Lehighton Area School District is asking parents to decide if they will be utilizing the district’s cyber program, Lehighton Area Virtual Academy or the Zoom/Swivl option for virtual learning by Aug. 17.

The district is offering five days of in-person instruction at the elementary and middle school levels, and a hybrid model at the high school, but parents can still choose LAVA or the Swivl program for full-time virtual instruction.

The district posted a video at https://tinyurl.com/ybteskdd that shows Ashley Lichtenwalner of the Lehighton Area Elementary Center teaching a kindergarten lesson using a Swivl robotic platform to record the lesson. With the Swivl, the robotic camera sits on a stand and the teacher wears a tracking device, which also picks up their audio. As the teacher moves around the classroom, the camera follows.

Students at home can then watch the classes and participate via Zoom in a synchronous manner.

LAVA, meanwhile, is asynchronous instruction and students can complete work at their own pace on their own time.

Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver said the district is asking parents to contact their student’s building administrator to let them know if they will be using the LAVA or Swivl educational delivery method.

“If you do not contact the building level administration, we will assume that student will return for face-to-face learning and will attend the school as scheduled in the reopening plan,” Cleaver said.

Lehighton’s health and safety reopening plan, located on its website www.lehighton.org, outlines the educational delivery methods in more detail.