Jones County Public Schools: A Success Story in Hybrid Learning

Jordan Friedman Shaped Editor

A few years ago, Jones County Public Schools in North Carolina identified a problem: their need for a new language arts and math curriculum. As they explored their options, a curriculum council formed within the district. Ultimately, council members voted to adopt the HMH Into Math, HMH Into Literature, and HMH Into Reading programs to bring hybrid learning to their classrooms.

Jones County administrators wanted a blended curriculum that included paper-based materials to support students in the classroom and technology-based instruction to support students learning from home. This was before the pandemic hit the U.S. So when it did, the district found itself adequately prepared to tackle remote learning.

Adopting HMH’s digital curricula helps Jones County teach students how to use technology from as early as Pre-K and kindergarten. When the students reach fifth and sixth grade, they are well-prepared to leverage digital tech to learn and grow.

Bryce Maruis, director of educational programs for Jones County, says Jones County teachers have also been appreciative that they don’t need to sign into multiple platforms to find what they need. Through HMH’s Ed learning management system, everything can be found in one place.

Amid the challenges educators have faced in the past year due to COVID, it’s been critical to help students catch up where they may have fallen behind. As you’ll see in the videos about Jones County below, adopting HMH’s solutions allowed the district to prioritize personalized learning to narrow COVID learning gaps.

Personalized Learning

In the video below, you can learn more about how Jones County has leveraged digital solutions to meet students where they are when it comes to their learning. In reading programs, for example, students can hear the text, go back and highlight anything that stands out, and answer analysis questions.

Formative assessment is built into these solutions to gauge what students have learned. Teachers can identify those students who may be ready to advance to the next lesson and offer one-on-one meeting time with those who may be struggling.

Remote Learning

When the pandemic started, Jones County—a school district with a 1:1 student-to-device ratio—found itself rethinking the way they’ve always facilitated classroom instruction. They knew they needed the quality of instruction for remote learners to be equivalent to that of students learning in the face-to-face setting.

Jones County found that adopting hybrid solutions allowed students to obtain 21^st-century skills in using technology in a collaborative setting. The video below explores the district’s journey in making this happen.