Our guest is Andrea Sabatino, Director of Student Services at Brooks Academies, sharing about her family’s experience with virtual learning.
Andrea’s family includes a 14-month-old girl, a 7th grade girl, an 8th grade girl (both students at Brooks Collegiate Academy), her husband, and their dog (who was by her side during the chat). Andrea’s husband is an essential worker—a nurse—and the baby has gotten used to having to wait until he cleans up before getting hugs from Daddy.
They are spending time together making meals, going on walks, and watching TV as a family. The big girls take turns playing with the little one so that Andrea can get work done during the day. She has a chart on her computer to communicate whether or not they can interrupt her work right then.
Both daughters participate in a full schedule of Zoom classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Every class—including art, PE, and study hall—meets for about 40 minutes. On the other days, they do independent work, and they can sign up for slots to meet with teachers for office hours and extra help. The school day starts at 7:30 AM, and that has helped everyone to stay on a good schedule.
As Director of Student Services, Andrea has worked with faculty and teams across all the Brooks campuses to make sure that special education students are getting the instruction and support they need. They have found ways to offer speech therapy and other services over video and Zoom calls.
For students who want extra support or need to catch up on a subject, Brooks Academies will be offering virtual summer classes for a nominal fee. These camps will be open to the public, too. We’ll share more details in San Antonio Charter Moms discussion group when available.
