St. Louis Co. school districts give out laptops for students to learn virtually during COVID-19

Описание: ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Schools may be closed for COVID-19, but the learning doesn't stop.

On Sunday, school districts in St. Louis County had a drive-thru for families to pick up some much-needed devices.

Teachers will be running their classes, through laptops.

"They'll be using online resources such as Canvas, Zoom, Google Classroom to continue learning," Mark Miles, the Rockwood School District Superintendent, said.

Both Rockwood School District and Parkway Schools provided Chromebooks for their students.

For Rockwood Schools, about 6,500 families requested Chromebooks for their students. They were offering it to the elementary school students since 6th-12th grade students already had them.

Parkway Schools had more than 2,000 families picking up these devices.

Both districts did it through a drive-thru system.

Parents drove up with a sign on the window with their child's name and then they received the laptop with a charger. From there, staff gave them instructions to wipe the laptop down and gave them details on what the next steps are.

Their efforts are steered in making sure everyone is safe.

"Our devices have been wiped down and sanitized," Keith Marty, Parkway Schools Superintendent, said.

Staff at both schools also had gloves and kept a distance from the cars.

By doing this drive-thru, these districts want to make sure the learning in the classroom continues.

"We realize that learning will be different than classroom, but this is giving a way for our teachers and students can stay connected," Deborah Ketring, Rockwood's Chief Information Officer, said.

The first few days of this upcoming week, teachers will be training before they start teaching virtually.

Those unable to attend the pick up on Sunday for the Rockwood School District can request a scheduled pick up later in the week by emailing [email protected]. Include your student's first and last name and home school.

As for Parkway Schools, officials say they will reach out to parents this week if you still need to pick up a Chromebook and will come up with a plan.