Can my family form a learning pod out of my home during distance learning weeks?
Yes, but please read this full answer for required guidelines.
Many families have asked if the school is supportive of creating so-called learning pods at home, so that small groups of students can learn together and interact in physical proximity. This idea is a creative solution to a challenging situation, particularly the need to accommodate child care needs, and we are generally supportive of this approach. At the same time, it raises some issues of inclusivity and equity that we are sensitive to and want to address. There are also impacts on classroom management and educational delivery that our faculty would benefit from managing at the outset of the year. We also need to be certain that members of the community are doing their utmost to align with PBS’s strategic principle to establish a baseline for health and safety.
Given all of that, families may organize learning pods based out of their homes, as long as these pods strictly adhere to the following principles and guidelines:
- Creating welcoming, inclusive classrooms is a priority at PBS, and we hope that this pedagogical principle will be kept top of mind if and when families develop pods. Please be mindful that other families may not have the resources, comfort level, or invitation to participate in a pod, which could cause feelings of exclusion.
- What is good for students, is good for teachers, is good for families when it comes to the rules of the road for health and safety. And ongoing research has made it clear that, as a public health principle, low community prevalence of COVID-19 will directly impact how quickly we are able to safely return to campus in the K–5 program, so taking precautions is vital. Pods must observe the layers of safeguards that have been clearly outlined by the school, including physical distancing, use of face coverings, frequent hand-washing, and more.
- The following webinar from UCSF highlights the importance of following strong preventative health measures to prevent household transmission, in addition to bolstering overall community health by following state requirements: What We Know About Children and COVID-19 Transmission.
- Managing a virtual classroom can be challenging, and managing in-person distractions and conflict from afar is an even greater challenge. To prevent pods from creating an in-class distraction, each student should work independently during synchronous learning. For example, if students in the same pod are logging into a Zoom class meeting, the expectation is that they will log in from separate devices, with separate headphones and microphones, ideally from different rooms.
- [Revised September 28] The transition to blended learning will be complete on October 26. At that time, any at-home learning pods (preschool through 5th grade) must consist of students in the same cohort. The physical division of cohorts is important to campus safety once we begin blended learning.
- Management of students in family-built learning pods is the responsibility of those families. Teachers will, as always, manage the students in their classrooms, but we cannot expect them to be responsible for any in-person social conflict that arises from learning pods.
The school will not make adjustments to assigned cohorts to accommodate home learning pods. It has been an extensive faculty-led process to design cohorts this summer, just as it is in the summer that precedes every academic year. We have been clear that cohorts take into account intricate factors – balancing academic needs, creating inclusive classrooms, and considering student work habits and social-emotional dynamics. In addition, this year the cohorts also incorporate those who have elected 100% distance learning, as well as sibling-related requests. The cohorts are settled in order to allow our faculty adequate prep time to deliver the best learning program possible. The cohorts have been intentionally designed to achieve successful learning outcomes.
