West Side Story 2.0
September 21, 2020
Assuring learning excellence and readiness for a changing world.
First Rotation
We have had questions about Moodle and Infinite Campus. Moodle is where the students find all of the teaching and learning activities, assignments and assessments. Infinite Campus is where attendance is taken, and where you can find the gradebook, just as you would in years past. If you do have questions, please don't hesitate to contact your teacher, counselor or one of the principals.
Schedule This Week
Group A will come to school on Thursday, and Group B will come on Friday.
ACT - Senior Only Day
October 6 will be a distance learning day for all students in grades 9-11. The only students coming to the building that day will be seniors who are taking the ACT.
School Photos
It is important for all students in grades 9-11 to have their pictures taken as they are used for the yearbook and student IDs. Portrait packages will also be available for purchase through SPX Portraits. Here is the SPX order form.
Tech
Email Support Lines:
familytechhelp@isd77.org - Parents & Students
- Student log in issues
- Student portal issues
- Student device issues, such as:
- Repair needs
- Wifi connectivity
- Student Learning Management Issues:
- Moodle
- SeeSaw
- Google Classroom
- Infinite Campus Support
- Staff Learning Management Issues:
- Moodle
- Seesaw
- Google Classroom
- Staff District Portal and Third Party System issues
- Hardware/software support
- Online instructional resources
- Website
- Phone/fax/security
icsupport@isd77.org - Parent Portal Questions ONLY
- Please give this email to parents who need assistance with their parent portal account.
- Staff should NOT be emailing Infinite Campus questions to icsupport.
I appreciate your help in streamlining your technology needs to these three tech support email addresses. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Wearing Masks
A friendly reminder that masks need to cover the nose, mouth and chin. Also, students riding the bus must wear a mask while on the bus.
We are all in this together!
Attendance Reminders
On Virtual Learning days ALL students must mark attendance on Infinite Campus and check in to Moodle. Virtual Learning days are all the days of the school year calendar where students are not physically present. These days apply to both Hybrid In-Person students as well as full time Distance Learning students.
Infinite Campus is where your daily attendance is tracked. This is extremely important for maintaining attendance records that impact eligibility and truancy. Logging into this system is a must for all students on Virtual Learning days as failure to do so will result in Unexcused Absences.
On Virtual Learning days, students must log in to the Infinite Campus Portal and check-in to each class on their schedule to maintain positive attendance status.We will set up a reminder alert for all students and parents that will be generated at 7:00 pm each evening to alert students and families that they need to check in prior to 11:59 pm that night.
Here is a video that will help show students how to mark their attendance in Infinite Campus:
In addition to taking attendance in Infinite Campus, ALL students must login to Moodle daily to participate and complete work in their scheduled classes.
Infinite Campus tracks your state-mandated attendance, Moodle is where you work toward earning credit for your classes. Both are necessary to successfully complete school. If you fail to log in to Moodle or keep up with your course work, your teacher will contact you and your grades may reflect your lack of participation.
As full-time Distance Learning students or as Hybrid-In Person students on days when you are not at school, it is each students' responsibility to log in to both Infinite Campus and Moodle daily. Parents and Guardians can support students in this effort by setting reminders, following up on IC Attendance Alerts, calling in to report illnesses and appointments, and communicating with teachers when there are questions or concerns.
Securly
Mankato Area Public Schools is partnering with Securly to provide an online student safety solution for students in grades 6-12. Families with email addresses on file with the district will be automatically enrolled and will receive email reports from Securly. Parents can now view their children's activity across educational sites and time syncs, in-school and at-home across all of their school-owned devices. All of this is delivered via beautifully designed dashboards and e-mail reports.
Agricultural Diversity and Leadership/Technical Skill Challenge
Mankato-Mankato Area Public Schools and its school-based Agricultural, Food and Natural Resources (AFNR) education teaching team has been selected as a pilot school for the Agricultural Diversity and Leadership/Technical Skill Challenge (ADLTS) program. The district will receive more than $8,500 over the next three years to support and implement the three-component AFNR model for 400 students at Mankato Area Public Schools' East and West high schools, which includes classroom and laboratory instruction, supervised hands-on agricultural experience and agricultural youth organization leadership experience. Teachers will be provided continuous support and development from the Minnesota FFA and Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).
ADLTS is a partnership between MDE, Minnesota FFA, and the University of Minnesota, and is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Project results will be used to create training resources and handbooks and to share findings with other Minnesota schools and states.