Paul Public Charter School is the proud host of our second year of Virtual Back to School Night! Back to School Night (BTSN) or Curriculum Night, is a long-standing K-12 school tradition scheduled at the beginning of the Fall semester for school districts near and far. BTSN at Paul invites hundreds of families every year (over 700!) for an evening to meet and bind ties with administration, classroom teachers and subject specialists. Families learn more about grade-level curriculum and expectations for the school year, including important policy changes and announcements. View the BTSN videos on our YouTube page.
In order to keep things safe and maximize social distance guidelines, our School Leaders, composed of Ms. Walker (Middle School), Mr. Irvin (Lower Academy) and Ms. Bacchus (Upper Academy) decided to deliver a Virtual BTSN using StreamYard, Google Meets and Youtube for grades 9-12, and ZOOM Video Conferencing for grades 6-8.
BTSN content came to life through email, Canvas, Bitmojis and pre-recorded video. In support of yearlong safety and security, we also updated our Visitor Protocols, Covid-19 Policies and recently created an outdoor classroom.
Our outdoor classroom is a converted portion of our lush athletics field that allows a powerful hands-on learning experience, connecting students with nature and while fresh air and social distancing are reasonably maximized as they ingest classroom curriculum.
Paul’s leadership is united in our commitment to building safety and parent access by requiring our most important family meetings to be livestreamed. During BTSN, teachers made content even more accessible through Spanish language translation in video captions, bilingual Google slides and live interpretation by Paul staffers Mr. Martinez and Mr. Gelmi, as well as our newest language-access partner, YNS Global. YNS Global also assists the Brearley School, Latin American Montessori Bilingual Public Charter School and the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education.
Back to School Night for both schools began with a virtual “main stage” presentation hosted by School Leaders with introductions and an administrative overview. This was followed by classroom and specialist sessions which are designed to give caretakers an opportunity to meet multiple educators, coaches and instructors while asking specific-needs questions.
Our families have a better understanding of curriculum, test schedules and the direct contact information for their child’s educational team, kicking off the school year with a clear vision and empowered voices for their scholars.