OBA will begin Online Learning on Wednesday, March 25. Please see below for information on how to make sure your student is ready!
Isaiah 41:10 reminds us: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Dear OBA Families,
While our students have been on spring break, it seems as though each day has brought a new set of recommendations and fears. While what lies ahead is somewhat uncertain, I want to let you know that the OBA board and administration are committed to making sure that the focus of OBA remains the same: equipping students to glorify God by engaging the world.
This week, our administration team and board spent significant time in prayer and discussion about how best to support our community of students, families, and staff. As many of you know, all Oklahoma schools are closed until at least April 6. Given the uncertainty of Oklahoma’s return-to-school timeline, we believe it to be in the best interest of our students to move, at least temporarily, to teacher-supported online learning.
During this time of great difficulty, our goal as a school is to deliver educational services to our students and to ensure that we can continue to support our teachers. We hope that by moving to online learning now, we can help students continue to progress in their coursework, and contribute to a sense of normalcy while they are at home.
Please continue your prayerful support of OBA as we make this transition. We will send out a separate email with details about how we will facilitate online coursework. We continue to pray for the peace and wellbeing of your family.
Trusting in Him,
Andy Wilkins
Plan for OBA Return from Break & Transition to Online Learning
By Tuesday, March 24 at 12:00 noon:
Students need to verify that they can log into their email, renweb, and google classroom.
If students have trouble logging in to any of these platforms, they should contact techsupport@oklahomabible.com so that Mrs. Crismas can help resolve issues before we go live for online learning!
Students who do not have access to a computer should contact techsupport@oklahomabible.com so that we can help find a solution. We will do our best to ensure that every student has access to the online learning platform. We know that in many households, students will have to share devices. We have tried to build in some flexibility to the program to accommodate this challenge.
All students should have emptied their lockers before leaving school last Friday afternoon. If your student needs resources from their locker, please call or email the school on Monday so that we can have a member of our staff empty their locker and prepare materials for pickup. Parents will be able to schedule pickup of student resources on Tuesday between 9am – 3pm. In order to limit the number of individuals at the school office, pickup will be by appointment only.
Wednesday, March 25
Online classrooms will open Wednesday, March 25 at 9:00am.
Students will have assignments to complete for each of their courses starting Wednesday, March 25. Wednesday’s courses will consist of an introductory assignment to be completed by Friday at 5:00pm.
Our goal of this first week is to make sure that students and teachers are familiar with the google classroom platform and to work out any kinks as they come up. This first assignment will be simple and will allow us to assess how the platform itself is working.
Teachers will be available for online office hours on Thursday, March 26 from 9-11am and 1-3pm, and on Friday, March 27 from 1-3pm.
| WEEK ONE SCHEDULE (MARCH 23-27): | ||||
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Teacher Inservices | STUDENTS:
Verify login to google classroom, OBA email, and renweb is working. |
STUDENTS:
9:00am – Assignment will be posted for each core course. |
Online Office Hours:
9-11am; 1-3pm |
Office Hours: 1-3pm |
| DUE: 12:00 noon | ASSIGNMENTS DUE: 5:00pm | |||
Starting Monday, March 30:
Regular online classroom schedules will begin Monday, March 30th and will follow the schedule below.
| REGULAR ONLINE LEARNING SCHEDULE (Starting March 30): | ||||
| Monday – Course Group 1 | Tuesday –
Course Group 1 |
Wednesday
Course Group 2 |
Thursday
Course Group 2 |
Friday
All Groups |
| History
Science Spanish (1-4) |
Group 1 Online Office Hours:
9-11 am; 1-3 pm |
Math
Bible English |
Group 2 Online Office Hours:
9-11 am; 1-3 pm |
Office Hours 1-3pm |
| Group 1 Assignments Posted at 9:00am | Group 2 Assignments Posted at 9:00am | Last assignment deadline: 5:00pm* | ||
For the time being, we are only requiring coursework for Core Curriculum courses. Core courses include:
- History
- Science
- Spanish
- Math
- Bible
- English
Until April 6, the following electives courses will not have coursework. We will make a determination about whether or not to offer these courses at a later date.
- Band
- Choir
- Leadership
- Strength
- Drama
- Art
- Computers
Coursework:
Teachers will post all learning materials and coursework by 9:00am on their designated course day. That means that on Mondays at 9:00am, your student will find their assignments for Group 1 (History, Spanish and Science) and on Wednesdays at 9:00am they will find assignments for Group 2 (Math, Bible, English).
Teachers will provide up to 2 hours of instructional materials per course for a total of 12 hours of instruction per week. This time will include all instruction, course work, and assessment required.
*Due dates/times:
Teachers will determine assignment due dates and times, but assignments will be due no later than Friday at 5:00pm of the week the work is assigned.
Office Hours:
Group 1 teachers will be available through email for online office hours Mondays and Tuesdays from 9-11am and 1-3pm; Group 2 teachers will be available Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9-11am and 1-3pm. All teachers will be available Friday from 1-3pm.
Students can also submit questions anytime via email. Teachers will respond to email questions by the following school day at 5:00pm.
Course grades will continue as established in the classrooms by the teacher.
Service Hours:
We are suspending requirements for service hours.
FAQs
Each school system faces unique challenges when considering how to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. The Oklahoma State Department of Education has not yet determined when (or if) public school students will return to school. For now, they have suspended learning until April 6th.
When considering whether to pivot to online learning, public schools face a different set of challenges from OBA. Because most of our families have access to computers and internet, and because we are not the primary source of food services for our students, we are able to transition to online learning with relative ease.
We know that there will be a learning curve for both our students and teachers, but we hope that by exploring online learning sooner rather than later, we can reduce the amount of time students go without instruction, and provide some continuity for them while they are at home.
As we make the transition to online classrooms, we will be following the recommendations and best practices put forth by the Association of Christian Schools International (ASCI), which is our accrediting body.
It is our hope that students will be able to return to normal routines for in-person instruction soon, but we know that may not be the case. As we’ve seen this week, this is a rapidly evolving situation, and we do not yet know how long schools will be asked not to meet in person. We are working to ensure that we have plans in place for either situation. Our goal is to make sure that our students are able to finish out the year without even more significant interruptions to instruction.
We know that learning online from home is different than learning in the classroom. We have chosen to divide our core courses into two groups and deliver assignments on alternating days in order to try to: 1) limit the amount of work students see when they log in; and 2) help students manage their time. We know that this will be challenging for our students and families but hope that this eases some of the anxieties our students will face.
Many of our optional electives are group or project-based courses. While we hope to be able to offer these later this spring, for now, we’ve decided the best course of action is to have our students focus on those courses which can more easily be delivered online. We will continue to evaluate the possibility of reintroducing some of our electives at a later date.
We pray that no member of our community will be affected by the Coronavirus (or any other illness) but we know that there is a possibility that some of our students and their families will be affected. Our late work policy for online learning is provided below:
Spring 2020 Online Sick Work Policy:
All coursework, whether delivered online or in person, is expected to be completed on time. Students who cannot complete course materials on time due to personal or family illness are expected to contact admin2020@oklahomabible.com to request an extension. Requests for extension will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
If your student or a family member tests positive for COVID-19 please let the school know. We will use this information as we consider whether and when it is safe to re-open the school.
At this time we cannot allow any students to enter the school building.
If you need to retrieve learning materials from a student’s locker, please contact the school to schedule a pickup. Materials will be retrieved by a staff member and will be available for pickup by appointment only.
| OBA Office Phone | 580-242-4104 |
| Mr. Wilkins (headmaster) | awilkins@oklahomabible.com |
| Teachers | Use regular OBA email addresses. |
| General Questions | oba@oklahomabible.com |
| Technical Support (google classrooms, renweb, email, etc.) | techsupport@oklahomabible.com |
| To report an illness or request an extension on work: | admin2020@oklahomabible.com |
We will have someone in the office to answer the phone during normal work hours starting Monday, March 23.
If you have questions before then, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly at awilkins@oklahomabible.com
