Many changes are taking place at the moment and starting this year’s classes with the Virtual Academy is one of them.

“What we teach will stay the same but the way we teach and assess will change due to our virtual setting,” AP Biology teacher Chris Ham said. “Since it’s the same curriculum our grade policy will not change, but the way classwork and tests are delivered will obviously be in a digital setting.”

The way students complete course work will be in an entirely virtual setting for the first three weeks.

“Students can expect diverse instruction and assessment methods,” Ham said. “This will include video instruction, small group work, virtual labs, short answers, etc. and all In-person labs will follow guidelines provided by our district”

This semester’s attendance requirements are based on the students’ participation in the virtual classes.

 AP Physics teacher Christine Rittenhouse feels that students may feel overwhelmed with the extended time spent on the screens.

“For the virtual academy, you’ll need to log in to zoom during the appropriate class time that makes a lot of screen time,” Rittenhouse said. “I know that I’m going to try and give 5-minute breaks every 20-30 minutes.”

Things are changing every day and even teachers are in the dark of how some of the procedures will work out.

“Testing is a big mystery,” Rittenhouse said. “I hope I’m not the first class to test. I’ve imagined several possibilities: scrambled question banks with a timer, having people be on camera while testing, entirely free-response/short answer questions”

Junior Lalima Karri has some concerns about virtual learning.

“In the beginning, the students and teachers might be overwhelmed with everything [because] this setup is new to everyone,” Karri said. “As time progresses I hope students can communicate better and turn in work faster, easier, and avoid technical problems because not everyone will be good at using technology”

Despite her concerns, Karri feels that having all course work accessible from home is a good thing.

“We have been stuck in our homes for months now,” Karri said. “Just being able to walk around and be around people will be missed but for now just having everything at the comfort of our own home is a big win-win till quarantine is over.”