Safe Return: Arizona - GHDL

Based on your feedback and in partnership with our headmasters and faculty, Great Hearts has developed an updated plan for Great Hearts Distance Learning (GHDL), and we are happy to share it with you.

Program Summary

Students will be enrolled in courses and taught by teachers from their own academy with regular video contact. In some cases, distance learning students will be consolidated into full sections. In other cases, students will be in a blended section with in-building peers.

Lower school students will experience lessons and video contact with their teacher every day, and upper school students will have three lessons on average with each classroom teacher per week, including both synchronous and asynchronous video. Humane Letters seminars will take place for all high school students. Participation in these activities will be required for student attendance. Zoom tutoring will be available, and students will be assessed every week and held to the same academic standards as their in-building peers.

Anchors of Our Approach

The fundamentals of a Great Hearts education are rich and rigorous subject matter grounded in truth, goodness, and beauty, high expectations for academics and behavior, and vibrant school culture and community. We know that these are the reasons families choose Great Hearts, and we know that this is what families desire in a robust distance learning option.

Curriculum & Content: Equivalent to In-Person Learning

Distance learning students will learn the same subjects and take the same courses as they would in person. They will receive instruction that is equivalent, but not identical: lessons delivered by teachers may be pre-recorded or over live video; lessons and tests may be shorter and more frequent than in the classroom; independent student activity may be unsupervised rather than under the watchful, real-time classroom eye of the teacher. While distance learning students will progress through the curriculum at a similar pace to their in-building peers and reach the same endpoint, they may spend less time on some topics and more time on others to ensure that the most essential knowledge and skills are mastered for future years.

Student Expectations: Required Attendance and Engagement

All distance learning students will have a daily program of regular, structured school in which they must participate. Some of this will be live, synchronous Zoom video classes, lessons, and activities which take place at scheduled, regular times. Daily engagement through Google Classroom will be required. The GHDL model will not be one of independent work with occasional teacher interaction; it will be one of regular online instruction and contact with teachers and peers at their school supported by independent work. The new GHDL is not homeschooling; it is, rather, school at home.

Students will be accountable for daily work, and teachers will regularly and actively assess student progress. Discrete grades and scores will be given for activities, assignments, and assessments; there will be no “pass/fail” grading at the end of the quarter or semester.