Support Systems
There are many school support systems that are necessary to providing a safe, healthy and educationally conducive learning environment for students. School support systems need to be synchronized and well planned out. Long term planning is crucial to the success of district and its schools. This paper will talk about how certain support systems that are necessary for providing a safe can be affected by a blended learning environment.
Transportation
“Every Kindergarten parent worries about the safety of his or her children as they climb aboard the school bus for that firs day of school.” (Townley & Schmieder, 2015, p. 131). School bus drivers are under a lot of pressure. They’re expected to be efficient, to maximize their routes, to practice safety, to take the safest routes and of course, to ensure no kids are forgotten. In California, the chief business official supervises the transportation department to ensure all policies are being met such as training programs, long range bus replacement plans, and efficiency of routes just to name a few. Computerized bus routes have also been implemented to reduce transportation costs. Computerized programs are able to calculate walking distances from a drop off destination, efficient routes, the tracking of special routes for students with disabilities, field trip layouts and employee schedules.
Maintenance
Just like transportation, maintenance is vital part of the financial side of education and the cleanliness of a school is the first impression when judging its community. “This judgment may be directly related to the academic accomplishments of students, but architectural design, campus cleanliness and landscaping of school grounds also influence new comers’ judgments of a community’s priorities. (Townley & Schmieder, 2015, p. 141). Maintenance and operations are often used synonymously in a school environment, however they are distinctly different. Maintenance maintains the school by repairing and replacing of equipment and maintaining the landscape of a school. Operations is responsible the housekeeping duties of a school to ensure it’s ready for the day-to-day use.
Food Service
Another vital component of a schools support system is the food service. “Proving a nutritious meal for school children has become national policy and a major management task for school administrators. (Townley & Schmieder, 2015, p. 149). Maintenance and transportation are areas that I was unfamiliar with in regards to the importance schedules and begin efficient as possible to maintain the flow of school, financially and academically. The food service on the other hand, is an area that I’ve been able to observe and witness the changes throughout the years. Our school currently offers breakfast before school, second chance breakfast for the students that missed breakfast due to being tardy, lunch and dinner after school for the students attending the after school program. As a health conscious person, I’m not too fond with what is being served, however kids are being fed as I have witnessed first hand how much a student can suffer academically on an empty stomach.
Support Systems and Blended Learning
“Blended courses (also known as hybrid or mixed-mode courses) are classes where a portion of the traditional face-to-face instruction is replaced by web-based online learning.” (Blended Learning Toolkit, 2015) As an elementary school teacher, I’ve never heard of blended learning or that it even existed for that matter. However, if it were ever implemented at an elementary setting for a student or students, the support systems would be greatly affected and planning of each would need to be restructured to fit this model. In regards to transportation, if a certain number of students no longer have to take the bus on Monday-Thursday for example because he/she only had to check in for face-to-face instruction on a Friday, then the scheduling of the pick up and drop off for these students would need to be modified which can greatly impact how finances are allocated. Maintenance would also be greatly impacted, as fewer students would equal less maintenance. Using the same example as mentioned earlier, if an entire classroom is no longer being used Monday-Thursday; the scheduling of maintenance would need to be modified to meet the blended learning program. Lastly, food services would greatly be impacted as well because there will be less students to feed as the lunch totals needed per day would decrease Monday-Thursday.
References
Blended Learning Toolkit. (2015). What is Blended Learning? Retrieved June 17, 2015
from: https://blended.online.ucf.edu/about/what-is-blended-learning/
Townley, A. J., & Schmieder-Ramirez, J.H. (2015). School Finance: A California
perspective (10th ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.
There are many school support systems that are necessary to providing a safe, healthy and educationally conducive learning environment for students. School support systems need to be synchronized and well planned out. Long term planning is crucial to the success of district and its schools. This paper will talk about how certain support systems that are necessary for providing a safe can be affected by a blended learning environment.
Transportation
“Every Kindergarten parent worries about the safety of his or her children as they climb aboard the school bus for that firs day of school.” (Townley & Schmieder, 2015, p. 131). School bus drivers are under a lot of pressure. They’re expected to be efficient, to maximize their routes, to practice safety, to take the safest routes and of course, to ensure no kids are forgotten. In California, the chief business official supervises the transportation department to ensure all policies are being met such as training programs, long range bus replacement plans, and efficiency of routes just to name a few. Computerized bus routes have also been implemented to reduce transportation costs. Computerized programs are able to calculate walking distances from a drop off destination, efficient routes, the tracking of special routes for students with disabilities, field trip layouts and employee schedules.
Maintenance
Just like transportation, maintenance is vital part of the financial side of education and the cleanliness of a school is the first impression when judging its community. “This judgment may be directly related to the academic accomplishments of students, but architectural design, campus cleanliness and landscaping of school grounds also influence new comers’ judgments of a community’s priorities. (Townley & Schmieder, 2015, p. 141). Maintenance and operations are often used synonymously in a school environment, however they are distinctly different. Maintenance maintains the school by repairing and replacing of equipment and maintaining the landscape of a school. Operations is responsible the housekeeping duties of a school to ensure it’s ready for the day-to-day use.
Food Service
Another vital component of a schools support system is the food service. “Proving a nutritious meal for school children has become national policy and a major management task for school administrators. (Townley & Schmieder, 2015, p. 149). Maintenance and transportation are areas that I was unfamiliar with in regards to the importance schedules and begin efficient as possible to maintain the flow of school, financially and academically. The food service on the other hand, is an area that I’ve been able to observe and witness the changes throughout the years. Our school currently offers breakfast before school, second chance breakfast for the students that missed breakfast due to being tardy, lunch and dinner after school for the students attending the after school program. As a health conscious person, I’m not too fond with what is being served, however kids are being fed as I have witnessed first hand how much a student can suffer academically on an empty stomach.
Support Systems and Blended Learning
“Blended courses (also known as hybrid or mixed-mode courses) are classes where a portion of the traditional face-to-face instruction is replaced by web-based online learning.” (Blended Learning Toolkit, 2015) As an elementary school teacher, I’ve never heard of blended learning or that it even existed for that matter. However, if it were ever implemented at an elementary setting for a student or students, the support systems would be greatly affected and planning of each would need to be restructured to fit this model. In regards to transportation, if a certain number of students no longer have to take the bus on Monday-Thursday for example because he/she only had to check in for face-to-face instruction on a Friday, then the scheduling of the pick up and drop off for these students would need to be modified which can greatly impact how finances are allocated. Maintenance would also be greatly impacted, as fewer students would equal less maintenance. Using the same example as mentioned earlier, if an entire classroom is no longer being used Monday-Thursday; the scheduling of maintenance would need to be modified to meet the blended learning program. Lastly, food services would greatly be impacted as well because there will be less students to feed as the lunch totals needed per day would decrease Monday-Thursday.
References
Blended Learning Toolkit. (2015). What is Blended Learning? Retrieved June 17, 2015
from: https://blended.online.ucf.edu/about/what-is-blended-learning/
Townley, A. J., & Schmieder-Ramirez, J.H. (2015). School Finance: A California
perspective (10th ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.