HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — School this fall might look a lot like it did in the spring. The pandemic forced Alabama students to learn virtually the last few months of the school year. Now, Tennessee Valley school districts are preparing for a virtual transition.
"We learned that if we're going to provide virtual education, it has to be a very competent strong, series of lessons where students learn, tested, where they're graded, and where they excel in education," says Madison County Schools Director of Public Relations, Tim Hall.
Hall says the district learned a lot last spring by providing students with 'Digital Backpacks'.
"Basically what we did was if you were in fourth grade, we wanted your student ready for the fifth grade," says Hall.
Madison County Schools say the fall session may be traditional learning, virtual education with the home school, or students can enroll at Madison County Virtual Academy.
"If we find out that a number of students attend virtually, that means that if you're a student at Hazel Green, you stay in the Hazel Green systems, but you attend virtually," says Hall.
The final say is really up to the Alabama State Department of Education. Huntsville City Schools also provided an online 'Blended Learning Plan'.
"It was also kind of a bit of adjustment for us in terms of refining and nailing down the ways in which we teach in an environment," says Huntsville City Schools, Chief Communications Officer Craig Williams.
Williams says the scenario this fall may be students meeting face to face, blended learning with a staggered schedule, or virtual learning depending on the trend of COVID-19 cases.
Williams says there's a difference between virtual learning and the district's new Huntsville Virtual Academy for grades K-12.
"If you are in the Huntsville Virtual Academy, that means from the first day of school onward, you are fully online," says Williams.
School districts can expect to hear from the state by the end of this week about alternative virtual learning.