As a response to the COVID crisis, the Big Beaver Falls Area School District was required to rapidly shift to an online learning platform for which they were not prepared. From March through the present time, great effort has been made to update and purchase technology, enabling 1:1 ratio as well as to establish a district-wide digital platform using Google Classroom. Beaver Falls is well-positioned for online learning this fall.

However, during the previous semester, many students reported difficulty with online learning, due to several factors, including lack of internet access, lack of a quiet place to work, being responsible for younger siblings, and lack of necessary adult support to complete work (especially younger students). We also heard from many parents and grandparent guardians that they were unable to both work and provide adequate academic support for their children and were often not in the economic position to even have a choice in how to provide support for online learning.

Neighborhood North, Trails Ministries, and Big Beaver Falls Area School District began meeting to discuss ways to help support the education of Beaver Falls students as they transition to the hybrid learning model for the first nine-weeks of the 2020-21 school year.  Our goal is to leverage the collaborative and individual work of partners to serve as a coordinated asset to Beaver Falls Schools, students, and families to ensure equitable learning opportunities and resources for every student.

The most urgent identified need was a safe, quiet, structured space for our community’s young learners to go where they could be supported during the days they were doing “asynchronous online learning”. We developed a Learning Pod model that was scalable for the community’s needs and could be adapted to the district’s requirements. In Beaver Falls, the Neighborhood Learning Pods will offer 4 different pod locations to students in grades Pre-K through 5th Grade. These will be open Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday, 10:00 am-2:00 pm, and will be run by credentialed staff as well as volunteers. Each location will have WIFI available, however, each student will be required to bring their own Chromebook or iPad supplied by the school as well as their homework. Staff will work with district educators to support students’ online learning. Additionally, supplemental activities will be provided to help enhance learning, as well. Transportation is available to families for whom that is a need, and all students will receive free breakfast and lunch each day they attend. There is no participant charge for the program, however, registration is required as Beaver Falls students will be assigned to a Learning Pod and we will adhere to CDC guidelines concerning COVID precautions and contact tracing. 

In Beaver Falls, we were able to put this in place rather quickly due to our historic collaborations and partnerships with both the school district, nonprofits, and churches as well as to the openness and leadership of the Big Beaver Falls Area School District Superintendent, Donna Nugent. During this time, it has been encouraging to see the Beaver Falls community working towards the common good and care of its students in a truly collaborative way. To echo the sentiments with which we began this newsletter, we are excited about the possibilities and opportunities for education right now.
 
Our pods are set to begin the week of September 14, and we will keep you posted on this year’s journey!

To learn more, volunteer, or to contribute to our Learning Pods, follow this link.

To register your K-5 Beaver Falls district student, click here.