The Monroe County School District will launch virtual school on Wednesday, Aug. 19. About 8,000 students and 1,000 teachers and staff will be fully embracing a newly drawn digital platform. Here are 9 things parents and students need to know.

1. Visit the school’s website

Visit keysschools.com and then select a specific school on the upper right side of the page. Each school has information on its front page about the new school year. 

2. Get your device

One of the first things viewers will see on the school website is a materials pickup schedule that lasts throughout this week. Materials refers to Chromebooks, one per student, loaned to families who do not already have a device at home. Textbooks will not be passed out. “Everything is online now,” said Monroe County School District Superintendent Terri Axford. “Plus, during COVID-19 we don’t really want to be passing around papers or books.”

3. Meet the teacher 

Elementary school teachers are reaching out to students and parents to set up 15-minute “getting to know you” individual virtual meetings before the start of the school year. According to Axford, this is already underway.

4. Find your schedule 

Some middle and high school students have been able to use Canvas or Google Classroom to access their schedules. However, school officials will be sending out emails to students with this information as well. Incoming high school freshmen will be offered a video tutorial that offers students information about courses and other opportunities.

5. ‘I do, you do, we do’

Almost every class period will be broken into three parts — teacher instruction, solo studying, and full class engagement. “That’s one of the major differences this fall compared to last spring,” Axford said. “Teachers will be having virtual face-to-face conversations with students and that was lacking last year.” Google Meet will be the most used platform, Axford said. 

6. Teachers are at school

According to Axford, 80% of Monroe County School District teachers have returned to their respective classrooms. For teachers in Florida, it is optional whether they will return to school buildings until such time as instruction is face to face. Teachers working from the school are to follow strict guidelines and social distancing requirements.

7. Feeding the kids

In the spring of 2020, the district continued to provide meals (breakfast and lunch) and, at some points, weekend supplies to Keys students. What began as a pickup, then moved to distribution points, will look different this fall. School vehicles will generally follow school bus routes to drop off meals. Students must be signed up. 

8. Sports & clubs

The fact that the Big Ten just canceled its fall sports seasons doesn’t bode well for high school sports. Axford said the district is working on a safe plan where students can still play or practice or use school facilities such as the gymnasium. Band and drama will happen virtually on a school-by-school basis. 

9. Get pumped

“It’s amazing to see how excited everybody is, and how much enthusiasm they have about working with the kids,” said Axford. “But we are following the COVID-19 transmission rates very carefully because our ultimate goal is to return to in-person instruction.”

Sara Matthis thinks community journalism is important, but not serious; likes weird and wonderful children (she has two); and occasionally tortures herself with sprint-distance triathlons, but only if she has a good chance of beating her sister.