EF considers back-to-school options

By CHRISTINE HAINES

chaines@yourmvi.com

The restart of classes in the Elizabeth Forward School District will be marked by several keywords: safety, flexibility and adaptability are at the top.

“Our goal is to bring kids back to some normalcy. Don’t believe everything you read on Facebook. These are very difficult times,” said Superintendent Dr. Todd Keruskin. “Our number one goal is the safety of our students and staff. If parents don’t feel comfortable sending their kids, we’ll have options.”

Keruskin and Assistant Superintendent Keith Konyk presented some of the options for the 2020-21 school year at this week’s board meeting. 

Konyk said one of the advantages for the district is that students have been using iPads for the past eight years and the Canvas program integrates educational materials electronically to get them into the hands of students and to develop personalized learning plans.

“These things have been in the hands of our students for years. We weren’t preparing for a pandemic, but we were ready,” Keruskin said.

Keruskin and Konyk said the district also learned a lot over the past several months, documenting what worked and what didn’t work, and provided in-service training for the teachers to improve the remote learning experience for students. 

“We have nine teachers in the district with cyber experience. We had think tank meetings with them,” Konyk said.

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