By STEVE KARNOWSKI

Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota students began learning from home Monday, a new normal that may last the rest of the school year as the state tries to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Minnesota had had 576 confirmed cases of the disease as of Monday, which was 73 more than on Sunday. The state’s death toll from COVID-19 rose by one, to 10. At least 260 patients have recovered and no longer need to be isolated. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 56 patients were hospitalized as of Monday, including 24 in intensive care.

Gov. Tim Walz gave the school closing order two weeks ago to allow administrators and teachers time to figure out how to make distance learning work for the state’s nearly 900,000 public and charter school students. They’re not scheduled to return to their classrooms until April 30, at the earliest, but the governor could extend the closing. While implementation is expected to be a work in progress, officials say schools were prepared for Monday’s launch.

“Our educators are ready for this,” Deputy Education Commissioner Heather Mueller said. “As educators and as professionals we have been trained to not only be experts and professionals in our context, but also how it is that we can deliver instruction through a variety of platforms.”

For example, in Minnesota’s largest school district, Anoka-Hennepin, staff went to work to prepare more than 13,000 Chromebook laptops for students in grades 4-12 in the suburban district who needed computers. Students picked them up last week. Younger students will use a blended online-paper curriculum.

In the Stewartville School District, in southeastern Minnesota, middle and high school teacher Jim Parry helped prepare students by posting videos on YouTube aimed at helping them overcome their fears.

“If we don’t take chances on new experiences, we limit our potential to grow as human beings,” Parry said into the camera outside an empty school. “Having the right attitude is everything. … There are a lot of people that are anxious, that are scared, they’re not sure of how things will turn out, they fear failure. If we let these emotions control us, we won’t have a chance to experience personal growth together, as a community.”

To ease the burden on students and staff, Minnesota canceled its statewide standardized testing for the rest of the school year.

Mueller has stressed repeatedly that parents aren’t expected to be teachers, and they are urged to reach out to their children’s teachers if they need help.

“The implementation of this is not going to be seamless for everyone, and we recognize that, but we do know that it is better than doing nothing,” Mueller told reporters on Friday.