Parish schools highlight online options
Courtesy photo
This screenshot is one example of what the online lessons Lincoln Parish Schools are encouraging students and parents to use look like.
The Lincoln Parish School District released Friday an update on its efforts to serve students during the governor-ordered school closure, including providing access to online educational resources and continuing its disbursement of free meals each morning.
Through its newly revamped website, lincolnschools.org, the district has compiled links to dozens of distance learning resources for all grade levels in math, English, science, social studies and early childhood.
These can be accessed by clicking on the first dropdown menu option under the “Parents” tab at the top of the website’s home page.
A proclamation from Gov. John Bel Edwards last week closed schools across the state from March 16 until April 13. As of Friday afternoon, that return date had not changed.
While students are not required to participate in distance learning, Superintendent of Schools Mike Milstead said the district is striving to make the resources as accessible and thorough as possible.
“Our goal continues to be parent/student access of resources through online education to the extent that students have homebased technology to access information,” Milstead said. “Many of these resources are used in our schools when in session. One of our main goals continues to be for our students to demonstrate no educational regression during the time when schools are not in session.”
The resources include interactive video lessons, in which an instructor draws visual examples and explains the concepts out loud, as well as practice sessions and exams. Milstead said the district will continue to add to its list in the coming days. Paper copies of resources will soon be made available as well.
“Teachers continue to reach out to students electronically where possible for specific instruction in reading/ELA, mathematics, dual and AP classes using Google Classroom and Facebook Live,” Milstead said.
Meanwhile, the school system will continue its distribution of sack breakfasts and lunches to any and all children in the parish 18 and under throughout the upcoming week until the previously scheduled spring break the week of March 30. Meals will then resume April 6.
The district has reportedly served over 11,000 meals in the first week of downtime at its eight pickup sites. Pick-up times remain 9:30-11 a.m. each weekday at Simsboro School, Dubach School, Choudrant High School, Cypress Springs Elementary, Hillcrest Elementary, Glen View Elementary, Ruston Elementary, and I. A. Lewis.
The school board office lobby is open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to noon for “obtaining essential information related to the present crisis,” though the release notes that email or phone contact is preferred. The office number is 255-1430.
“We certainly appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we work our way through these challenging times for our parish, state, and nation,” Milstead said. “As a school district, we are committed to prioritizing the safety of our students, staff, and school communities.”
