As Covid-19 has rampaged across the state of Virginia, schools and universities statewide have been closed for two weeks (some for longer) to help stop the spread of this disease. This has led to many teachers having to prepare online lessons and classes to ensure students are staying actively involved in their school work.
As the school year approaches the final stretch, many students are nervous as to how they will be able to finish all of their work and what the exam schedule will look like. This has put extra pressure on Advanced Placement teachers who have to have completed the curriculum before the May exams.
Senior year is a time for seniors to enjoy the little time they have left as a high school student. Many of the seniors are in one or more AP classes, this break can affect their learning time.
“It [the virus] has made AP exam preparation a little more difficult solely because we don’t have a teacher to teach,” senior Meghan Mutter said. “We do always have online resources which are helpful, but definitely not the same.”
The College Board has adjusted the manner in which students will be taking the AP test now due to the fact that many states, including Virginia have cancelled school for the rest of the year. According to College Board: Students can choose to take this year’s AP Exams either during the May 11-22 window or the June 1-5 window. Each subject’s exam will be taken at the same time worldwide. AP students in Computer Science Principles, Seminar, Research, and Art & Design don’t have a final AP exam; as usual, they will submit projects digitally. The deadline for these projects will be May 26. http://spr.ly/61871xftl
There are both positives and negatives that come with classes online. Students are given leeway in their schedule. Many teachers have recorded lectures or hold video conferences to make up for the lost class time.
“The easiest part of classes online is that I can make time in my schedule to personally finish work and watch the lectures,” Mutter said.
County administration has been in continuous contact with the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Department of Education on what steps to take. The school has been planning to continue with teaching until the end of the semester.
“While none of us wanted to end our final quarter in this way, our teachers and students are working closely together as a community of learners. The elementary and secondary schools are developing learning modules for the content that had not been taught by the time of the closure. Teachers have office hours daily and are meeting with their classes virtually or contacting students by phone to provide support. Students will need to complete the learning modules assigned by their teachers. These will be available electronically and in paper format options,” Dr. Lisa Pennycuff, Superintendent of Prince George County Public Schools said.
The high school has set up a page with information from all of the departments. https://sites.google.com/pgs.k12.va.us/pghscovidinfo/
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