Preparing K-12 Schools for a Pandemic Before It Occurs

While almost all K-12 schools closed for the COVID-19 pandemic with little or no preparation, one school began to prepare 12 years ago for a time such as this. In 2006, the school leadership began to consider what would happen to teaching and learning in the event of a large-scale pandemic causing the buildings to be closed. The school implemented a Distance Learning Day (DLD) in fall 2007 and continued it for five years. This paper describes the rationale, implementation, and outcomes of the endeavor, as well as its impact on students, teachers and parents.