By: Jill Thompson and Allison Zmuda on February 16th, 2021
New School Design | Virtual Learning | School Leadership
To support the planning of opening a virtual school, leaders can be overwhelmed with the volume of questions to consider — logistics, strategy, and purpose to name a few. To guide the planning process, we offer the following table with phases of implementation with related questions. While the guide is set up sequentially, each phase may trigger a deeper articulation of previous phases to refine or reimagine the virtual school.
Phases |
Questions |
Vision — who you are serving and how it adds value |
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Regulations and Operational Parameters — the prework leaders have to successfully establish the virtual school |
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Foundations — steering committee with key stakeholders to inform foundational choices |
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Day-to-Day Learning Design— working with staff to design instructional roles, practices, and pedagogy in a virtual school |
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Kicking Off Virtual School - essential policies and expectations |
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Because leaders benefit from consistent reflection when implementing something new, a powerful approach is through retrospectives to think more flexibly about what virtual school can look like. Building in checkpoints to reflect and iterate on what is working and what could improve avoids/prevents becoming stagnant. Regular reviews with staff, students, and families continue the iteration process in service to the school district vision and commitment to every learner’s success.
Check out the previous posts in the series, Reimagining Post-Pandemic Virtual Learning in Public Schools. Part 1: Virtual Schooling is Here to Stay and Part 2: Slow Pivots – What's Driving the Change to Reimagine School Schedules?
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