Front Royal Christian School goes virtual and builds community

FRCS Freshman Youssef Ouakil interacts with his Spanish II class, practicing vocabulary and conversation.

On Friday, March 13, 2020, acting in solidarity with the community effort to influence the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Front Royal Christian School chose to temporarily close its physical building and take the entire K3-12^th grade school virtual. Plans for this move had begun two weeks prior when concerns regarding student and family health safety had started to surface nationwide.

“Our last two staff meetings focused first on considering how we could take FRCS to its students if we had to close our building in response to the virus” said Mary Anna Ouakil, Ed.S., Vice Principal. “Secondly, our faculty and staff began working as teams in their specific areas of concentration to brainstorm and plan the next phase if it were to occur. Our goal was to continue intentional academic instruction without students missing content, providing routine and familiarity, and supporting our parents throughout this transition.”

FRCS sent its students home with Chromebooks, their textbooks, and supplies, with the message that their teachers and administration would “see” them Tuesday morning. FRCS staff and administration came together Monday to clean and prepare their rooms for an extended closure and to finalize plans and expectations for classes to begin Tuesday morning.

“It has been simply amazing to watch this transfer from the physical to the virtual classroom by not only the students and teachers, but also the parents,” stated Lorraine R. Hewitt, M.Ed., FRCS Head of School. “We have experienced full support and partnership of our FRCS community. As a private school, we recognize that it is crucial for our students, during an uncertain time such as this, to experience a structured environment, maintain a known routine, and see familiar faces daily. During this time when the world around them is changing rapidly, rapidly, this constancy helps them know that not everything has changed and that helps them with their adaptation skills.”

FRCS Virtual School opened online Monday with a video message from the administrators, sharing that this would be a learning experience for everyone and together the FRCS community would adapt and adjust accordingly. Students followed their normal schedules, being connected through Google Classroom, Zoom, Google Meet, and other formats, throughout the day, from 8am until 3pm.

“We of course had some technical challenges, as well as some learning curves, but the socializing of the students ‘live’ with their friends and teacher online removed the pressures that came with technological glitches. Once they came together, and started laughing and chatting, and in some cases sharing their favorite breakfast foods they were enjoying, the pressure came off and FRCS students and teachers began this new adventure together” shared Hewitt. “Tuesday was of our sophomore’s birthdays. His classmates sang happy birthday to him over Zoom!”

“I was so impressed to watch my sixth grade daughter have her voice lesson first thing Tuesday morning with her FRCS music teacher,” said Roxanne Miller, FRCS parent. FRCS music and choral instructor Grace Morrison said that from elementary music theory classes to the school band practicing together via Zoom, the music classes never missed an opportunity to meet and perform.

FRCS MS/HS Teacher and Education Therapist Carrie Hill, M.Ed., works with FRCS students instructs her Geography students from home.

FRCS third graders came together in their online classroom, utilizing Google Meet, and worked together, raising “virtual hands” when they had a question about their content. “When needed, I worked individually in chat sessions with students who were struggling with an assignment,” shared Jacklyn McGuire, FRCS Third Grade teacher. “Our class maintained their normal schedule, even having their specials like physical education and music.” FRCS physical education courses received videos from the PE teacher encouraging them to stay physically active at home and providing suggestions.

FRCS Middle and High School students took part in class discussions live with their teachers during their normal class periods. Even electives were interactive. Life Skills instructor, Robert Darrow, M.S., met with students online for a cooking class. “We had just started planting our seedlings for the FRCS greenhouse we began, teaching the students how to garden and grow their own fruit and vegetables,” said Darrow. “We are working on transferring that portion to our virtual life skills courses as well, working with students to start their gardens at home.”

The Advanced Drama class came together in small groups through Zoom and created and taped improvisational skits to share online with their classmates. The FRCS art classes, taught by Tammy Coffman, received online instruction and then posted their creations to their Google Classrooms.

“We are excited to see the creativity that our teachers have towards transferring their instruction to virtual learning opportunities,” said Hewitt. “Our students are fully engaged in their FRCS academics and our teachers are maintaining a familiar approach to the classroom that is not only maintaining community, but growing it.”

Front Royal Christian School is a Pre-K through 12th grade school in Front Royal, Virginia, that fosters your student’s innate learning potential. From special needs to gifted, FRCS is committed to the spiritual, moral, and intellectual development of its students and mediates a sense of competence, confidence, and belonging. FRCS provides the 21^st century learner, exceptional and challenging educational experiences, including college preparatory courses with a dual enrollment program with LFCC, performing arts, life skills, and athletics. For more information, call the school at 540-635-6799 or visit www.frontroyalchristianschool.com.