Jefferson’s telelearn days are always a long-awaited break from the day-to-day rigmarole of school. The telelearn schedule is similar to an anchor day: students “go” to each of their seven classes. In lieu of traveling to school though, students work on teacher-provided assignments remotely. Assignments include online tests, worksheets and videos lectures.

Telelearns at Jefferson have a relatively short history, starting in 2011.

“The first telelearn I had was near the end of my freshman year,” senior Michelle Shiu said. “After that, they started having them regularly.”

In addition to being relatively new to Jefferson, telelearn days are news to neighboring schools as well.

“We did not have tele-learn days at my old high school—Chantilly. I like telelearn days better than anchor days because we get the whole day to finish our work so it’s more relaxing,” froshmore Cynthia Zhuang said.

However, students aren’t the only ones that get to stay at home on telelearn day. Unknown to most, teachers also stay at home on telelearn preparing for lessons.

Nannette Mateo, Spanish teacher of eight years, chose to give her students a research activity, utilizing writing and listening skills.

“I chose this activity because it’s related to what we are learning in class: art and literature,” says Mateo. “I believe telelearns are helpful to students, but only if the assignments are well thought out.”