November marks the start of a temporary shift to Remote-Learning Fridays in Canyons School District.
Starting Nov. 5, 2021, eight Fridays will be set aside for online learning or independent study per the following schedule:
• Nov. 5, 2021
• Dec. 3, 2021
• Jan. 7, 2022
• Jan. 18, 2022
• Jan. 28, 2022
• Feb. 4, 2022
• Feb. 11, 2022
• March 25, 2022
• April 22, 2022 (except Brighton High)
• April 29, 2022 (Brighton High only)
Remote Fridays are days of learning. Students are expected to use the time for independent study and will be provided learning packets or access to assignments on CSD’s common online-learning management system, Canvas. Teachers will report to school for work and use the time to collaborate with peers, create lesson and intervention plans, and provide any needed outreach to students. They will also hold virtual office hours by appointment for students and parents.
Schools may schedule family meetings on Remote Fridays to review Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), Distance Learning Plans, and 504 accommodations. But this time is not intended to be used for athletic or performing arts practices.
A sack lunch — and breakfast, for students who have a breakfast program at their school — will be sent home with students on Thursday to help fuel their Friday learning. All students will be offered a sack lunch, but they are not obligated to take one.
The goal with Remote Fridays is to support teachers in supporting students. Teachers are reporting increased rates of exhaustion and burnout due, in part, to such pandemic-related stressors as staffing shortages.
A nationwide labor shortage has made it difficult to hire school support staff and find enough substitutes to cover for teachers who fall ill or have to be pulled from the classroom for District-sponsored trainings. District Office staff are volunteering as substitutes, and the District has suspended the rollout of new initiatives and postponed teacher trainings that aren’t state-mandated or required as a condition of a grant. But the District’s pool of 300 substitutes is not enough to cover classrooms, and teachers are having to combine classes or fill in for one another on their preparation periods, leaving them little planning time.
