Local school districts jump into e-learning

Students at Kalamazoo County’s two largest school districts went back to class Monday – although classes were all conducted online.

Kalamazoo Public Schools and Portage Public Schools both announced plans last week for continuing education during the state’s stay-at-home order. Teachers are expected to conduct classes online through tools such as Google Classroom and Khan Academy.

Many school districts are providing laptops to students who do not have computers at home. Classes are also being provided as printed packets.

There were some reports of technical difficulties Monday as both students and teachers struggled with new technology and new methods of teaching.

Other area school districts are still putting together plans for continuing education through the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Galesburg-Augusta Community Schools plans to begin instruction on Tuesday, while Climax-Scotts Community Schools hopes to have its plans ready to go by Thursday.

Finally, some districts are not requiring students to continue classes at all for the rest of this school year. Mattawan Consolidated School, for example, is providing students with resources to continue their education but is not giving grades for any activities or requiring assignments be completed.

Below are Kalamazoo County school districts and links their respective virtual learning websites or information.