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Team Alexander, We Stick Together!
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April 5 - 9
Mar. 29 - Apr. 2
Important Reminders...
The Denton Independent School District announced the establishment of the Denton ISD K-8 Virtual Academy, a permanent full-time online learning option for families, currently engaged and experiencing success in the Denton ISD. All Denton ISD students, Face-to-Face and ConnectedLearners, are eligible for pre-enrollment.
A registration portal will be made available beginning on Thursday, April 1, and remain open through April 30. Preliminary enrollment will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Denton ISD K-8 Virtual Academy is a public, tuition-free school, serving students in kindergarten through 8th grade. The fully remote learning option will provide an opportunity for students who thrive in the online environment to learn virtually. The district will provide laptops for any student who opts to use a district-issued device.
“By enrolling in the Academy, our families are committing to learning with our educators in this manner,” said Dr. Jamie Wilson, superintendent of schools. “Unlike this school year, students will not move back and forth between methods of instruction, and the Academy will be their home campus. We are supporting and staffing this school with stability and longevity in mind.”
Adding the new virtual campus also allows the district to reconnect with families and students who may have selected homeschool or disengaged with Denton ISD for a different form of instruction amidst the pandemic to return to the district and learn virtually for the 2021-2022 school year and beyond.
“I think it’s important to realize that Denton ISD is moving forward with these plans because there is a huge interest in our community,” said Trustee Doug Chadwick. “We are committed to having this option available for our online learning families because they have discovered during this school year that the ConnectedLearning platform works best for their student and their household. We want our community to understand that this virtual academy option is moving very quickly.”
Denton ISD’s fully remote option will provide an opportunity for students who thrive in the online environment to continue learning virtually. The staff is hand-selected from district educators who will dedicate all resources to support online instruction as well as new opportunities and offerings.
The district currently has an application for internal teaching candidates posted and will make staff selections as soon as enrollment numbers are confirmed.
Click here for more information!
1:1 Chromebook Rollout
We are thrilled for the upcoming 1:1 Device Rollout for elementary campuses in DISD! The participation in the 1 to 1 program gives your student an advantage in their learning. Teachers have already been hard at work creating learning experiences for students that are enhanced by each student having their own device. We are excited to further empower our teachers and students in pursuit of our mission to create lifelong learners who impact their local and global community.
In order for your child to be eligible to receive a 1:1 Chromebook, please fill out the digital Mobile Device Agreement form! Prior to receiving a Chromebook, all students and parents/guardians will need to complete this form. Without this completed agreement, students are not eligible to receive a Chromebook.
Any student enrolled as a face-to-face student and has a Chromebook and charger at home, please return the Chromebook and charger to the Alexander front office in order for your child to be eligible to receive a 1:1 device. Thank you!
For more information, visit DISD 1:1 Digital Resource!
Updated Connected Learning Guidelines
TEA has provided districts guidance to respond to situations where students who are struggling academically with remotely learning. Denton ISD has updated the Connected Learning guidelines to include new procedures campuses will take when students continue to demonstrate lack of progress.
"It may be determined that the student needs additional support and resources. Additional support and resources may include immediate and consistent access to their teacher as a face to face learner. A connected learner will be required to return to face to face instruction if the following criteria is not met:
Elementary Student Expectations:
If at any interim progress reporting period your student is scoring a 1 (beginning) in one or more subjects, your student must demonstrate adequate progress 2 (developing) by the end of the next interim progress reporting. Maintaining a 2 (developing) too long, (two nine weeks grading periods) is also concerning and is not considered adequate progress to meet the standard. For students who are not successful, we will develop an intervention plan, which may include returning to campus for face-to-face instruction with support and intervention.
For students not meeting this criteria, the campus administrator will provide the parent/guardian with written notice of the expectation for the student to return as a face to face learner. The notice shall allow for two weeks prior to the expected return to face to face date. A parent/guardian may appeal this decision by contacting the campus principal and requesting an appeal hearing. The principal will schedule the appeal hearing no sooner than three days following the request. Following the appeal hearing, the principal has the final decision making authority regarding the student’s return to face to face learning."
~Updated CL Guidelines and can also be viewed HERE
Teachers are beginning to identify students who possibly meet this criteria and our administration team will begin scheduling parent phone conferences in the coming weeks.
Coming up at Alexander...
Upcoming Important Dates:
April:
1: Virtual Talent Show
2: No School
6: 4th Grade STAAR
12: Student Holiday, Staff PLC Day
13: Pre-K & 5th Grade Graduation Pictures
15-16: Special Areas Fun Days
Campus Reminders!
Free & Reduced Lunch Applications
Puede encontrar la solicitud en la página de Nutrición Infantil de Denton ISD.
Car Line Reminders
COVID Testing for Students
Students will learn remotely during their time at home to ensure students have access to learning.
If there is a COVID-19 positive case living in your child's household, students will be required to quarantine for 14 days. Report all COVID-19 positive case in Alexander students' homes to the Front Office 940-369-3500 or the School Nurse- ext. 3506.
COVID-19 Screening for Students
Parents/guardians are expected to screen their students for COVID-19 symptoms each day prior to sending their student to school:
Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea
Any individuals who themselves either: (a) are test-confirmed to have COVID-19; or (b) experience the symptoms of COVID-19 (listed below) must stay at home throughout the infection period, and cannot return to campus until the school system screens the individual to determine any of the below conditions for campus re-entry have been met: In the case of an individual who was diagnosed with COVID-19, the individual may return to school when all three of the following criteria are met:
i. at least 24 hours have passed since recovery (resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications);
ii. the individual has improvement in symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath); and
iii. at least ten days have passed since symptoms first appeared.
In the case of an individual who has symptoms that could be COVID-19 and who is not evaluated by a medical professional or tested for COVID-19, such individual is assumed to have COVID-19, and the individual may not return to the campus until the individual has completed the same three-step set of criteria listed above.
If the individual has symptoms that could be COVID-19 and wants to return to school before completing the above stay at home period, the individual must either:
(a) obtain a medical professional’s note clearing the individual for return based on an alternative diagnosis or
(b) obtain a negative molecular (PCR) test.
Parents must ensure they do not send a child to school on campus if the child has COVID-19 symptoms (as listed in this document) or is test-confirmed with COVID-19, and instead should transition to remote instruction until the below conditions for re-entry are met.
If a student has had close contact with an individual who is test-confirmed with COVID-19 they should participate in remote instruction until the 14-day incubation period has passed. The 14 day quarantine does not begin until the first day after close contact with the positive individual.
Teachers will monitor students and refer to the nurse if symptoms are present.
Very Important!!! ATTENDANCE INFORMATION!!!
VERY, VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT ATTENDANCE!
If your child is ABSENT from Face-to-Face school one day, or your child is participating in Connected Learning/Remote Instruction, your child will be counted PRESENT if one of the following actions take place the same-day:
- Student demonstrates daily progress and participation in SeeSaw.
- Student participates synchronously with the teacher via Zoom/Microsoft Teams.
- Student Completes/Submits an assignment to the teacher online via SeeSaw.
Also Important!
Students enrolled in Connected Learning must meet the required Synchronous (live) instructional minutes and complete all asynchronous learning assigned by teachers everyday. Connected Learning is just like a normal day at school, students need to begin learning at 7:40am and attend all Zoom, Teams, etc meetings with the teacher.
- Students not engaged in the required learning (synchronous or asynchronous) may be considered Partial Day Absence and Parent-Teacher-Administrator meetings will begin to be scheduled.
We are all working together to ensure all students master the grade level essential standards and curriculum. Thank you for helping our Connected Learners meet the instructional minutes requirements.
If you would like your child to switch back to Face-to-Face learning, we will be happy to make that change happen as soon as possible. Please contact the Front Office or your child's teacher. Thank you!
Attendance Notes
Our Attendance webpage is updated for our new District Absence Note. This link will be located in the center of each campus website on the square that says Absences (see below).
An autoreply has been added to the email for attendance notes. Parents will receive the following autoreply message each time they send an email to our campus email for attendance notes:
Denton ISD is no longer using campus email accounts to submit absence notes. Please click on the link below to submit an absence note for your student.
Panther Paw News YouTube Channel
Subscribe to our Panther Paw News channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRv6m_ksNErQGgMopc2FC6A
Face-to-Face Panthers Reminders...
Running low on Face Masks....
Thank you for helping keep everyone safe and healthy!
Important Links for Parents:
Alice Moore Alexander Elementary
Email: lhenderson@dentonisd.org
Website: https://www.dentonisd.org/Page/20568
Location: 800 Mack Place, Denton, TX, USA
Phone: 940-369-3500
Facebook: facebook.com/AAlexanderElem
Twitter: @AAlexanderElem