ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY, Va. — Over the past two days, Isle of Wight County Public Schools staff distributed the portable devices at Georgie Tyler and Smithfield Middle schools.
Superintendent Doctor Jim Thornton said all high school students have laptops or a way to work from home, but now it’s time to help the middle school students who need extra help with resources.
Doctor Thornton sad it's a rush to get students set up for online learning, because of COVID-19.
"If you had asked me, let's do all online and homeschool learning in six months… I would've told you you're crazy. And we have been asked to do it in two or three weeks,” said Thornton.
Parents said the extra effort is critical to continue a child's education. "This is definitely going to be helpful for her," said one parent.
School employees said they are doing what they can to bring technology to students.
"We just want to say thank you to all of the parents for hanging in there with us,” said Smithfield Middle School teacher, Danielle Roggie.
Principal Matt Johnson said providing the help hits home.
"We had a lot of families getting emotional. There was a lot of thanking us, blessing us for doing this for them since they don't have that access," said Johnson.
Also, Thornton said additional remote learning access is going mobile since internet connection is spotty throughout the county. He said IT employees expanded school Wi-Fi signals so students can download course work from the school parking lot and finish assignments at home.
In addition to that, the district plans to use four school buses to bring Wi-Fi to students in more remote neighborhoods, but the exact locations are still in the works.
Thornton said he and all school educators prioritize supporting students this way.
"At the end of the day we have to make sure our kids get fed and we have to make sure our kids get a quality education."
Superintendent Thornton said any remaining iPads are going to go to elementary school students in need.
As for the curriculum, the Virginia Department of Education has a task force to help figure out a recovery plan for students who may fall behind.
RELATED: TCC physics professor whose wild experiments went viral takes classroom online due to COVID-19