The Falmouth Public Schools distributed Chromebooks and packets of homework Friday to students in Grades 3 through 5 to help them learn at home during the COVID-19 closure.
Families picked up the devices at the Morse Pond School, where a handwritten sign asked them to stay in their cars and form a line in the circular driveway.
"Those of us who’ve been working this week have been scrambling to get all this out, because we don't want that big of a gap in learning," technology director Mike Falcone said.
He said all of the devices were sanitized prior to distribution. Students in the higher grades had already taken Chromebooks home.
Falmouth mom Adrienne Baumann volunteered with the Rotary Club to help give out materials. She has a third-grader at Teaticket Elementary, and she said that so far, trying to maintain structure and convince her child to spend time on schoolwork has been a challenge.
"We've done little to nothing as far as schoolwork is concerned," she said. She's trying to work from home, keep her child entertained and run the household.
"It's a little tricky for me," she said.
As the schools work to support families educationally, they are also anticipating potential gaps in children’s learning as time goes on, Assistant Superintendent Sonia Tellier said.
"These are unprecedented times. ... And when we are able to reconvene and reconnect with our students, we'll be able to assess just where they are and how to support them in moving forward," she said.
Tellier said that just like with summer reading assignments, families will have different approaches to how their children learn during their time away.
