Siloam Springs Schools will now have the option to let students work from home in snow days instead of adding school days to the end of the year.
The district received an exemption from the Arkansas Department of Education in December that will allow the district to use alternative methods of instruction (AMI) to make up as many as five school days.
Arkansas legislators passed Act 862 earlier this year, which allows school districts to develop a plan for alternative methods of instruction -- including virtual learning -- for days the school superintendent closes schools due to exceptional or emergency circumstances, according to the ADE website, www.arkansased.gov. The exemption will also enable students to study at home for time lost due to contagious disease outbreaks, utility outages, or other "acts of God," the website states.
"AMI days allow for learning to continue to take place even when school is closed due to unforeseen circumstances," Superintendent Ken Ramey wrote in a letter to parents.
AMI days will only be used after the district has used up all of the inclement weather days already built into the schedule, according to Kristi Wiggins, director of curriculum and federal programs. The school district has two more inclement weather days built into the schedule this year -- Feb. 16 and 19.
Wiggins noted that the district has not taken any inclement weather days in the past two years, but said there have been years that school was in session into June because the district missed so many days due to bad weather.
Principals and instructional teams at each building in the district worked to put together customized study packets for each of the five possible AMI days. All school work in the packets focus on mastery of previously learned material, and will be customized to the grade level and learning needs of the students, Wiggins said.
"It would be material that is related to tier 1 essential standards so that students get an opportunity to practice," she said.
AMI packets will be sent home with students in kindergarten through fourth grade in the coming weeks. A digital copy will also be available to students on the school website. Students in sixth through 12th grade will complete and submit their lessons using Google Classroom. A hard copy of the assignments will also be provided in case the student doesn't have internet access at home or weather conditions cause utility outages.
When an AMI day is being utilized, parents will be informed through the usual communication channels, such as local television and radio stations, the district website and social media accounts, and through the school messenger system. Students will have five days after their last missed day of school to complete and submit AMI assignments. If they do not complete the assignments, they will be marked absent for those days.
Parents should watch for more information about the AMI plan to be sent home from school, promptly respond to requests from the school for updated contact information, and should talk to their children about the expectations for completion of work on AMI days, the letter states.
Wiggins said the district will be reapplying for the exemption next year and will update and tweak their plan based on their experience this year.
"This is the first time we've had this (opportunity) and we want to take advantage of it and make it a positive experience for students and staff," she said.
More information about AMI days, including the letter to parents, a question and answer sheet, and the official AMI plan, is available on the district website, www.siloamschools.com.
General News on 01/17/2018