Bather Families & Learners,

This week was an interesting one, for sure! End of the 1st quarter, NWEA assessments, power outages, Chromebook distribution, the election, and another COVID-related issue had all of us on our toes at the Secondary Complex.

This newsletter has important information including a reminder of our expectations for Bather Learners, upcoming parent-teacher conferences, Chromebook distribution, Zoom fixes, and much more. Be sure to scroll and read to the end.

I've had a few parents reach out to me last night after sending the Superintendent's Message. I would like each of you to read my response to the concerns expressed, as I am sure many feel the same. Here is what I wrote back:

As a parent, I understand your concern. Please understand that we define exposure or close contact as being in the classroom and not the CDC guidelines of within 6 feet for 15 minutes. We are quarantining any students in the classroom as a layer of safety for school and home. Our desks are socially distanced at 6 feet, our hybrid schedule has created classrooms with very low student numbers, which allow for even safer distancing, each teacher and student has done an amazing job of following every safety protocol, and our classrooms are wiped down and sanitized each period by staff and students which adds another layer of protection. If you remember, we had a similar situation almost a month ago and quarantined a large segment of our middle school as a precaution. Zero students that were quarantined have tested positive for COVID, and zero cases have been traced back to close contact in this building.

Many Metro-Detroit districts are having a much more difficult time with staff and students testing positive. We will continue having our turns in dealing with this virus for sure, but I am confident in our prevention and response planning.

Grateful to Be a Bather!

Kirk Duncan

Principal, MCSC

Twitter & Instagram: @mc_admn

1. No matter which group your child is in, we expect 100% participation, connection, and work completion. Click here or the link below to access our daily class schedules. Hybrid times are in the column to the left.

2. Each student should have a Chromebook by now, should bring it to every class when at school or log in to Google Classrooms when working remotely.

3. Remote Students must follow the A-Day schedule, attend live Zoom sessions when scheduled by the teacher on Mondays and Tuesdays, attend live Zoom help sessions on Wednesdays, and complete assignments on Thursdays and Fridays. Click here to review the full set of Remote Learner Expectations. Remote Learners who fail to meet these expectations will be switched to A or B Day schedules and return to school.

4. All students need to take advantage of our Wednesday sessions for extra help with our teachers.

5. A & B-Day Learners have assignments to complete on days they are not scheduled to be in school. They must log in to Google Classrooms and complete all assignments. If questions arise or help is needed, complete all parts they can and bring detailed questions to the next class meeting.

6. Attendance is mandatory. If your child is too sick to attend, even remotely, a parent or guardian must call the school to report the absence.

7. ARD (At-Risk Disconnected) Attendance Codes: When a teacher has not connected with nor seen any assignments completed in three consecutive days, they will report ARD for attendance in PowerSchool. These are unexcused absences and count toward truancy.

8. We will be working closely with DHHS to resolve attendance and truancy issues in this upcoming quarter.

We will be hosting our conferences either by Zoom or phone call; therefore, families must signup for a particular session time. Conferences will be from Noon to 3 PM and 5 to 8 PM on Thursday, November 12th. These sessions are limited to 5 minutes; however, families can set a follow-up meeting with teachers if more time is needed.

We will be using PTCFast.com to make signups as convenient as possible.

Please enter the following web address into your browser window or click on the live link:

https://ptcfast.com/schools/Mount_Clemens_Secondary_Complex

Click here to view a tutorial on how to use the system.

• Students who already received a Chromebook earlier in the school year must exchange those devices and pick up these new ones.

• A & B-Day learners will pick up devices while attending school only.

• Many of our Remote Learners have yet to pick up their devices. On Monday, November 9th, we will have one last pick up time for Remote Learners only from 4 to 8pm at our Cafeteria doors.

Monday, 11/9/20: A-Day

Tuesday, 11/10/20: A-Day

Wednesday, 11/11/20: Independent Work, Individual & Small Group Support, Intervention

Thursday, 11/12/20: B-Day; PK - 12 ½ Day; Secondary Complex PT Conferences 12 - 3 PM, 5 - 8 PM; Check with King and Seminole Academies for conference times.