Atlanta Public Schools administrators discuss virtual fall semester

ATLANTA - As part of their town hall meeting Wednesday night, Atlanta Public Schools administrators broke down the fall schedule for each grade level.

During the course of their day, K-12 students are expected to engage in four to five hours of interactive virtual instruction with teachers.

They’ll spend between 40 to 90 minutes on independent practice or working on assignments.

“…and then culminating each and every day with individual student check-ins,” Associate Superintendent Dr. Dan Sims explained. “We were very intentional putting in the schedule opportunities every single day for social and emotional attention.”

A focus of Wednesday night's meeting dealt with supporting the mental health of both students and staff.

One effort includes allowing time for social-emotional learning.

"In SEL, we will focus on skill-building, learning restorative practices, and promoting self-care,” APS Superintendent Lisa Herring detailed. ”We are just as equally committed to making certain we provide support, even in a virtual capacity, for mental health and social-emotional wellness.”

One of the questions brought up by parents about accountability.

“We will be holding students accountable for their learning through the completion of their assignments," Dr. Sims explained.

The district also pointed out the instructional schedule will much different this year for high schoolers.

Just for this year, they will only take four classes each semester.

"We feel like this will be better for our students to manage and we look forward to ensuring that we have appropriate breaks,” Sims detailed.

School starts 100% online on August 24.