Friday, Sept. 25 is a Digital Learning Day
This Friday, September 25, is an asynchronous learning day for students. (Asynchronous learning means class will not be held live. Instead, the learning can happen on the student’s own time and at the student’s own pace.) Teachers will provide asynchronous lessons for students on this day, just as they do on Wednesdays during our regular week of remote instruction. Students will have at least four (4) hours of asynchronous learning planned by their teacher(s). Elementary teachers should provide four hours of learning for students. Middle school and high school teachers should provide approximately one hour per class period, based on the number of periods per day.
On July 21, 2020, the Salt Lake City School District (SLCSD) Board of Education voted to postpone the first day of school for the 2020-2021 school year from August 25, 2020 to September 8, 2020. We used the time between August 25 and September 8 to meet with students and families, administer assessments, check out student devices, and to allow teachers more time for professional development and lesson preparation.
Changing the first day of school to September 8 meant that nine (9) days originally scheduled for instruction were removed from the instructional calendar. In order to maintain eligibility for State educational funds and to comply with State Board rules, we are required to make up those nine (9) instructional days.
On August 6, 2020 the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) met and approved a waiver for “up to 6 days total of the 180-day requirement.” This left a remainder of three (3) instructional days for the District to consider.
The three (3) remaining instructional days will be made up through asynchronous instruction for students on the following days:
- Friday, September 25, 2020
- Wednesday, November 25, 2020
- Friday, March 5, 2021
For students, these three days were previously scheduled as non-student days.
The additional days from September 8-11 during which school was canceled because of the severe windstorm earlier this month will be considered separately. More information will be forthcoming.