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Bartlesville Public Schools has added three all-district Distance Learning days to the 2020-2021 Academic Year Calendar.

District students will have three additional all-district Distance / Virtual Learning days on the first Fridays of October, November, and December. BPS began the school year with three Distance Learning Fridays, including two in August and one in September.

In assessing the impact of those days, the district determined that three additional days this semester, one per month, would help both students and teachers adapt to the new environment created by the coronavirus pandemic.

Heather Davis, the President of the Bartlesville Education Association, has commented, "The BEA is very appreciative of the virtual learning days. We went from wading in the virtual waters to bobbing in the ocean of Distance Learning. Three additional days will allow us to hone our craft, stay on top of our work, and give both our students and teachers much-needed time to absorb new things."

This was done with multiple goals in mind:

• Helping teachers, students, and parents practice with distance/virtual learning to be prepared for likely quarantines and possible inclement weather Virtual Learning days.
• Giving teachers some time to train, collaborate, and catch up given the challenges of virtual students, students in quarantine, and various new online services.

On such days, students still have assignments which they can complete as instructed by teachers often using Canvas, Google Classroom, or a packet.