Dayspring Turns To Online Educating After Three-Day Break
On March 13, before Gov. Tom Wolf announced that schools would be closed, Dan Stone, Upper School principal at Dayspring Christian Academy (DCA), 120 College Ave., Mountville, talked with the school's senior students. "I jokingly told them they might have to graduate in July," said Stone, who noted that the seniors were not happy with his announcement. "I told them it was a joke, (but) I can't promise it will be May 30 (as planned). That might move a couple weeks."
All joking aside, Stone said that first and foremost, the school has taken a posture of prayer in response to the COVID-19 crisis. "We are praying ... for our nation that the virus is short lived. We are praying for leaders on federal and state levels," he said.
Following Wolf's initial announcement, DCA students were off only three days before resuming their studies from home. According to Stone, staff at the school, which pulls students from 11 Lancaster County school districts, as well as eastern York County, had anticipated that March 13 might be the last day of school for a while. "Our elementary school teachers scrambled to put things together for students to take home just in case," recalled Stone, who added that the staff met at the school on March 16 to make plans for a hiatus of up to a month. "We called Monday through Wednesday (March 16 to 18) spring break," said Stone. "Starting March 19, students were doing at-home work."
Stone noted that the school, which serves children from kindergarten through 12th grade, was prepared to move forward so quickly because of the educational philosophy that is espoused. "Our mission as a school puts us in a really great position," said Stone, who explained that DCA emphasizes that the education of children is a partnership between the school and home. "We have a good working relationship with all our families, and parents are involved with their student's education, so there's always a lot of communication between home and school," he said.
As the staff worked to prepare for students to attend school from home, Stone emphasized balance. "Our primary goal is to utilize technology to facilitate our Principle Approach to education in these unique circumstances," said Stone. The Principle Approach refers to a focus on consistent and ordered teaching and learning, with the goal of building a student's Christian character, and biblical reasoning to promote a lifetime of learning and discipleship. In finding a balance, Stone asked teachers to employ the technology the school has been using for more than a decade in new ways. "Our students are accustomed to getting on the computer and following instructions that a teacher has laid out," he said, noting that for a number of years, DCA has employed a concept called the flipped classroom, where teachers introduce a concept by video and students work on problems at home before coming to the classroom to complete more problems with individual help from the teacher. Because of this, switching to learning online from home should not be difficult for the students, Stone said. "That's not a big paradigm shift," he noted.
Stone especially praised DCA's elementary school teachers, who are generally not as accustomed to teaching online. Calling them "rock stars," he noted that they jumped in with both feet and prepared lessons quickly for their students. Stone also lauded Leslie Schmucker, director of the school's PS139 program for students with special needs, noting that Schmucker had a structured program ready for parents of PS139 students by 9 a.m. on March 14.
DCA is well known for its Remember America Speaker Series, which had scheduled former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to speak in Lancaster on Friday, April 17. DCA marketing director Lisa Becker said that the event has been postponed to Saturday, Oct. 10. Tickets and sponsorships for the Remember America Speaker Series event are available at http://www.dayspringchristian.com or by calling the school at 717-285-2000.
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