Sacramento-area private schools shifted to online learning weeks ago. How they did it so fast

Taylor van Loben Sels, a junior at Christian Brothers High School, wasn’t sure how her school could transition her favorite classes to remote learning after it announced it was closing.

But then her choir teacher instructed each student to send an online recording of themselves singing “This is Me” from the movie, “The Great Showman,” so they could create an edited, multi-screen video of the class.

“It took a lot of different takes and recordings, but I thought it was pretty fun and creative, and I have never done that before,” van Loben Sels said.

While Sacramento-area school districts will just begin their formal distance learning programs in the next few weeks, a month after schools announced closures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, thousands of local private school students are already weeks into their online education.

Their teachers are using the online platform Zoom, learning new material and logging students into Google Classroom. While some public school teachers have also started that process, private schools transitioned to distance learning much earlier – some just days after official school closures.

How were those schools able to prepare their teachers and students so quickly?

There are the obvious answers: providing resources for a much smaller student population is less daunting than serving 60,000 students in a school district. Public schools have to ensure that all students have an equitable opportunity to access their education online. And private schools often have donors on hand, and parents who pay anywhere between $6,000 to $25,000 in annual tuition.

Fast action on distance learning

Many private schools, like Christian Brothers, closed their campuses on March 13 – the same day the Sacramento County Office of Education announced public school closures. The following Monday, Christian Brothers took one instructional day to assist faculty with moving to online platforms, and they began distance learning on Tuesday.

D’Niece Garcia-Hall, whose son Colton Hall is a graduating senior at Christian Brothers, said she was impressed with the school’s quick turn around, but not surprised.

“We knew we would be one of the schools that would be ready for it,” Garcia-Hall said. “Our school has been extremely conscientious about sending notes everyday from the teachers and communicating with the students.”

Al-Arqam Islamic Preparatory School, which serves 463 students, hosted a one-day training to provide its staff with tools and knowledge of their new virtual learning model. Teachers familiarized themselves with Zoom and other online platforms that were already being used by staff and students.

Available technology

While many local public school districts don’t have laptops for each child, schools throughout Sacramento have Google Chromebook carts, providing classroom laptops for students while they are at school. Districts began dismantling the carts and checking thousands of laptops out to students. Many Sacramento-area school districts are still in the process of distributing the laptops.

In comparison, only 37 percent of families across California said their schools lent their children computers after school closures, according to a parent survey by The Education Trust-West.

But students in private schools, like Christian Brothers and Sacramento Country Day, had access to robust technology programs, which provided each student with devices long before schools announced closures.

Each of Christian Brothers’ 1,157 students has an iPad and access to their textbook’s digital material online. Elementary-aged Country Day students were able to take classroom devices home for the first time; the school serves more than 460 students.

“We have an Educational Technology Specialist on staff and a very talented team in our Information Technology Department,” Christian Brothers officials said. “We quickly assembled a Digital Learning Team that also includes some of our more advanced technology users to help ensure we were all ready for the transition to online learning.”

Sacramento Waldorf School received a donation that allowed school officials to distribute even more laptops to families in need.

But not all private schools have laptops for every student.

Many of Brookfield School’s 190 students are on financial aid, and school officials recognized that without loaning out school laptops, students would face an even greater digital divide. The school loaned 20 Chromebooks to students who needed them, as well as textbooks and other materials.

Brookfield Principal Jo Gonsalves said that while the school had been using Google Classroom for two years, training the teachers to take on an all-virtual program took some time.

“Sure, we had glitches, but the younger and more tech-savvy teachers helped those who were struggling,” Gonsalves. “There was a lot of phone coaching, email advice and the like. Using Zoom, I set up a daily ‘faculty lounge’ that teachers could visit to commiserate and share ideas. That not only helped people gain skills, but it gave them much appreciated emotional support and encouragement from their peers.”

Al-Arqam school officials intentionally staggered Zoom meetings on their daily schedule so that siblings could have an easier time sharing home devices. All Zoom meetings and lessons are also recorded and posted on Unified Classroom for students to access at a later time.

“Our team is consistently examining the virtual learning practices, researching best practices and modifying the virtual learning as necessary,” said Al-Arqam Principal Lula Abusalih.

How to make online learning work

Since many private schools are smaller than public schools, site leaders have been able to actively engage and monitor classes remotely.

“I rotate through about five classes a day,” Gonsalves said. “ If you are using a platform like Google Classroom, have the teachers add a member of your admin team as a co-teacher or student. That allows administrators and teacher leaders to virtually visit every class and coach teachers.”

Private school leaders and parents also said it is important to have reasonable expectations of their students.

“Initially the workload, coupled with the excitement of the video classroom, was too rigorous,” said Cana Sharai, whose second grade son attends Brookfield. “I let my son’s teacher know we wouldn’t be able to finish. At first it was too much for me; I have another child and a career. He pulled the reigns back for a bit.”

But as the novelty and excitement wore off for Sharai’s son, and as the interruptions that 8-year-old children are known for began to taper off, Sharai said the students became ready for additional work.

Garcia-Hall said Christian Brothers teachers took some time to adjust to online teaching, but that there are still high expectations of students.

“It’s a higher level of learning since it’s a preparatory academy,” she said. “They have continued to have high expectations.”

And creativity is not canceled.

Some schools knew they had to begin thinking creatively when it came to instruction and continue teaching language classes and electives that are heavily valued by their student bodies and their families. Schools tried to ensure those classes didn’t take a back seat.

Sharai’s son at Brookfield is taking his physical education, music and French classes on Zoom.

And students at Sacramento Waldorf School are working on crafts and projects. The school strongly values practical and fine arts in its curriculum, and teachers have been diligently distributing supplies to families.

Waldorf teachers had to find ways to transform “three-dimensional education” and deliver lessons to students at home without the material. Waldorf students in the seventh grade are creating a Rube Goldberg machine that is designed to perform simple tasks in a complicated way. Students now have to reconstruct projects at home.

Waldorf music teacher George Khokhobashvili uploaded videos of himself on YouTube playing jazz for his students.

Parents, teachers and students communicate

Teachers are sending hand-written letters to students – and students are sending responses back. Waldorf alumni are organizing to provide tutoring for students.

“We are requesting participation from our grandparents, alumni, and friends of (the school) to read books saved onto audio files for our younger students,” said school administrator Kat McFee. “We are reaching out to our parent community to better understand what resources would support their efforts during these challenging times.”

Brookfield teachers used YouTube exercise videos to teach physical education.

“Our students continue to have Spanish, French, PE, theater and all their elective classes delivered virtually,” said Brookfield’s Gonsalves. “The teachers have been very creative, and I think they will all be “YouTube Stars” when this is over.”

Taylor van Loben Sels is now taking choir and and AP Chemistry online.

Her mother, Mary van Loben Sels, said public school students she knows have not done any school work since campuses closed. She calls Christain Brothers’ transition “phenomenal.”

Chemistry classes now consist of video lessons and online simulations where students can watch different labs on PhEt Interaction Simulations.

Some private school officials said that their transition wasn’t any smoother than what public schools are experiencing. And they acknowledge more challenges will come.

“No amount of training will make this transition easy and you can’t anticipate every problem,” said Gonsalves. “Americans have that ‘can-do spirit,’ and if we are called upon to figure something out, we will do it. My teachers had a hand in all of this because, after all, they are on the front line, putting the lessons together. Every good manager knows, if you want innovation, talk to your workforce. They continue to help us learn and develop into a top-notch virtual program.”