St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School teaches the curriculum of the Diocese of Dallas, and these standards and objectives will be taught to all students whether learning on campus or at home. You can view the Diocesan curriculum on our website here.

Per Texas Education Code (TEC), §25.092, students must attend 90% of a course in order to be awarded credit for the course and/or to be promoted to the next grade whether learning on-campus or at home. Parents/students learning at home will be required to check in, noting their attendance daily.

Remote learners will have a daily schedule for live instruction and are expected to attend all live instruction classes using a Microsoft Teams Live Event. Livestreamed lessons will be recorded so students can access them later, if necessary.  Remote learners will do independent practice as part of the lessons.

Teachers will send their students' daily schedule as well as a weekly calendar of assignments to be turned in.

Core Subjects
The daily schedule will include synchronous (live) instruction in the core subjects of religion, math, language arts, science, and social studies. Livestream instruction will still occur when on-campus instruction is given outdoors.

Specials Classes
Special area classes (music, art, Spanish, PE, and library) will not be livestreamed. These asynchronous classes will include written instruction, videos, applications, web resources, and practice, balancing screen time and independent work time. Specials facilitators will coordinate all these activities and assignments for remote learners, including video recordings, apps, and projects.

Homework
Homework expectations will be the same for remote learners as on-campus students as stated in the Student/Parent Handbook.

Below are sample schedules for STA@home Upper School and the Lower School students. These are samples, actual schedules will be posted when class lists are posted to the FACTS Family Portal.

Children aged four to eight are experiencing crucial, complex areas of development including self-regulation, social and emotional development, responsible decision-making, self-management, and relationship skills.

Distance Learning has obvious limitations in its ability to address all of these areas of development. Without effective supports at home from parents in the Distance Learning process, children can easily become disengaged and frustrated. Parents should consider their ability to play an active role in the process before committing to Distance Learning.

The facilitator and teacher will ensure opportunities for remote learners to participate in classroom discussion and to ask questions, but these opportunities are not unlimited. The facilitator and/or teacher will be available to answer questions and check for understanding, but there may be a delay.

In PK, all core live instruction will be done before 1 PM. Specials classes and activities to replace on-site center time can be completed at the parent’s convenience.

St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School learned a great deal with the emergency spring distance learning put in place after spring break. We will be implementing new learning management systems for both campuses to better support our students, parents, and teachers.

Lower School
The Lower School will use Seesaw, a robust digital portfolio and learning system, where teachers assign tasks that engage students with a variety of work in the form of videos, photos, text, images, files, and drawings.

Upper School
The Upper School will utilize Microsoft Teams, an application in the Office 365 suite of services, providing teachers the ability to share and stream live lessons, collaborate virtually in real time, share resources and documents, create assignments, and provide personalized feedback to students all in one hub.

Both campuses will use Microsoft Teams Live Events to stream live in-class instruction and interact with the classroom. ClassLink will continue to be the single sign on system for all online school apps.

Students
Students will be responsible for participation and completion of all assignments according to the teacher’s policies and procedures just as they would in the school building. Students will have materials ready for activities, follow the honor code and the technology department’s Acceptable Use Policy located in the Student Parent Handbook, and complete and turn in assignments on time.

Parents/Guardians
Parents will follow Safe Environment guidelines to establish the student’s workspace in a common area (no bedrooms) for their student to participate in distance learning. Parents will monitor their child’s assignments, assist their student in collecting and turning in work (email or pickup/drop off on campus), and communicate directly with the teacher as needed. Parents are expected to manage the engagement and behavior of students learning from home when participating in livestream instruction while teachers manage the behavior and engagement of those students in the classroom.

Teachers
The assigned teacher is responsible for all students in his or her class, including remote learners.  The teacher will plan and deliver all instruction and upload necessary materials to Seesaw or Teams, deliver feedback on student progress, and grade all assignments. Your child’s assigned teacher is the point of contact for all questions regarding curriculum and instruction. Participation (questions and comments) from the students during livestream classes will be managed by the teacher and/or facilitator.

Facilitators
Facilitators are assigned to each grade level to represent the STA@Home population. The facilitator serves as a liaison, partner, and collaborator working with the teachers, students, parents, and our tech department to deliver the highest level of education. The facilitator will plan with the teacher, stream live instruction, and coordinate student participation and distribution of all learning materials.

Assessments, quizzes, and tests will be delivered synchronously and proctored by the classroom teacher or facilitator. Grading expectations are the same for remote learners as learners on campus.

Textbooks and workbooks will be distributed at the beginning of the school year and should be readily available during instruction. Other materials needed for instruction will be emailed or available for pick up.

Students in 6th – 8^th grade will receive a laptop with their supplies. It is recommended that students in 3rd – 5th grade use a personally owned laptop for their coursework, and PK-2nd grade students use a personally owned iPad or tablet. Internet will be needed in order to participate in live classes and to access the learning management systems. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Julie Hegarty (jhegarty@staschool.org) or Andrew Price (aprice@staschool.org).

Remote learners are important members of the classroom community and will have grade-level appropriate opportunities to communicate and collaborate with their peers and teachers including participating in class discussions, posting on discussion boards, sharing apps, and being a part of book clubs and study groups.

Remote learners will be able to check out books from the library. Students will use the Follett Destiny app in ClassLink to select books for pick up.

Families will be given the opportunity to switch models at the end of the grading period. The first quarter begins September 2 and ends November 9. If there is a family circumstance that requires immediate change, you can contact Principal Roberts and Principal Watts.