Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2020

146 www.CharlestonSchoolDirectory.com | www.MountPleasantHomes.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com of other districts who were not able to pivot quite as eloquently as Charleston County School District. For example, CCSD was able to offer each student the option to take a device home — an opportunity many others could not extend. Let’s take a step back in order to view the future with a little more clarity. Karolyn Belcher is the chief academic officer for CCSD. Bringing with her 30 years of experience as a teacher, principal, teacher trainer and organizational leader, Belcher joined CCSD in January and was quickly brought up to speed on all things Charleston. Then, the pandemic hit. “Once we realized this was going to last a lot longer than a few weeks, we quickly transitioned to distributing devices, setting up general directives for teachers to connect with kids by phone or video at least twice a week and implementing a regular routine, with an eye to assignment load and grading, given what students might have going on at home,” she said. Belcher was proud of a lot of the early accomplishments. Hot spots were set up to create seamless wireless learning experiences. Meals were — and still are — being delivered to those in need of them. The challenges, of course, were significant. She pointed to the daunting task of trying to offer a consistent learning experience to all children within the same family, never mind the same school. “Some teachers are very gifted at virtual instruction and were able to really animate the experience, but this was not true in every situation,” she said. “Because it all happened so quickly, we didn’t have the benefit of management oversight or professional development.” That said, the week after school ended was devoted to such matters. CCSD’s curriculum department put together teaching resources to identify essential standards that were supposed to be taught in the fourth quarter, so they could be kept in mind for fall. Counseling is another big part of the fall agenda. “We have to think about how to respond to both educators and students and give them space to process together,” said Belcher. She pointed to some virtual listening circles that the Department of Alternative Programming recently put together and their benefits. “It was only Zoom, but being able to collectively process was appreciated. The key is to operate with grace and kindness to each other and get as much learning in, while recognizing the context.” The two biggest challenges of social distancing are calculating the right number of kids who can ride a bus safely and the variables in the physical space of the actual buildings. Transportation is already an issue, given that each bus runs four routes a day. Walkers will be encouraged, as well as parents driving their kids. Because some schools are near or at capacity, shared spaces might be used for classroom space, or teachers might float to lessen congestion in hallways. Lunches could possibly be eaten at student desks. Nothing is off the table. Independent Schools Karolyn Belcher, chief academic officer for CCSD.