Anchorage School District prepares to go live with distance learning

An Anchorage School District Board meeting on Monday outlined plans to go live with distant learning through specific online programs. The school board meeting also stressed the role parents will play in the at-home learning equation.

Elementary students in the district will have the option of online learning, paper learning packets, and television-based learning via Alaska Public Media programming.

High school students will have a more narrowly focused online learning experience for the remainder of the school year, while junior high students will have paper and pencil options along with online learning.

The school district also announced its recent efforts with ACS, GCI, and MTA to provide free WiFi for students along with hotspots and Chromebook laptops for high school students to help bridge the digital divide for students, faculty, and staff.

ASD says the first phase of the distance learning program kicks off Tuesday. High school students will focus on core courses like English, Math, Science and Social Studies. ASD says it will introduce electives after two more weeks once students have had time to acclimate to the online learning platforms.

It was also announced at Monday's meeting that the summer school program will be converted into a four-week course to help students finish the school year.