Due to Pennsylvania’s indefinite statewide school shutdown, the fourth nine weeks at Tyrone Area High School will be unlike any other in the 125 year history of the school district.

Effective April 6, all TAHS classes will move to online instruction via Canvas, the district’s web-based learning management system.

Teachers learned of this plan on Tuesday morning during an hour long online faculty meeting with High School Principal Tom Yoder and Acting Superintendent Leslie Estep.

“Although [online instruction] is not going to compare with having our students with you in your classrooms, I do think we will be able to create a meaningful experience for them,” said Estep in a follow up email to the faculty after the meeting.

The district made the plan available to the public on their Facebook page on Wednesday afternoon. To see the official district statement, click here. 

According to district administration, the plan will be in effect until students return to school, or the end of the school year on June 4, whichever comes first. 

Unlike the optional material provided to students last week, work for Tyrone High School students in grades 9-12 will be mandatory and graded. 

Teachers for grades PreK through eight will also provide work for students, but work in the lower grades will continue to be optional and provided on a weekly basis.

For the high school, April 6th through the 9th will be used to finish the third marking period and begin assigning work for the fourth marking period. Report cards for the third marking period will be issued online on Friday, April 17.

The fourth nine week grading period will officially begin on Monday, April 13.

Teachers were told to use this week to prepare lessons that can be presented online, and also prepare lessons in an offline paper option for students who lack internet access. 

Because of social distancing guidelines, students will not be allowed to access the building to retrieve textbooks or other materials from their lockers, so teachers are required to provide instruction with whatever materials they can make available to students online.

The administration told teachers to provide students with approximately three hours worth of instruction and practice per week.

The district also announced that final exams in all courses will be cancelled, just as the state standardized tests were cancelled last week.  

Students without internet access should contact the school immediately. The teachers will provide students without internet access with offline work.

Teachers were also told to be available remotely by way of Zoom/phone/email or other method established by each teacher every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 am to 11 am and 2 pm to 3 pm to answer student or parent questions.

The high school teachers are apprehensive about the move, but most realize that options are limited under current circumstances. 

“My hope is that students can continue learning online, be motivated and take ownership in their learning during this crazy time in our world,” said TAHS Spanish teacher Holly Sechler.