Learning to adjust
Few of the Bremond ISD parents surveyed are opting for remote learning this year, High School Principal K.L. Groholski said.
The school is moving toward ensuring each student has a Chromebook or iPad, and other aspects of the school’s tech gear and teaching strategies are also getting a facelift. Classrooms will see the addition of interactive televisions, and teachers are being asked to make more video content available.
In the spring, Groholski said most of the district’s 510 students were able to do school work online, with a handful choosing paper packets, sometimes out of preference.
Some students last school year had challenges with obtaining reliable internet in certain parts of the district’s boundaries. It is the “nature of being in a rural area,” he said. But their needs were met with paper in the spring, and those opting for remote learning this year do not seem like they will have an issue, he said. The district is handling problems individually as they arise, and officials are confident in the ability to facilitate an effective curriculum for all.
Bandwidth availability may be a hurdle for the Bremond area, but officials have been assured there will be improvements, including a new Verizon tower in the area, Groholski siad. Verizon has not given many details to the district, other than saying that the tower should be available around Bremond in the near future, he said.