Request to Return to In-Person Learning from the Montgomery Virtual Academy

Beginning Marking Period 3 (January 30)

https://bit.ly/MP3return

Read the full announcement and FAQ's here: https://www.smore.com/pnc5t

MAP testing is underway!

MAP Testing is given to all MCPS students in grades K-8 every fall, winter, and spring. This is a test that can be administered virtually to our students! Please read through the following information, and reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any questions.

WHO: All MVA K-5 students

• Several Virtual Academy staff members will be supporting testing

• Students will be in breakout rooms with homeroom teachers, math teachers, ELD teachers and/or special educators

• One room will have a staff member available for technical support and students will be sent there as needed

• Student screens (cameras) must stay on for the duration of testing (county policy)

• To ensure a limited distraction environment, we ask that testing rooms remain quiet. Students must stay on mute and raise their hand or type in the chat box if they need anything (like a bathroom break) so that we can pause the test for them

WHAT: Measure of Academic Progress (MAP)

Grades K-2 MAP-P → Math

WHEN:

• Kindergarten 1/5/23 AM ----MAP-P

• Grade 1 1/5/23 AM ----MAP-P
• Grade 2 1/6/23 AM ----MAP-P
• Grade 3 1/6/23 PM ----MAP-M & 1/11/23 PM ----MAP-R
• Grade 4 1/6/23 PM ----MAP-M & 1/11/23 PM ----MAP-R
• Grade 5 1/6/23 PM ----MAP-M & 1/11/23 PM ----MAP-R

In the event that a student is absent or unable to test on their grades’ assigned day, there will be makeup opportunities that will be provided, no need to worry! Your homeroom teachers will communicate ahead of time what the specific schedule for the day will be.

WHERE: Students log in to their regular homeroom Zoom for their testing time; the students will log into the assessment following directions that we give, and will stay in Zoom for the duration of the assessment.

WHY: These assessments give teachers information about what students are already able to do, and what they are ready for next. The data helps inform our instruction. Please do not assist your child with identifying the correct answer. Helping students with the problems in any way at all will give us inaccurate data.

Additional Notes

• Ensure you have a Lenovo Touchscreen Chromebook. If you need to exchange of pick up a device, please come to 15 West Gude Drive (2nd floor) M-F 8am-4pm PRIOR to your assigned testing day.

• Ensure that your child fully turns off the Chromebook each night to allow updates to be pushed through to the device. Closing the lid on the Chromebook, is NOT fully shutting it down and will not allow for these important updates to be made.

• Please ensure that your student has a good night’s rest the night before

• Please ensure that your student’s environment is free from distractions (quiet/ no tv/ etc.)

• All students must have their cameras on during the test

• We need to know that your student is completing the assessment by themselves

• The assessment should be completed entirely by your student

• Please encourage them to do their personal best

• If we see grown-ups or siblings helping, we will have to stop your student’s assessment

• Please make sure technology is fully charged or plugged in

• This test is UNTIMED and students will have ample time to complete the test. Most students will complete the test in about 45-60 minutes. We are allotting over two hours to make sure our students have plenty of time!

Extra Resources for additional information about MAP testing

MAP Student Resources site

The Parent Toolkit - The online home for parents interested in learning more about MAP Growth

The Family Guide (available in several languages here) which includes:

• An overview of MAP Growth.

• An explanation of the purpose and design of MAP Growth.

• An introduction to the RIT score and how the assessment results are used

• Students/parents/caregivers can check their device configuration here: https://check.nwea.org/ to run a self-check on their devices at NWEA Workstation Diagnostic to verify they adhere to minimum requirements b. Disable pop-up blockers that may prevent access to test.mapnwea.org

Please feel free to reach out to your child’s teachers with any comments, questions, or concerns.

The WIDA ACCESS test window is January 9 - February 17. All ELD students are required to take the test in-person at their home school. Please check your email and remind your child to check their email for communication from your home school. Home schools will begin contacting families after December 16th with information regarding test dates and times. The test usually takes two half days. Student’s attendance will be recorded at the home school and reconciled at the MVA to be marked present.

More information will be shared when we return after Winter Break. If you have any questions please contact the MVA ESOL Resource Teacher- Jill Schuck at Jill_L_Schuck@mcpsmd.org

Virtual Academy Meal Order Form Reminder: Schools and offices will be closed on Friday, December 30 and no meals will be distributed. Distribution of meal kits will resume on Friday Jan. 6, 2023.

MCPS and the Division of Food & Nutrition Services will be providing bulk meal kits to MCPS students enrolled in MCPS Virtual Academy. The boxes will be distributed at the designated locations listed below. The location selected will be your assigned location to pick up your pre-ordered meal kit.

Please utilize this form to place an order for our Bulk Meal Kits.

Meal Kits will provide 5 Breakfasts and 5 Lunches.

***Distribution & Distribution Sites***

Meal kits will be distributed at each site listed below every Friday (unless otherwise noted) from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm.

• Seneca Valley High School
• A. Mario Loiederman Middle School
• Richard Montgomery High School
• Department of Food & Nutrition Services (DNFS) at Turkey Thicket

***Ordering***

All orders for meal kits should be placed a week in advance for distribution the following week.

Meal kit orders must be placed using the google link each week.

The ordering link closes every Friday at noon and reopens Friday at 3:00 pm for the following distribution.

Parents must provide the first and last name & I.D. number of each student if they are requesting a meal kit.

Link to Meal Request form:

https://forms.gle/bPyzKsc9F3My7zad9

***Questions & More Information***

Questions regarding meal kits can be sent to the meals dropbox:

DFNSMealKitOrders@mcpsmd.org (The email dropbox is having technical challenges. Please email Cassandra.Heifetz@mcpsmd.net with meal questions to pass along to food services until the dropbox is repaired.)

In an effort to create more social opportunities for students this year, we are working to expand our after-school clubs. Two clubs that will be starting in October are the Rainbow Club and the Kids for Equity Club. Both clubs will be run by MCPS central office staff and high school students in partnership with MVA staff. Other clubs are also in development and will be shared as information becomes available.

Please click here or on the picture to view the flyer for Rainbow Club (in English & Spanish).

Please click here or on the picture below to view the flyer for the Kids for Equity Club! (in English & Spanish)

During the month of December, all K-5 Virtual Academy students received a lesson on the topic of Internet Safety. We use the website https://www.netsmartzkids.org/ for many of our lesson materials and resources. This website was created by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. It has sites for parents and children to view. If you have time, take a look!

Please view the provided Parent tips on Internet Safety linked below.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.

K-2 grades: Nicole Bamberger - nicole.m.bamberger@mcpsmd.org

3-5 grades: Corinne Whited - corinne.e.whited@mcpsmd.org

We have also provided parent tips on internet safety linked here.

Protecting your Kids Online:

English Protecting Your Kids Online 2.0.pdf

español Protecting Your Kids Online 2.0 ES.pdf

Cyberbullying unplugged:

English Cyberbullying_Unplugged.pdf

español Cyberbullying_Unplugged_ES.pdf

Being a Trusted Adult:

English being-a-trusted-adult.pdf

español being-a-trusted-adult-es.pdf

Gaming Online:

English gaming-safely.pdf

español gaming-safely-es.pdf

Cellphone Safety:

English Parents' Guide to Smartphone Safety.pdf

español Parents' Guide to Smartphone Safety ES.pdf