Washougal Learning Academy will offer fully remote learning option

Washougal School District leaders are ready and willing to welcome students back into classrooms, but are prepared for the possibility that not every child will want to return.

“I honestly think there’s going to be a number of students that never come back,” James Bennett, the district’s technology coach, said recently. “You’ve got a family that’s thinking, ‘I’m kind of interested in this home-schooling model, but I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with it,’ but when they have this trial by fire, they’re like, ‘Maybe that’s not so bad. Maybe we can do this.’ So maybe they don’t come back to in-person learning even when (the pandemic) is all over.”