Willmar Community Education Programs: Adapting to Diverse Learning Needs

Willmar Community Education programs have evolved to meet the diverse needs of its students, especially in recent times. These programs encompass a wide range of services, including early learning, adult education, enrichment classes, driver's education, and facility scheduling. The district has demonstrated a commitment to providing quality learning while ensuring the safety of students, staff, and families. This commitment is reflected in the various accommodations and flexible learning models that have been implemented, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other community concerns.

Online Learning Options

Addressing Student Needs and Concerns

For some students, in-person classes aren’t the right fit. Recognizing this, Willmar Public Schools has expanded its online learning options, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. The district’s Director of Teaching and Learning, Carrie Thomas, notes that while the majority of students who utilize the program are in grades 9-12, it is also used by students in lower grades.

The online program, STARRS, allows students to continue learning even if they are unable to take part in in-person options. The contract for the online learning program was also introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic as an option for students who needed a different environment in which to learn. The online program currently offered is a self-paced and monitored course. The program also offers students the ability to go back to material and search through a repository of content for them to learn or review.

Enrollment and Flexibility

Willmar Superintendent Bill Adams mentioned that around 150 students shifted to the school’s online program around the time of a January absence spike, putting the district at around 185 students enrolled online currently. With many students joining the online program in January, Adams expects many students to return at the end of each month. Students normally enroll in the program for a semester. However, the district has shown flexibility in certain situations. For instance, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the Willmar community caused students to feel unsafe, the district allowed students who were not attending due to feeling unsafe to participate in the online program for a month or two, based on their needs.

Future Developments

The district is looking to expand its online learning program further. Adams said, “We are developing that and our hope is to be able to kick that off around the start of next year. That would only be offered to students in grades six through twelve. We would still contract for kindergarten through fifth grade."

Read also: About Grossmont Community College

E-Learning Days

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many classes moved online through video conferencing and other programs. This style of instruction has expanded to include more online programs, which are still used when school buildings are closed due to weather or emergencies. These “e-learning days” are conducted by the school directly and are not the same as the online program typically offered for longer-term absences from in-person schooling. For e-learning, younger students who are not guaranteed to have online access are instead given a packet with multiple sections.

Program Features

Students complete work by watching the videos and completing assignments entirely within the program. The work completed in this way is recorded and given to teachers in traditional classrooms to keep them informed of what the student has learned, providing a more seamless transition when the student returns to in-person classes.

Supporting Students During Absences

Digital Resources

Digital programs, like Schoology, an education management platform, allow students and parents to complete assignments, watch old lessons and do other coursework. According to Thomas, many teachers utilize sites like Schoology to upload resources for students to access when longer absences are expected.

Teacher Support

If a student is absent for an extended period of time, it is up to the student’s classroom teachers to assess and help the student catch back up to classmates.

Addressing Attendance Concerns

Factors Contributing to Absences

Absences from school were a concern for the school district in the week leading up to and after winter break. On Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1,214 students were recorded as absent. According to Adams, this was from a mixture of sickness, the holidays and students feeling unsafe with ICE’s presence in the community.

Measures to Ensure Learning Continuity

The school has taken several measures to ensure students are able to keep learning no matter what their situation is. This includes working flexibly with families to help students through hybrid learning and school work and badges designed for students to wear as they travel to and from school identifying them as a student at the school.

Return to Normal Attendance

Attendance has more recently returned to normal at around 200 absences a day. The normal absence rate is based on a snapshot taken early in the year. This year, the district marked attendance as of Oct.

Community Education Programs at Jefferson Learning Center

Safety Measures

At the Jefferson Learning Center, early learning programs have started the year in an In-Person learning model while Adult Education will be in a Hybrid learning model. In all cases, the building will have in place a variety of COVID-19 accommodations designed to encourage safety. The COVID-19 Co-Coordinators for the Jefferson Learning Center are Scott Wallner and Jodi Wambeke.

Building customers and participants are required to wear a mask from the time the walk-in to the time they leave the building. The Jefferson Learning Center follows the Willmar Public Schools COVID-19 Cleaning/Disinfecting Procedures that have been developed over the summer. Social distancing guidelines will be followed as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Daily Structure and Communication

Classrooms for Kids Together Preschool and ECFE at JLC have been sized to support hybrid learning from the beginning of the year to avoid disruption in classroom relationships. Class lists have been adjusted for sizes to meet Fire Marshal codes related to COVID-19 and MDE guidance. Parents will drop child off and pick child up outside their designated door. The year began with individual family conferences to communicate changes and expectations for the adjustment to distance learning.

Adult Education

Adult education continues to offer students free accounts and support on distance learning platforms 24 hours a week, 7 days a week. All staff and participants follow the face covering School Board Policy (No. 808) along with the Governor’s Executive Order 20-81. Permanent hand sanitizers have been installed in all of the classrooms at Jefferson. Jefferson Learning Center has designated Room 110A as a COVID-19 room.

Before and After School Programs

A fee based program is available before and after school, both in hybrid and distance learning formats.

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