Hillsborough schools hope to combat student learning loss with virtual quarantine support

TAMPA, Fla. - There's a new virtual tool aimed to stop learning loss among Hillsborough County public school students who were forced to isolate at home due to a positive COVID-19 test result. In early October, the district launched the service, called Virtual Quarantine Support.

Even though medical experts say the worst of the crisis is behind us, HCPS reported less than 400 new cases among students in the first two weeks of October. There are still children at school testing positive for the virus and getting sent home to isolate. This is where Virtual Quarantine Support comes in.  

The service is for pre-K through 5th grade students. Within the first two weeks of the resource being available, the district said more than two dozen students had already logged on to receive help from a live instructor. Before now, when younger students went into quarantine, they were getting assigned lessons from their teachers but did not have immediate access to a teacher to help them through the process of instruction.

"So now, students will have the ability to connect through (digital learning platform) Canvas with a live teacher, ask the questions they need to help problem-solve their assignments and hopefully stay on track," explained HCPS deputy superintendent Terry Connor.

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The district has now hired seven certified, dedicated teachers specifically for students in COVID isolation. Students can log in through Canvas, open the quarantine support course and follow the instructions to be connected to a virtual support teacher.

"The certified teachers that we’ve hired, this is their full-time job," said virtual elementary teacher Meagan Parenteau. "They are on a (Microsoft) Teams call waiting for students to come in so they can support them. Students won't have to wait; students don’t have to set up an appointment with them."

Parenteau said, as a parent, she knows how critical this kind of resource is.

"My own children are in Hillsborough County Public Schools, and they were quarantined as well," she told FOX 13. "I was watching my son at home completing schoolwork before this program came about, so to see the need for this, our students are home and sometimes they’re not at home with caregivers or parents or older siblings. They needed somebody live that they could connect with because their teachers are still busy teaching the other students that are in their classroom."

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These virtual support teachers are available from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every school day.

"It follows the student calendar," Parenteau said. "They can just go in. It’s not a burden to us. We are here waiting for students so that we can help them."

Older students in middle and high school can get 24/7 help with a free tutoring chat service called Paper.