First day of public school allowing students, parents to adjust

Guam Department of Education Superintendent Jon Fernandez described his typical first day of school routine to KUAM News. 

"This is a day where teachers and staff and administrators are welcoming parents and their kids back to the schools, a lot of high fives at the front doors and the front hallways," he said.

But this year is different, as all public schools are resorting to distance learning with coursework done at home either online or with hard copy.

"We made a big shift last week when PCOR 1 was declared and we also had to also move face to face students to one of the home learning options," he said. "So we never expected to jump in on day one here is your assignments, here is your homework, hope you are ready by tomorrow."

Fernandez said they are using this week to ensure students and parents are adjusting comfortably. The department is utilizing power school and SwiftK12 communications to push information out and keep parents updated.

"This is a new time, so there is also a sentiment of as teachers this is all new to us as well," he said. "Some of us are great with technology and some of us will take a couple of weeks to really get going in terms of our comfort level because we are all doing this together we are just asking the community, our partners at home to really just make the best of what is really going to be a different school year."

In making the best of the situation, Fernandez encourages the community to join him in taking the challenge as a learning experience.

"Let's use the online time to let students present the work themselves, show us how you understand it, answer questions from your peers really turn it into what they call the flipped classroom, where it's not about facts it’s about discussion, critical thinking and problem solving," he said. "It’s really going to be a shift this year that will last beyond COVID-19."

The face-to-face learning option has been delayed by two weeks, although Fernandez says in the event it is continued for longer, a contingency plan has been created amongst the administrators.

Also during this period, GDOE has opened a hotline, the number to call is 300-1536 or email [email protected].