MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The first week of virtual learning for Shelby County Schools students is in the books. It’s been a historic week as tens of thousands of students have powered up to learn from home.
WREG got to take a peek at the Friday afternoon music and art classes for second-grader Maria Brent and her sister, kindergartner Marilynn Brent.
Their grandmother, Brenda Fowler, says the family embraces this new way to learn.
“Everything has really went so much smoother than we thought it would. Not knowing what to expect,” Fowler said.
She commends staff at Idlewild Elementary, where the girls would normally attend in person, for keeping students engaged.
“And they stretch, and they have a hour for lunch and they feel so important,” Fowler said. “They’re learning their user ID’s and their passwords which is a lot for a five and seven-year-old.”
Maria and Marilynn are learning how to navigate technology at a young age.
“They’re learning to click over to another teacher,” Fowler said.
Fowler says so far, they haven’t really had internet bandwidth issues.
As far as interacting with other students, her granddaughters see classmates on their computer screen.
“And they do have opportunity to interact with them and this isn’t forever,” Fowler said. “All in all, we’re having a good experience. We feel good about them being safe at home not exposed to anything. We had some friends and family on the flip-side, so we know that this really is a real virus.”
The family notes they’re lucky the girl’s mother was able to change her work shift to align better with their school schedule.
SCS says policies and expectations will remain this year. However, attendance will be taken by teachers through Microsoft teams.
Parents must email reasons for absences to the homeroom teacher within two days. The same goes for reasons a student might be late joining class or leaving early.
