Snow days don’t stop learning for St. Joseph’s students

Being absent or tardy when school is conducted online is the same as being late or not present when physically expected to be in the classroom at St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy.

St. Joe’s shut its Boalsburg Pike facility Feb. 16 due to a wintry mix of weather that encouraged people to stay in.

But that didn’t mean school wasn’t in session.

When the school was founded in 2011, administrators had a goal to make sure roadblocks like snow days wouldn’t put a damper on education, Principal Chris Chirieleison said.

That’s why they created Virtual School Days.

“I don’t think online learning is a solution for everyday education, but it certainly works in occasional cases like this,” physics and environmental science teacher Christian Klepeiss said.

Chirieleison said the program is a backup education plan that allows students to pursue instruction when inclement weather prevents them from getting to school safely.

“It’s like telecommuting,” Chirieleison said. “The kids are debriefed at the beginning of the school year so they know about how virtual days work.”

And the day is counted by the state as a full school day.

“We’re not having to tack on these days to the end of the calendar year,” Chirieleison said. “It’s a useful way to continue instruction.”

St. Joe’s is part of a one-on-one program that provides students with mobile devices so they can complete assignments online.

Students were given laptops when the program started. Now, each student has iPads with built-in Wi-Fi that allows every student to have access to the Internet, Chirieleison said.

St. Joe’s has 123 students this school year.

“We want to take advantage of the opportunity to have continued instruction instead of gaps,” Chirieleison said. “In some cases, learning isn’t meaningful when it’s pushed out farther into the school year. With technology, we see no reason to delay learning.”

On Virtual School Days, students are expected to sign in via email from 10 to 11 a.m. with their regular homeroom teachers, Chirieleison said.

Teachers then advise students of instructional information and assignments, which must be completed by 5 p.m.

“It’s not just an easy day off,” Chirieleison said. “There’s an accountability piece. We expect them to log in, and in situations when there is a technology glitch, we usually can work around it.”

If students miss the Virtual School Day, they’re required to have an excuse like any other general absence, Chirieleison said.

They’re also required to make up work they missed.

In Klepeiss’ physics class, students are learning about how to make a similar contraption to the Rube Goldberg machine.

On Feb. 16, he assigned students to research and watch a video about the device. Klepeiss then asked the students to write a report on their findings.

Students were also asked to bring in supplies from home that they would need to build the apparatus.

“That’s the proof factor,” Klepeiss said. “We want to make sure they’re actually doing the assignment and engaged in it.”

In his environmental science class, Klepeiss had similar instruction, but for a different project.

“You look at these virtual days and see how it could work with class curriculum,” Klepeiss said. “A lot of people depend on meaningful work instead of busy work. We want to make sure the online instruction fits with what we’re working on in class.”

It’s also preparing students to learn other skills like concentration and multitasking.

“Virtual days teach us to balance work with things that can distract us, and I think that will come in handy later in life,” sophomore Bryce Herman said. “The independence that comes with virtual days helps prepare us for college when we will be working independently almost all of the time.”

And that’s the second part of the goal for virtual days, Chirieleison said.

“There’s a real-world aspect here in making sure they stay on point with their work when they would probably rather be playing outside or doing something else when everyone else has that day off,” Chirieleison said. “But our students are pretty good at signing in, doing their work and retaining the knowledge. It makes for a smooth transition into class the next day, because no instructional time was lost.”

Chirieleison said there’s only been two or three cases in the past couple of years that students didn’t complete a Virtual School Day.

Klepeiss said he plans for virtual days ahead of time.

“We know it’s winter, and we know there might be some cancellations so I’m getting things done for virtual days before we have them,” Klepeiss said. “It has to be a doable and realistic project that they can do from home.”

St. Joe’s operates on the same schedule as State College Area School District. Like its home district, St. Joe’s had five snow days — or Virtual School Days — last school year.

To date this school year, there has only been one.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 8:39 PM with the headline "Snow days don’t stop learning for St. Joseph’s students."