August 2022
Welcome to the 22-23 school year. We are so glad to have you with us this year at 21CCCS. As a student at a cyber school, things are a little different than what you may be used to, especially if you are a new student this year. The good news is you have a lot of teachers here to help and support you. Your success is our goal. To help you on the path to success, we want to highlight a few important tips to follow as you begin the new school year.
- Orientation & Attendance - Earlier in August, we shared a welcome letter with important information related to these topics. Click here if you missed that communication. Daily attendance begins on August 24th, which is the first day of our Orientation Course. We are excited to see all students in their grade level Cohort Virtual Office during this synchronous event beginning at 8:30 AM.
- Virtual Office (VO) - Teachers are available from 7:30 AM - 7:30 PM Monday-Thursday and from 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM on Fridays. The quickest way to seek help from your teachers is to visit them in the VO.
- Attending Live Labs - Students should attend all of their live classes each week because it is the best way for them to receive direct instruction, and interact with their teachers and classmates. If a student needs to miss a class, recordings are available to watch under the course resource section in Moodle.
- Communication - We believe and research confirms that a strong home and school connection is important to student success. Please make sure all of your contact information stays up to date with the school. If there are any changes to your address, email, or phone number, please notify your student’s Academic Advisor.
- Grading - Please keep in mind students can resubmit most assignments to reach mastery. In some instances, students may need to talk with their teacher to resubmit. The best place to look for grades is in the student's gradebook for each course. In addition to grades, teachers provide feedback for students regarding their work that should be used to make corrections before resubmitting their work. Students should wait to resubmit a quiz or exam until after they receive a grade and have had a chance to read the feedback. Please note, quality feedback requires time and teachers have at least two days and possibly more if it is a longer assignment to post the grade.
- Diagnostic Assessments - We are administering a Reading, Language Arts, and Mathematics adaptive diagnostic assessment during orientation in order to gauge student strengths and identify any deficits in these subjects, which can be addressed during the year. The assessments are not graded and will not impact any course placements. Students may feel frustration on this type of test because they will get approximately half the questions wrong in order to render quality data. We will encourage students to try their best and not worry about getting wrong answers prior to each assessment and you can do the same at home.
- Benchmark Assessments - Students will be take multiple benchmarks in certain classes over the course of the year. The data from the benchmarks will provide teachers with information to help them plan both group and individual instruction. We ask that students complete the benchmarks on their own, take their time and do their best so that we have a clear picture of their academic performance at that point in time. Students may not know all the answers, and that is okay because the teachers use the information to plan their instruction and provide support.
- Tutoring - Throughout the school year, students may be invited to a small group tutoring session by their teacher. These sessions are scheduled based on need and should be attended.
- Academic Advisor vs. School Counselor - Your student's Academic Advisor is your main contact with the school. They will proactively share information such as your student's progress, school events, and other updates. The School Counselor will assist with a student's educational, career, and social needs.
We look forward to working with you for what we know will be a great school year. See you virtually on August 22nd for Back to School Night [7-8 PM].
Your Principals,
Erika Laidlaw (Middle School), Nora Wheeler (9th-10th), and Monica Frank (11th-12th)
Save the Date!
- August 22: Back to School Night (Virtual - 7 to 8 PM)
- August 24: First Day of Orientation (All Students - Synchronous)
- August 29: First Day of Classes (All Students)
- September 30: Back to School Picnic
After some big changes during the 2021-2022 school year, which included an updated operating system on both your laptop and iPad, the introduction of single sign on, and a new and improved help desk ticket system, we start the 2022-2023 with no major updates to technology. We hope that as everyone enters the new school year, you are comfortable with the use of your laptop, iPad and single sign on. If you have any questions as the school year starts, the Tech VO is the best place to get answers aside from entering a help desk ticket.
This school year we would like to encourage students to enter their tickets into Incident IQ on their own. Please remember that tickets can be entered at any time. This will help the tech department resolve your issues faster as you do not need to wait for your teacher or advisor to enter the ticket for you. If you need a refresher on how to use Incident IQ to request tech help please stop by the Tech VO during the school day and one of our techs will be more than happy to answer all your questions.
Parent Portal & Progress Reports
This is a reminder to parents to be sure to check the Parent Portal regularly to stay up to date on your student's progress. If you forgot how to navigate the Parent Portal, please click here. There are video tutorials and other resources if you are new or need a refresher. If you still have questions, please reach out to your student’s Academic Advisor. The Parent Portal is a great resource to know exactly how your student is doing in their classes.
Happy New School Year 21CCCS Students and Families! We are very excited to share with you some changes and additions to our School Counseling Department. Let us introduce ourselves:
Middle School Counselor Grades 6 & 7: Mrs. Thorne - athorne@21cccs.org
Middle School Counselor Grade 8: Ms. Giandonato - mgiandonato@21cccs.org
High School Counselor Grades 9: Mrs. McCoy - smccoy@21cccs.org
High School Counselor Grade 10 : TBD - Please reach out to Mrs. McCoy in the interim
High School Counselor Grades 11 & 12 Last Names A-K: Mrs. Moynihan - lmoynihan@21cccs.org
High School Counselor: Grades 11 & 12 Last Names L-Z: Ms. Cooke: acooke@21cccs.org
We are excited to work with you to help make this your best year yet! You can contact us at Counselors@21CCCS.org or you can visit us in our School Counseling and Health Center Virtual Office Monday - Friday 7:30am - 3:30 pm. We look forward to seeing you at the Back to School Night!
Happy New School Year,
~Mrs. Thorne, Ms. Giandonato, Mrs. McCoy, Mrs. Moynihan & Ms. Cooke
Welcome to the 2022-2023 school year! As you prepare to start a new school year, don't forget to make sure that your iPad is also ready by ensuring that your software is up to date. In your Settings app, scroll down the menu on the left and tap General. Tap Software Update in the list on the right of your screen to update your iPad. This will take some time so make sure that you won't need to access your iPad for the next 10 or so minutes.
In addition to updating the software on your iPad, you might also need to download some apps depending on the courses that you're enrolled in. You can find those apps in your Self Service app on your iPad. You have access to a variety of apps that you'll need this school year and can tap Install to download what you need.
Please contact Lauren Michener with any iPad questions - lmichener@21cccs.org or 484-875-5468.
Important Reminder
The Pennsylvania Public School Code requires school health services for all children of school age, regardless of the school setting. All public school children must receive YEARLY health screenings (i.e., Height, Weight, BMI, Near & Far Vision). The school nurse is able to provide the mandated health screenings, however, *a licensed provider MUST do a physical exam for 6th and 11th grade.
No more clipping Box Tops!!! Now you can earn money for our school's scholarships by scanning your receipts when qualifying products are purchased. Just download the app and start scanning. For more information and to see the list of products, click here.