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KPS Acceleration Plan:
Three-Year COVID
Response Strategy
KPS Acceleration Plan: Three-Year COVID Response Strategy
Late in the evening of March 12, 2020, educators across Michigan were alerted of an emergency press conference hosted by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The press conference informed the state residents that all K-12 schools would be closed for two weeks due to COVID-19. Educators were hopeful for a quick return to school, but no one knew exactly what COVID-19 entailed. Educators knew that the virus was serious enough to close schools but wondered if a two-week break from school would mitigate the spread of the unknown virus.
Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS) immediately orchestrated a plan to continue educating students; especially seniors preparing to graduate. A local business, Schupan Asset Management, donated refurbished Chromebooks to seniors. KPS also donated Chromebooks that were “end of life” to seniors to continue their learning.
On April 2, 2020 Governor Whitmer closed all K-12 schools for the remainder of the school year. With the closure of schools, the Governor’s Executive Order (EO 2020-35) required all schools to provide learning opportunities for all students. School districts were to complete a Continuity of Learning and COVID-19 Response Plan no later than April 28, 2020.
As the reality of remote learning became apparent, KPS provided support for both students and families. KPS issued Chromebooks, launched twenty-four sites for twice-weekly grab and go meal packet distribution, disseminated learning packets, and created a Learning Hub in which families could access grade level content for their child(ren) 24/7 on the district’s website. The Learning Hub also included Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons and links for families to access core learning resources like read alouds and technology supports.
The district quickly provided over 120 hours of virtual professional development for teachers and administrators once it was decided that remote learning would begin in short order. Teachers were able to choose the professional development sessions most relevant to their level of expertise and the subjects they taught. Sessions were centered around both the hardware and software necessary to deliver lessons and included best practices for virtual learning pedagogy. The digital gradual release model was introduced, and Teaching and Learning Services quickly created a hub for teacher learning called The Knowledge Center. Teachers could continue their professional learning at The Knowledge Center and use virtual drop-in help sessions and a help ticket system.
KPS created a remote learning schedule for students at all levels. Students were assigned to meet with their teacher(s) daily. The schedule created flexibility for families to ease them into remote learning to minimize the prospective fatigue from the computer screen. Despite all of the challenges, KPS successfully ended the school year. Seniors had rolling outdoor graduations and many other schools held outdoor social distanced activities to celebrate fifth and eighth-graders.
At the onset of the pandemic, we knew that just giving student devices for home usage did not solve the need for internet access at home. On June 15, 2020, the Kalamazoo City Commission announced a new partnership with the Kalamazoo Public Schools, Kalamazoo Public Library, The Kalamazoo Promise, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, and the city of Kalamazoo, called the Digital Access For All (DAFA) partnership. The new partnership committed to provide Wi-Fi hot spots to 1,000 KPS students. The city amended their budget to allocate $200,000 from the Foundation for Excellence Aspirational Fund to pay for the hot spots. In addition to the funds from the city of Kalamazoo, KPS, and The Promise contributed additional dollars to offset the expenses. The Kalamazoo Public Library took responsibility for the check-in and check-out procedures for students and families.
With the Governor’s Executive Orders in effect, we could not offer in-person summer school, and instead, we opted to provide a virtual summer school experience for all. A select group of K-8 students had synchronous summer school four days a week for five weeks with a KPS teacher. All K-8 students in the district continued to have access to the Learning Hub throughout the summer asynchronously. High School students were able to have synchronous summer school with a KPS teacher with an emphasis on credit recovery.
On June 30, 2020, Governor Whitmer and the COVID-19 Task Force on Education Return to School Advisory unveiled MI Safe Schools: Michigan’s 2020-2021 Return to School Roadmap. All school districts were required to submit an Extended Continuity of Learning Plan/COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan (“Preparedness Plan”) by August 15, 2020.
Throughout Summer 2020, the district engaged in committees with staff to plan the options for the 2020-2021 school year. The committee recommended that KPS offer a fully-virtual option, a hybrid option, and a fully in-person option. The superintendent hosted numerous virtual town hall meetings for families before announcing the final plan for the 2020-21 school year.
The superintendent again led numerous virtual town halls in August 2020 to share the plan details. Option 1 was a three-tiered model moving from fully remote for trimester one, to hybrid for trimester two, and finally fully in-person for trimester three if it was deemed safe to do so. The district created two virtual options. Option 2A was the Kalamazoo Virtual Learning Path (KVLP) where families could choose to have their child remain in virtual learning the entire school year in a program run by Kalamazoo Public Schools. The third and final option the district created was Option 2B or the Kalamazoo Virtual Innovative Collaborative (KVIC). In this model families could choose to have their child remain in virtual learning the entire school year, but KVIC would be run by Kalamazoo Regional Service Agency (KRESA). Option 1 was designed for synchronous instruction using the KPS curriculum taught by KPS teachers. Option Options 2A and 2B were designed for asynchronous learning.
The superintendent developed a weighted formula that considered family input, teacher input, non-teaching staff input, health department data, and research from around the world.
For trimester one, the district unveiled a schedule for families that permitted time for whole group and small group instruction four days a week. Teachers were also available for virtual drop-in support for office hours. On Wednesdays, teachers taught lessons for social emotional learning. To further support students, the district partnered with Kyd Network which organized Learning Hubs throughout the community. In addition, each KPS school provided students with school supplies and supplemental material.
Teachers collaborated in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) each Wednesday at the building and district levels. Continuous professional development was provided for teachers. The district purchased Google Enterprise, NearPod, Kami, ScreenCastify, Schoology, PearDeck, Fast Forward, Newsela, Lexia, and Dreambox to assist teachers with instructional technology. As Google made updates to features in Google MEET, teachers could create breakout groups, polls, and the question and answer tool.
Throughout the first trimester, the district created opportunities for teacher feedback and sent surveys. Parents also had a chance to complete surveys on their experiences. The district worked on dual plans in preparation for trimester two. Based on the weighted formula, it was determined that students would remain fully virtual for the second trimester.
As a result of the decision and the input from stakeholders about trimester one, the secondary schedule was modified to structure the courses in chronological order, and the district provided Educator Learning Time embedded in the teachers’ workday. The district then provided school learning hubs in addition to the learning hubs that were already in place in the community.
The superintendent revisited the formula, and the decision was made for the district to remain remote for the third trimester. The school district kept the same schedule intact but offered spring in-person activities for students.
As a result of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), teachers, students, and families have had to overcome numerous challenges to meet vast social-emotional and academic needs within the greater school community. Schools have faced a series of difficult decisions regarding what is best for children, families, and the community.
Since March 2020, school districts have had to adjust policies and procedures, teachers and students have had to learn to engage with one another in new and challenging ways. For the first time in modern history, school leaders have had to fundamentally rethink how to transform learning opportunities in order to prioritize the safety and well-being of students and school staff.
Upcoming school years present both an opportunity to fundamentally change teaching and learning and the challenge to do so in a way that addresses inequitable gaps in educational opportunities and outcomes for students. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been disproportionately felt by historically underrepresented groups, including communities of color, English Language Learners, and families experiencing economic hardship (ED COVID-19 Handbook: Volume 2). This plan represents a commitment to equitable education and a responsibility for every child, every opportunity, every time.
Input from stakeholders has been paramount to our development of teaching and learning strategies since this pandemic has begun. Students, families and teachers have been surveyed multiple times for input. Townhalls have taken place multiple times to both give and receive insight into what is happening at our schools as well as what would help students and families. Our Teacher Advisory Council, Parent Advisory Council, Instructional Leadership, United Auto Workers and Kalamazoo Education Association have been consulted for their valuable insight both during the school year and in development of this Acceleration Plan.
After careful review of input, research, and guidance documents developed by educators and researchers across the country, the KPS multi-year COVID Acceleration Plan is centered around the following focus areas:
- Student, Family, and Educator Well-being
- Assessing, Monitoring, and Evaluating Needs
- Equity, Access, and Targeted Instruction
- Leveraging Community Partnerships
Student, Family, and Educator Well-being is well documented in educational research (Child Development, Jan. 2011). Attainment of social-emotional skills is tightly linked to whole-child well-being and positive academic outcomes. Engaging students, families, and educators with the common goal of providing safe and healthy learning environments, through participation in carefully selected activities, supports the well-being of the school community as a whole. This area is central to the transition period from a virtual learning environment for over a year to the return to face-to-face learning in the fall of 2021.
Assessing, Monitoring, and Evaluating Needs as part of a robust Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) enables school staff to target academic and social-emotional supports to meet the needs of students in a proactive manner (Bernhardt, 2018). School staff will use universal and targeted assessments to inform decision-making related to meeting students’ varying needs. The check and balance of assessing needs is critical to moving student achievement forward from where students are at the beginning of the school year.
Equity, Access, and Targeted Instruction is a commitment to continue to engage in critical conversation around current practices to ensure that Kalamazoo Public Schools is living up to its philosophy, “Every Child, Every Opportunity, Every Time.” Engaging students with a strengths-based approach to learning and growing builds on success as a stepping stone to accelerating learning (Clay, 2019). Students have had an experience like no others in history by learning virtually for such a long period of time. The equity lens is critical to ensure that all means all for instruction. Both the strengths-based model and the equity needs are strong values within the district.
Through Leveraging Community Partnerships, Kalamazoo Public Schools is planning several activities to support student needs. Effective community partnerships have long been recognized as a vehicle for promoting positive communication, interaction, and growth within the greater school community (Epstein, 2018). The district recognizes that it “takes a village” to raise our children. The Kalamazoo community continues to work closely with the district to meet the needs of the students. These partnerships will continue to grow and expand for the needs in the transition.
Kalamazoo Public Schools’ mission is “Every child. Every Opportunity. Every time.” The current school year has been challenging as well as inspiring with all the new initiatives started in the digital world. Staff members continue to respond with learning, adjustments, and support. With the transition back to in-person learning, there will be many new tools and resources for students and staff to use. The KPS Acceleration Plan addresses the mission statement as the focus of the plan targets the following strategies: 1. Student, Family, and Educator Well-being; 2. Assessing, Monitoring, and Evaluating Needs; 3. Equity, Access, and Targeted Instruction; and 4. Leveraging Community Partnerships.
The KPS Acceleration Plan begins with the launch of KPS Summer Readiness 2021. This in-person program will provide learning opportunities for over 2000 students. Community partners will collaborate with the district to provide hands-on experiences during the six-week program. In addition, students in fifth and sixth grades have the option to attend a camp at the conclusion of KPS Summer Readiness. The KPS Acceleration Plan will serve as the framework for our continuous improvement plan starting with the 2021-2022 school year.
During the 2020-21 school year, the Superintendent provided bi-monthly updates at Board of Education meetings on a variety of items including virtual learning and progress towards the current plan. Both parent and teacher advisory councils were empowered to respond with official KPS information and their work will continue to be structured using the RPIE method (Research, Planning, Implementation and Evaluation). KPS launched new communication platforms including a website redesign, a new app, increased use of social media, and an e-flyer system to ensure that families had access to information.
The goal of the 2020-2021 school year was the focus on the safety and emotional well-being and academic progress. Students were in a virtual option the entire school year. As the KPS Acceleration Plan is launched, there will be continued innovation, creativity, and student growth with a focus on providing an equitable education for all students. The initiatives being brought forward into the 2021-2022 school year are research-based and open-ended for additional items. Digital learning platforms, virtual parent-teacher conferences, educator and student ed-tech skills, personal safety measures and much more will be utilized as the district continues to serve children. The plan is a three-year plan with some initiatives starting in the Fall of 2021 and others starting at a later date. With our commitment to continuous improvement, we will evaluate the impact of the KPS Acceleration Plan at strategic intervals. Students and staff will continue to learn with an increased use of technology and support.
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- Arcadia Elementary
- Edison Academy
- El Sol Elementary
- Greenwood Elementary
- Hillside Middle School
- Indian Prairie Elementary School
- Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center (KAMSC)
- Kalamazoo Central High School
- Kalamazoo Innovative Learning Program (KILP)
- King-Westwood Elementary
- KPS Virtual Program
- Lincoln International Studies School
- Linden Grove Middle School
- Loy Norrix High School
- Maple Street Magnet School for the Arts
- Milwood Elementary
- Milwood Magnet School
- Northeastern Elementary
- Northglade Montessori Magnet School
- Parkwood-Upjohn Elementary
- Phoenix High School
- Prairie Ridge Elementary
- Spring Valley Center for Exploration
- Washington Writers' Academy
- Winchell Elementary
- Woods Lake Elementary: A Magnet Center for the Arts
- Woodward School
