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SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City School District will provide a virtual elementary school this fall for students in grades K-6.
"We are a district that believes in choice," said Kenneth Limb, principal of Salt Lake Virtual Elementary. "We believe that our students and parents who have a desire or need for online learning to continue should get a choice in that. So we wanted to provide a choice."
Limb said the online curriculum will be just the same as the one for in-person learning.
"We will follow the same pacing guides for the curriculum," he said. "If a student were to, in the middle of October, transfer into Salt Lake Virtual Elementary, they should be pretty well in the same place of learning."
Limb also said there will be opportunities for in-person learning.
There will be one day each week when students can come in for assistance in areas where they are struggling. Small group enrichments will support students who are excelling. Limb also said that the virtual elementary will have opportunities for hands-on lessons in science. There will also be field trips throughout the school year.
"All of those experiences are voluntary," he said. "So if a student (and) or a parent don't feel comfortable with their child coming into the classroom with the teacher for whatever reason, we will accommodate them with some similar activity online."
Limb said virtual learning has its advantages.
"We know the students can learn really well virtually," he said. "We know the pandemic was a challenge for many students and families. But we also found many students found they could focus and learn through the pandemic when it was virtual. So we want to provide that opportunity."
For additional information, log onto the Salt Lake Virtual Elementary website.
