At the time, the idea that remote learning would eliminate snow days was gaining traction. But as the shortcomings of virtual classrooms surfaced, state education officials nixed the idea.
For students at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High Schoolin Upton, however, virtual learning is an opportunity to learn a “vital 21st-century skill” in 2025.
The skill: The ability to navigate a job on platforms such as Zoom or Teams — ranging from presenting at a meeting to having a virtual contract negotiation.
“It is how business is done these days, a lot of it anyway,” said Anthony Steele, assistant superintendent-director and principal. “And so we recognize that it’s a universal skill that any student, particularly one graduating from a technical school, should be well versed in.”
Many of Steele‘s students are likely well-versed in some technology, including TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. But other technology, such as Office Suites, might not be something a student picks up on their own.
Learning to be able to do it all makes them “well-rounded, prepared students” who are ready for the workforce, Steele said.
But it’s not something every school is able to do.
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) said remote learning no longer counts toward a district’s minimum required structured learning time.
DESE said it was only available for the 2020-2021 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic that kept students at home.
Additionally, some school districts fear technology issues would hinder the day.
“Many of our teachers coming in from another town, they may not have power at their home,” said Mansfield Superintendent Teresa Murphy. “And so how can they get on a computer and do remote learning?”
And while teachers and students got into the virtual routine eventually back in 2020, switching for just one day likely wouldn’t be as seamless as she’d like, Murphy said.
But for Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School, it was important to make work.
Setting it up wasn’t extremely difficult, thanks in part to preparations made during the COVID-19 pandemic when the school invested in the needed technology.
The high school already had an extra long school year, adding 13 more days to their in-person education than required by the state. The school committee then allowed the school to opt into virtual learning four times a year.
Sometimes, those can be used in replacement of a snow day.
“Do you do a delayed start? Do you do an early release? Do you call a snow day altogether or do you do a virtual day? So, it just became one more option in the stack,” Steele said.
With the design of the technical school’s schedule, missing a day of school for snow is like missing two days of a more traditional schedule. And sometimes, students might not be back in that class for two weeks.
Half-days or early releases can also mess with that schedule.
Another aspect school officials asked themselves was whether it would be better to continue learning remotely or extend further into June.
“Overwhelmingly, [the] consensus was it is far more valuable to stay on the topic and finish the lesson, the unit, the experience, whatever it is at that time, than it is to simply add more days on in June when students and the school is, for example, at the very end of the year in cleanup mode, shutting down, preparing for summer, turning in books, etc.,” Steele said.
So, on Feb. 6, the school decided to do a virtual day rather than a snow day.
Teachers didn’t have to quickly pivot either. The day was already planned out.
“We put a concerted effort into exactly what the expectations would be for both students and for staff, and we monitor that for quality,” he said. “So the students on a virtual day have a full schedule that’s already pre-designed and ready to go whenever we need to use it.”
For the older students, it is a good reminder of how to use the virtual and computer skills they learned during the pandemic. But younger students might have been too young to learn the skills during that time. The same can be said about future students. That means, Steele said, they’re learning it for the first time.
“So, we’re teaching them these skills,” he said.
But it doesn’t always replace a snow day. On Thursday, the school had a delayed start and students were back in person.
Last year the school only used three out of the four allowed virtual days. It simply depends on the school’s needs that year.
Steele fears virtual learning got a bad name due to the pandemic. But, he said, it can be done correctly.
“During the COVID years, Zoom became practically a dirty word,” he said. “However, after the COVID years, particularly being a technical school, we recognized the value and the importance of the skills, and ... we didn’t want to lose those skills.”
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