As a result of Covid-19, schools around the world have had to modify the learning environment to accommodate the health and safety of students and teachers. In an effort to support and inspire the global PYP community, the IB invited schools to share how they found success with learning and teaching during the pandemic. Here are their stories.
Stories from the PYP community
“Although our journey this year has not been easy, there have been some unexpected silver linings.”
Farmdale Elementary, an IB World and Community School is located in El Sereno, a predominantly LatinX community in Los Angeles. We have a 50/50 Dual Language program and half of our students are enrolled in the program. Farmdale is a Title 1 School where the majority of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch, however, we serve families from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, many of our students came from high–need households and needed support in a variety of areas. In 2019, we became a Community School because we saw the need for wraparound services and access to more resources. In addition, the majority of our students did not have consistent access to technology or the internet in their homes. To continue reading this story, click here.
“We wanted to provide time for the revision of units in a way that would accommodate a variety of schedules.”
Alexander R. Shepherd Elementary is a District of Columbia public school located in Shepherd Park in Northwest, DC. Shepherd Elementary is a warm and welcoming school community. The staff members and educators at Shepherd are very caring and work hard to provide conceptual and inquiry-based instruction that encourages students to take action in both their local and global communities. However, during COVID-19, one of the challenges has been finding time to collaborate on revising our school’s units of inquiry. To continue reading this story, click here.
“The biggest challenge was then adapting our curriculum so that essential elements and concepts were presented during the shortened instructional day.”
Thomas Kelly is an International Baccalaureate, Primary Years Programme in the San Juan Unified School District located in Carmichael, California. Thomas Kelly currently has 391 students in Transitional Kindergarten through the fifth grade. Fifty-eight students are identified as English Language Learners who speak seventeen different languages. Forty-one students receive services through Special Education. Fifty-six percent are considered socio-economically disadvantaged. On March 13, 2020, as school districts around the state began shutting down in–person learning to slow the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, Thomas Kelly students were dismissed and told to take home all their personal belongings and textbooks. To continue reading this story, click here.
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