Both Liz and I got word this week that our kids will be out of school for the rest of the school year, which means we’ll be doing this isolation schooling for another couple of months. Thankfully, resources like SchoolClosures.org have been popping up to help parents navigate the process. Trust us when we say you’re going to want to bookmark this helpful resource, and put their hotline phone number on speed dial. (Or I suppose “add it to your contacts” since we’re in 2020).
Related: 8 fantastic online resources for schooling at home
This website and service is a combined effort of over 150 volunteers and over 80 partner organizations, many of which you will recognize, like Khan Academy, Class Dojo, Outschool, Donors Choose, and more. And what they’ve done in this short amount of time is pretty incredible: they’ve rounded a myriad resources and relevant links to help you find everything from sample school day schedules to how to get access to technology, even where to find meals if your family needs them. If you’re a teacher, they’ve compiled a similarly comprehensive round-up of resources for you too.
But what’s even more amazing, other than the fact that this is totally free, is that there’s an actual hotline where you can speak with a real human being and ask them questions related to how the school closures have impacted you. Not only is this helpful for folks who may not have access to the Internet, but it’s just so nice to be able to speak to someone who can empathize with your situation, and direct you to the resources that you need right now.
And if you’re in the position to be able to donate to help support what SchoolClosures.org is doing, your generosity will be used to get more resources (like Chromebooks, and other technology), into the hands of families who need it right now.
Photo by Jessica Lewis on Unsplash
