As schools and districts across Montana suspend classes to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, MontanaPBS and the Montana Office of Public Instruction have announced a plan to support home learning for students.

Beginning Monday, a new weekday television schedule will debut, including educational programs aligned to state public education standards that complement a suite of free digital learning resources available from home.

“These school closures bring unique challenges for teachers, parents and caregivers in how to keep Montana kids engaged and learning,” MontanaPBS General Manager Aaron Pruitt said. “As our state’s public television service and as a hub for digital learning resources, MontanaPBS can play a critical role in helping create a learning environment with trusted and quality resources outside of the classroom and at home.”

Beginning Monday MontanaPBS will dedicate its daytime weekday schedule to Montana state standards-aligned educational programming provided by MontanaPBS and the Office of Public Instruction.

The new 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekday schedule includes specific blocks of time for pre-K through eighth grade levels, covering English, language arts, social studies, science and math. MontanaPBS’ regular primetime schedule will not be affected by this change.

“During these unprecedented circumstances, teachers are continuing to teach, and students are continuing to learn through combination of digital and non-digital distance study,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen. “This can present challenges for ensuring equitable delivery of education services. The new daily TV programming will help bridge this divide and provide additional opportunities for equitable access to education.”

As part of this unique collaboration between MontanaPBS and the Office of Public Instruction, MontanaPBS curated corresponding free digital content for at-home learning and support for teachers navigating this new learning landscape. Aligned to the same Montana content standards and topic areas as the broadcast service.

For more information about MontanaPBS Learn at Home resources, visit www.montanapbs.org/education/distance-learning-at-home/