Thacher has moved to Pass/No Pass for this trimester.
Re: Public schools. It isn’t just about kids with IEPs. It is also about access to devices, WiFi, and time. Our district is scrambling to get low income families set up with chrome books and WiFi and teacher friends report additional challenges for kids who need to watch younger siblings or work part time to contribute to family finances. Some families live in a single room and finding a quiet space is simply impossible.
My son’s study abroad program is allowing students to choose credit/no credit by class. So if you are doing great you can keep that grade - I think that’s the way to go.
Exeter has moved to pass/fail. Classes started yesterday. DC says everything is pretty much the same.
Choate started today as a 1/2 day with 30 min periods. Start time for most A block classes will be 10:00 EST. One a full day schedule, this puts some kids in other places in the world in classes at 1-3:00 AM.
YIKES.
Just learned that Hotchkiss has also gone pass fail and will not have final exams.
Deerfield is Pass/Fail - we are finding that there is great variability among the teacher regarding amount of assignments, type of assignments, deviating from the original course syllabus, and how the visual arts will be completed.
“Dinner casual” — have they seen what my family rolls up to the table wearing??!
Question I have about going to Pass /No Pass. What are the implications for college admissions? The administration at my daughter’s school mentioned that they probably can’t go this route as it would negatively impact college admissions since a Pass translates to a 2.0 in GPA. The school is worried about how students would fare for college admissions since GPA is part of the equation. Have there been some colleges which have come forth to green light Pass/No Pass for spring 2020? Also have boarding schools mentioned their stance on grades for next year’s round of boarding school applicants?
@vox_nihili the million dollar question we have been asking. DS’s school is leaving the kids’ grades from last semester as is. They’ve been told that will be their grade for the year on their transcripts as long as they continue to do the same quality work.
So…the result in his applications and how it affects him remains to be seen.
I don’t think my daughter’s school is even considering such a possibility but it’s an interesting solution. The school still expects to open mid-April after spring break but I am finding this scenario dubious at best. Thanks! I might raise this possibility up with the administration. It’s not ideal in many cases as you point out though.
Re: college applications for juniors, this is what Hotchkiss had to say (that is, if you pass a class your grade will either stay what it was after the 3rd marking period, or go up, it cannot go down, and teachers will provide more comments):
"Consistent with departmental practice, instructors will continue to have discretion to calculate course grades, both semester- and year-length courses. Unless a student fails the fourth marking period, their course grade will not be negatively impacted by their work in the coming weeks; however, on the basis of clearly-articulated expectations, a student’s continued improvement in each class can result in a positive impact on a student’s final course grade. Students should simply focus on doing the best work they can, and not feel additional pressure to request an increased grade.
Enhanced Comments for MP4
To support the college application process, especially for upper mids, instructors will address the following questions in their comments:
How did the student respond when faced with challenges? Did they persist? Were they able to draw on resources creatively to solve the problems they faced?
In what ways did the student demonstrate overall maturity while engaging in distance learning?"