In a press release issued this afternoon, the NC Dept. of Public Instruction (NC DPI) and UNC-TV announced they are going to provide programming for “students in grades four through 12 designed to complement existing remote learning efforts from the state’s public schools.”

According to the press release, more information on this programming can be found about on the UNC-TV website, on a page describing what it calls “At-home learning.”

UNC-TV’s site says that the statewide school closings have “left thousands of students at home with reduced access to structured instruction.” UNC-TV and NC DPI have therefore decided to partner up to provide “free, curriculum-informed, over-the-air content that is widely accessible to students—especially those with limited or no internet access.”

According to NC DPI and UNC-TV, there will be two blocks of programs on UNC-TV’s North Carolina Channel that will air weekdays.

Fourth through eighth grade will air from 8 AM-1 PM, and ninth through twelfth grade, from 1-6 PM.

There is a note that the actual times may vary, and viewers should check the weekly schedule online, but ironically, lack of online access is why these programs were created.

Here’s the full press NC DPI release:

In consultation with the Department of Public Instruction, UNC-TV started today to provide programming for students in grades four through 12 designed to complement existing remote learning efforts from the state’s public schools.

These free educational resources are designed for use by parents, caregivers and educators to help support and maintain learning for children during school closures. This multi-platform initiative includes educational programming from pre-kindergarten through high school online and on air, as well as additional resources through PBS LearningMedia.

DPI is in the process of linking online and printable materials and activity ideas that complement the UNC-TV lessons with additional learning options. Districts and schools are being encouraged to print the supplemental materials, along with the programming schedule, to provide at meal distribution sites or to mail to students’ homes. A second phase of the joint effort with UNC-TV will incorporate messages from N.C. Teachers of the Year to allow students to connect with leading state educators while they’re away from school.

“We’re excited about this additional learning resource for students and families during this challenging time across our state and nation,” said Angie Mullennix, director of Innovation Strategy and interim director of K-12 Standards, Curriculum, & Instruction for DPI. “We thank UNC-TV for working with us to help fill the gap left by the unfortunate, but necessary, school closures.”

The educational programming block will be available over the air on the North Carolina Channel and streamed live at unctv.org/athomelearning. This vetted, curriculum-informed programming is available Monday-Friday, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., for grades four through eight, and from 1 to 6 p.m., for grades nine through 12 (actual times may vary, please check the weekly schedule online at unctv.org/ahl). This joint effort will be adapted as needed over coming weeks to best serve the needs of North Carolina students.

Additionally, programming developed for intellectual and emotional development of Pre-K through third grade students continues on UNC-TV’s Rootle 24/7 PBS KIDS channel, as well as weekdays during a seven-hour block, from 6:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., on UNC-TV.

More details on the kind of programming included in these grade-level blocks are on the UNC-TV website.

UNC-TV and PBS have also curated free, standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans and more at unctv.pbslearningmedia.org. Content is organized by grade and subject area, along with tips and techniques for engaging, effective at-home learning.

To support this at-home learning initiative, UNC-TV is launching a dedicated webpage Thursday available at unctv.org/athomelearning and a special At-Home Learning weekly e-newsletter Friday with the upcoming week’s schedule information. Sign up for the Rootle e-newsletter at unc.tv/kidsnewsletter.