When Horizon Christian School, 700 Pacific Ave., Hood River, let out on Friday, March 13, staff sent students home with books and other learning materials knowing it would not be business as usual come Monday morning.
“Upon the first announcement of school-closures, Horizon faculty and staff wasted no time in curating a plan to continue distance learning for all students,” said Rachel Caldwell, community relations director. “Within days, Horizon began implementing distance learning to all students.”
Staff gathered that Monday and Tuesday, March 16-17, to create, plan and train on their chosen platforms.
“Our teachers gathered to craft a comprehensive plan that could serve all of our families while being something our staff would be capable of doing,” said Horizon Secondary Principal Faith Kempf. “… We could not overtax family bandwidth or devices, or parent sanity as they try to work from home and assist their children in school.”
The plan: Create a simple learning platform that any student could access with whatever devices were available to them at their own homes. Thirteen full-time teachers crafted a learning schedule to accommodate families with students across multiple grade levels.
Kempf said staff landed on a combination of Microsoft Teams for students grades 3-12, and Zoom and YouTube for students grades preK-2, as well as work packets. For families who did not have devices for schoolwork, Horizon staff sent the school’s unused devices. Several families additionally did not have internet access, so the school worked with local providers “who graciously helped those families get connected,” she said.
Lower-grade students are also using private Facebook pages for recordings of teachings, PDF files and websites for additional learning.
On Thursday, March 19, the school’s distance learning program began in earnest for its 97 preK-sixth graders, 21 seventh and eighth graders and 46 high school students, as well as 40 kindergarten through 12th grade home-school students.
Horizon Elementary School Principal Renee Rieke said the school’s mission is to ensure “no student is able to slide off the radar.
“Communication with families has expanded to one-on-one tutoring sessions with the student, phone calls and emails to parents from teachers and administrators, routine newsletters, and live chat sessions,” she said.
She said that, for packet pick up, most parents have been able to come to the school during designated hours, but teachers and administrators have also delivered materials to those who are not able to make it during that window.
“Due to our small numbers, this has not been a challenge for us,” Rieke said.
Said Caldwell, “Understanding that each family has different needs and resources, Horizon has been committed to adjusting and working with parents and students in a way that best supports both as we navigate through this learning curve together. Our staff are here to support and have carefully crafted a plan using different technological platforms to best fit the development and learning style of individual students.”
She added that online class attendance is 98 percent among seventh through 12th grade students and school-wide participation is at 100 percent through online delivery or packet distribution.
Kempf said that maintaining consistency teacher-to-teacher is important, so staff crafted a vision statement of what they wanted online delivery to look like: “Through collaborative communication and open dialogue, we will continue to provide excellent Christian education that maintains the progress of our curriculum and core values via on-line delivery. We will support our Horizon community with high-value educational activities, both on screen and off, to prevent isolation while being sensitive to students’ time, needs, and learning styles.”
“When students return to the building, they will not have a gap in their learning,” Caldwell said. Rieke said that students are currently tracking at the same pace as they would have had they not been in isolation.
That’s not to say there haven’t been challenges; there have been many. Kempf said that planning for future events and supporting students “as they grieve these changes and their losses” has been challenging, as well as balancing the need to keep families informed without creating information overload.
Rieke echoed that sentiment. “There were a lot of quick changes for our students in such a short amount of time,” she said. “This leads to feelings of anxiousness and uncertainty for many families and teachers. Most of all, we miss being with the students.”
The biggest challenge has been appropriately differentiating and serving the school’s a-typical learners.
“Online delivery is hard for many and nearly impossible for some learners,” Kempf said. “We work together to identify those who may be falling through the cracks. Staff use all methods available to scaffold learning for them in a way that will be true to our vision for Horizon’s online learning. Often it means one-to-one Teams video calls or a visit to their homes using appropriate safety measures and with the family’s approval.”
But she’s proud of the school’s staff and families for moving forward so quickly and with such flexibility, efficiency, compassion and grace “as we all learn in a brand-new way.”
“The cooperation and support of parents was incredible,” said Rieke. “These changes aren’t easy on them either, but they have been encouraging, positive and thankful for all the effort that teachers are pouring out.”
The heart of Horizon Christian School’s education program is academic achievement, biblical truth and character development.
“What sets us apart is our biblical education,” said Linda Tolbert, kindergarten teacher. “Especially in these troubled times, we should be encouraging our dear students to focus on God’s word.”
Horizon will be host a live virtual open house Saturday, May 2 at 10 a.m. Those interested in learning more about a Horizon education are invited to tune in via YouTube or Facebook Live. Visit www.facebook.com/HorizonChristianSchool.
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