ISJ Fall 2020: Commitment to Culture, Conventions and Creativity during the Coronavirus Pandemic: A School’s Journey / Cindy Rigling and Tracy Wood

On March 16, 2020, GWAC World Academy-Chicago, a full continuum International Baccalaureate and independent preK-12 school with 450 students in downtown Chicago, moved to remote learning as the
coronavirus pandemic closed schools. As the leadership team began to craft a plan that would respond to the challenges of remote education, it became clear that our objective was to maintain the quality of teaching and learning in this new context while sustaining a commitment to our values, pedagogy, and expectations for students. We focused on continuing inquiry-based learning that develops self-management, critical thinking, effective communication, media and information literacy, and social skills. We devised ways to support students’ social and emotional needs specific to this new situation.