Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Tenney School will transition to a Distance Learning Program starting March 23rd. See below for more details about the Distance Learning plan, as well as a short video from our Head of School.

On Thursday, March 19th we announced plans to transition The Tenney School to a Distance Learning model after Spring Break. The details of the plan are contained in the attached Distance Learning Letter. Some particulars about the program:

  • Student will meet their teachers on Microsoft Teams. Teams is available from your Tenney School Office 365 Login.
    • Some teachers may also use OneDrive as well since it allows teacher & student to see and edit documents simultaneously.
    • Where more advantageous, some teachers may conduct some classes using Zoom instead of Teams.
  • As a reminder, each student login is first name.last [email protected]
  • If a student needs his/her password reset, please email Ms. Brahier or Ms. De La Rosa.
  • Teachers will initiate contact with students to begin instruction.
    • Ms. De La Rosa will follow-up (text/email) with any students who do not make his/her scheduled class times and should be marked Absent or Tardy.
  • Students and teachers will follow their normal school schedule. Let us know if you need a copy of your schedule resent.
    • We expect 1-to-1 lessons to be very similar to in person lessons.
    • Group (labs & electives) classes will be modified to fit the format, but will continue to meet on Teams/Zoom.
    • PE classes will be using the downdog app. Students can download the app for free with a student ID.
  • Students will scan or take a picture of their work to submit back to his/her teacher for grading. Work can be emailed or submitted through Teams.
  • Teachers will assign tests/exams to be taken at home, and may also use oral exams.
  • Please let us know if you have any issues and we will assist in troubleshooting.

Below are some of the Observations & Lessons Learned:

  • A solid internet connection is key. You may need to experiment with different locations in your home.
  • If you lose audio or visual, try the “Live Chat” option to keep the connection while you troubleshoot.
  • Eye Contact…teachers should be in the habit of looking into the camera when speaking and try to place the camera at eye-level.
  • In the video call, click “share” and you can share your screen. Students can do this too to show their work
  • If you are using a Mac, you will need to use the Chrome browser, or the Team session will not work.
  • Group sessions are working, but be aware you may not see all the kids at the same time.  When they speak then they will show up.
  • Team vs. Zoom
    • Team is a great tool as it is integrated with the Office365 suite we already use.
    • Zoom allows all participants to see each other.  Team generally shows who is speaking, though the downloaded Team shows more. The Zoom functionality may be better for larger group/lab classes, but may not work as well on student Chromebooks.
    • Students using Chromebooks will only have access to the online version of these tools.
  • You can revert to voice-only call over Teams (not video), if the picture is too problematic.
  • Background noise can be distracting to others. Make your call in a location with minimal background noise, and mute your line when you do not need to speak. Headsets with microphones can also reduce background noise.
  • Pay attention to what is in the background of your video. Backgrounds should not have anything distracting or inappropriate.
  • Our attendance rate was pretty close to a regular school day. Probably because of everything else happening due to the crisis, it was more difficult to track down students.
  • We were surprisingly productive from Day 1. We will get more productive over time, but students and staff both adjusted easily to using Microsoft Teams.
  • The overall report is that students were excited to be back in school and prepared for class.