Welcome New Students and Families!

We are very excited to be welcoming a number of new students and families! We are glad you have chosen the Montgomery Virtual Academy this year and we are committed to ensuring this is a great year. We want you and your child have a smooth start! To ensure Day 1 is all "smooth sailing", please plan to join us for a New Family Orientation on Thursday, August 18 from 6:30-7:30 PM on Zoom. New families will be emailed the Zoom link the week of August 15.

Welcome New Staff!

In addition to welcoming many new children and families, we are also welcoming some new staff members, most of them in positions new to the MVA! Please help me extend a warm Virtual Voyager welcome to:

• Tracy Jeffcott, Media Specialist
• Adela Jimenez, Administrative Secretary
• Jean Kiernan, Staff Development Teacher
• Kimberly McIntyre, Reading Specialist
• Ellen Rahr, Media Assistant
• Sarah Szak, Speech Pathologist
• Eboni Thomas, Attendance Secretary

We also have a number of staff members taking on new roles and a few staff who have moved on to other opportunities. Please check out the Staff Directory linked below to see our entire staff and their roles!

MCPS wants to make sure all Virtual Academy students have a touchscreen Lenovo chromebook, which is more current and will support system updates.

Any Virtual Academy student who has an Acer Chromebook, should bring it to 15 W. Gude, to exchange it for a Lenovo chromebook during Materials Distribution days.

When returning any Acer device, be sure to bring the charging cable. The Lenovo uses a different type of charging cable.

1. Please click here to access the online ordering form OR
2. Please click here or on the image below to see the PDF of the Barksdale Flyer.
3. Click here to schedule your time on picture day! (Click on Montgomery Virtual Academy on August 19 to select a time.

All payments are due on or before picture day. There will be a make-up day on September 30.

We are excited to welcome students back to school in the Virtual Academy. We need volunteers to help sort, organize and bag the materials in preparation for distribution which will begin August 19.

Parents, Staff, MS students, and HS students are invited to sign up! Any amount of time you can volunteer is greatly appreciated. Volunteers will meet at in the Virtual Academy office at 15 W. Gude Drive, 2nd Floor, Rockville

Sign up to Volunteer HERE

Contact Jackie DeLucia, Supervisor K-5 with any questions: Jackie_R_DeLucia@mcpsmd.org or by phone: 240-447-8277

Parent Volunteers: Please review the MCPS policies for parent volunteers on the MCPS website.

The Montgomery Virtual Academy follows the traditional MCPS School Year calendar (see link below). Monday, August 29 is the first day of school for all students!

Zooms will open at 8:50 a.m. daily and hours of instruction are 9:00-11:35 AM and 12:35-3:25 PM. There is a daily wellness break from 11:35 AM -12:35 PM. Students should login at 8:50 a.m.to ensure they are prepared when instruction begins.

Students need to eat meals before school, during the wellness break, and after school. Please do not serve meals during the instructional blocks.

Students logging in after 9:00 a.m. will be reported tardy. Parents are asked to use this Google Form to report an absence, late arrival, early dismissal, and submit attendance notes.

Please see the Virtual Academy website or click below to see the Daily Schedules, including the early release schedule, and the late opening schedule.

Research indicates that meaningful personal engagement with their teachers and peers is one of the most important predictors of student learning and achievement.

As a result of a review of the research, the Montgomery Virtual Academy (MVA) presents the following revisions to its policies and expectations around student engagement, participation, and attendance for the 2022-2023 school year and beyond.

1. All students are expected to appear on camera for the majority of every class
2. Students should actively demonstrate engagement throughout each lesson.
   
3. Students who demonstrate no engagement for the entire class period may be marked “Absent” for that class period.
   
4. The MVA continues to expand opportunities for students to engage meaningfully with teachers, staff, and each other outside of the classroom.
   

For more detailed information on these expectations, please see:

If you are reading this newsletter, that means one or more of your children is enrolled in the Montgomery Virtual Academy (K-5). We hope you plan to remain with us the entire year!

Families who no longer wish to start the school year in the Virtual Academy are asked to take the following steps prior to August 19:

1) Complete this form https://bit.ly/MVAconfirm

2) Email Ms. Elle Dimond, registrar, to alert her of the request

3) Contact your child's home school to indicate your intent to return for the first day of school

All children use their MCPS ID number at the register so confidentiality is maintained and no child is overtly identified as receiving free or reduced-price meals. Only one application is needed for all students in a household. A new application must be completed for any family requesting assistance this school year. The online application is now open for families to submit applications.

For more information and How-To videos visit the Food Services website: www.montgomeryschools.org/departments/food-and-nutrition/meal-payments/#FARMS

The following MVA Parent Council Announcements are being shared as a public information courtesy.

Save the Date!-October 15, 2022

The MVAPTC will be holding a craft fair as an MVAPTC fundraiser on October 15, 2022. The craft fair will be held at the True Respite Brewery. Stay tuned for more details on attending or setting up a booth at the craft fair for interested artists!

MVAPTC Links:

• Website: mvaptc.org
• Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=montgomery%20virtual%20academy%20parent%20teacher%20council
• Facebook page for unofficial Parent Group called MCPS - Montgomery Virtual Academy Families and Staff (Montgomery County, MD): https://www.facebook.com/groups/530674078014807

Please contact Council President, Jessica at presidentmvaptc@gmail.com if you’d like to volunteer or have any questions, comments or suggestions. Thank you for your support!