The lessons a superintendent learned this spring and at a superintendent symposium over the summer have enriched her district’s approach to engaging distance learning

When Highline Public Schools starts its academic year on September 9, the district will implement an engaging distance learning model that Superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield and her team developed over the summer.

Based on the case rates of COVID-19 in the area, the district made the decision to offer only distance learning until November. Enfield reached this conclusion in collaboration with other districts in the region of Washington. She and her fellow superintendents felt they had to announce the decision early enough that families and staff could plan their professional and personal lives, so they actually made the call before the state Department of Education had sent its metrics to guide whether schools could open in person or not. When the guidelines arrived from the state Department of Health, they confirmed that the district had made the right call.

Here’s how Enfield’s collaborations with her district’s families, teachers, and principals—as well as fellow superintendents from around the country—informed an engaging distance learning model designed to not only support student learning, but also strengthen and maintain the personal relationships that are essential to their growth as people.

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