Can you believe we’ve completed the school year at the River Islands Academies? This is the first year that our two established schools in River Islands, STEAM Academy and River Islands Technology Academy, joined together in the unified charter school organization, River Islands Academies. Due to the pandemic, the 2020-2021 school year was mostly held virtually, but after Spring Break, parents of students at River Islands Technology Academy and the STEAM Academy were presented with a choice: they could continue distance learning or return to in-person instruction for the remainder of the academic year.
Before the option of in-person instruction became available again, our dedicated teachers were teaching in a virtual classroom setting. They were presented with the option of teaching their lessons from their home, or they could teach in their classrooms, which were cleaned and disinfected. Since River Islands Technology Academy already offered a one-to-one device ratio per student, the transition to online learning from home was a huge success.
Brenda Scholl, Executive Director of the River Islands Academies, said this about the innovative curriculum options, “As you can imagine, it has taken enormous cooperation from the administrators, teaching staff and our parents to come up with a program that allows for every student household to make a decision that fits them – and their children – best.”
Scholl credits the amazing teachers and supportive administrative staff for continuing to deliver a high level of education during the pandemic. “There can never be a “lost year” in a child’s education. And it’s the same way with our teaching staff; we supported them with professional development training every Wednesday, even though we could not meet in person,” said Scholl.
We want to give a big congratulations to all the River Islands Academies’ students for finishing up their school year, and a big thank you to their families for offering a supportive environment for their kids to thrive academically. Do you have children who will be attending school this fall? To learn more about the innovative curriculums provided at River Islands Academies, visit our website.
