Henry County, GA caught my eye with their Remote Learning Evening program, innovating to work with parents and students through this tough year. K-5 student families can opt for a 4 pm -7 pm schedule that helps working parents balance work time and learning time just a little better. Henry County had previously established the bones of an Evening Academy in 2000 to provide alternative and supplemental education, and paired it with enriched programs in the schools, so that over time the need for the services declined, but the structure remained. Read what the district has to say about the program here: https://schoolwires.henry.k12.ga.us/Page/144756.
They aren’t alone in exploring possibilities for keeping kids on track and families sane. South Bend Indiana’s school district deployed 35 wi-fi enabled busses to make sure that remote learning students have internet access to go along with their Chrome Books. In New York City, outdoor spaces are being activated as classrooms, just like they were during the 1918 pandemic (those stayed open through the winter – would we even consider that today?). Schools in San Francisco, the Detroit area, and Maine, among others, are experimenting with the great outdoors as well. And some schools in California, while remaining closed to formal in-person education, are opening classrooms to be used as child-care locations with remote learning supervision – read about it here: https://edsource.org/2020/why-some-california-classrooms-will-reopen-for-child-care-though-barred-from-in-person-instruction/638010
Whatever your opinion on whether or not schools should be in session, hopefully the innovative energy behind the solutions that are being tried will last long after these “experiments” are no long deemed necessary.