Nicholas Parson
Northwest Asia Weekly
Dr. Ayana Gore
Despite a full year of virtual learning, Summit Sierra Charter School in Chinatown-International District provides their students with the necessary resources to succeed and graduate from their third senior year.
After a turbulent year in middle schools across the country, Dr. Ayanna Gore, principal and executive director of Summit Sierra Charter School, stated that this year’s students were able to maintain a good academic level while maintaining virtual learning. She said that local public charter schools can provide students with successful resources and connections, and next year the school will resume face-to-face learning.
“In a virtual school, students keep the same schedule, the same bell schedule, everything stays the same, but the teachers in the classroom are built on a more asynchronous experience,” Gore said.
She said that Summit Sierra staff realized the difficulties of a completely virtual year for students, and tried to contact their school tutors through mindfulness meditation, rest time, and designated time to update their learning methods and maximize Adapt to them well. They are doing it.
Summit Sierra was also praised for its mentoring program, which connects students with “mentors” who contact them “at the beginning of the day” and tell them about their academics, family life, and other emotional stresses-everything is up to Improve the comfort level of students. Gore said that this bond is one of the cornerstones of Sierra’s success.
“We want to make sure everything is seen and heard. The biggest part is through the mentoring plan. And the communication between our mentors and the administration,” Gore said.
The pandemic has also exacerbated existing inequalities, and many families strive to provide students with the resources they need to succeed in a virtual environment. Gore said that Summit Sierra can largely avoid this problem because the school has provided laptops for all students. If the laptop is not enough, students will also receive a “school in a box” kit, which contains other items needed for learning, such as art supplies, skipping ropes and yoga mats.
But students can quickly adapt to virtual learning, Gore said. When the pandemic started, students already had computers, so schools were able to quickly transfer courses to the Internet. Summit Sierra also maintains the pre-pandemic bell schedule, starting at 8:20 in the morning and ending at 3:30 in the afternoon, so students are more accustomed to the new way of learning.
Gore added that cultural and community events are held throughout the year to build communities for students. She said that the celebrations of Black History Month, AAPI Month and Women’s History Month as well as virtual talent shows, parties and dances are all held online.
“The most important thing I heard was that they appreciated our level of continuity,” she said. “By maintaining this structure-despite the internal flexibility, because everyone has different needs-but maintaining a structure for students in our school, they like it,” Gore said.
According to “US News and World Report”, although it is still online this year, 99% of senior students graduated this year, and 94.7% of senior students were admitted to the university, surpassing the national average of 88% of high school graduates.
Gore added that although Summit Sierra’s graduation rate remains the same, this year more students choose to stay closer to home, either by attending state schools or spending a gap year, and delaying the time before they begin higher education.
Gore said that although there is a virtual graduation ceremony for the whole class held online, there are also small live graduation ceremonies for students and their mentors. Smaller ceremonies are held in one day and are limited to groups of approximately 20 students.
Next year, the school will resume face-to-face learning and will not mandate COVID-19 vaccination. Gore said the school will make other efforts to ensure the safety of students by keeping desks at social distance and forcing unvaccinated students to wear masks.
“This is an enlightening year. Conducting this kind of virtual education brings us back to the basics. What is important? What do we want to hear for the children, just to emphasize the importance of our ensuring that students are the focus of everything-they are seen Arriving and hearing. I think even if we go back in person, this will continue to translate,” Gore said.
Nicholas can be info@nwasianweekly.com.
