Weekly News
April 21, 2020
I hope this newsletter finds everyone well. I am sure many of us have become tired of our new normal. Hang in there.
― Winston S. Churchill
Calendar of Events
June 15, 2020: Scheduled last day of school
Update: Week 5
Good Afternoon GDRHS Families
This morning Governor Baker shared that the decision was made to remain in our remote learning mode for the remainder of the school year. At this time I do not have specific information on how this will impact future events but we will continue to explore options as is outlined below.
I have had some gracious parents reach out with interest of running events or doing some very nice things for our students and our Senior students in particular. I am happy to share information for endeavors that you would like to solicit interest in. If you are planning something special please keep in mind that we have been instructed not to utilize the school buildings or grounds at this time. I am hoping, along with everyone else, that although we may not be in school this year, the virus will peak and subside quickly which would allow us access to buildings and grounds in some capacity. Right now that is an unknown so please plan on using alternate locations for any such activity or event. Thanks in advance for your understanding and patience.
Quarter 4
Teachers will issue Pass/Fail Grades for all quarter 3 students. If a student was failing quarter three when school was shut down they will have the opportunity to make up work in order to earn a P. Quarter 4 grades will also be Pass/Fail. Please note that neither quarter three or quarter 4 grades will be factored into student GPAs.
Scheduling for 2020-2021
Our counselors are busy processing all of the requests that students have uploaded into SchoolBrains. If you or your student has yet to enter schedule requests for next year, please do so immediately. Counselors are happy to help with this process. Counselors will begin reaching out to individual students soon to attempt to get students placed correctly for next school year.
Sincerely,
GDRHS Admin Team
Graduation/Senior Updates
A decision has not been made on what our graduation ceremony will look like. It was decided that we would move the date of graduation back to June 12, 2020 in the hopes that the extra two weeks may provide us with more options and, hopefully, a graduation ceremony that resembles what we have traditionally held.
We have not decided to hold some sort of drive-through graduation ceremony. We do not know what the environment will be like on June 12th so we cannot determine what our ceremony will look like yet. Items discussed at the school committee meeting last Wednesday involved alternatives if we could not hold a traditional ceremony. We are willing to look at many different ideas. School administrators and class officers have been meeting to discuss the options and are looking to prioritize some of the things that we all feel are necessary to call something a graduation.
I meet regularly with area principals to get an idea of what other schools are doing and are considering in the event that we can not have a traditional ceremony and I will continue to do so each week.
Extending the date for graduation has given us a greater chance of hosting a prom for our students as well. Thanks to the efforts of Ms. Mason we were able to secure our venue for June 10th, 2020... thus giving this situation an opportunity to diminish prior to the event.
We have extended the timeline for Seniors fourth quarter through the first week of June. Classes for Seniors will end in the last week of May and Seniors can use the extra time (if needed) to complete projects and finish up any lingering assignments. (see timeline below)
Once we have determined our plan for graduation we will set up a plan to distribute caps and gowns to the class of 2020. We will also work with Ms. Cook and the yearbook staff to crate a plan for yearbook distribution.
With the assistance of Ms. Cain, Ms. Fisher, Ms. DeBay, Mr. Wright and Mr. Arena I am exploring options for a Senior night presentation should the existence of social distancing and crowd restriction still be in place for June.
Senior Timeline
May 11-15: Senior teachers finalize all assignments for the Quarter
May 18-22: Last week of meeting synchronously as a class. After this week, teachers should continue to specify office hours for Seniors who may have questions or need assistance.
May 25 - June 3: All Seniors should complete given assignments in order to receive credit.
June 3: Grades Close; All equipment, books and fees handed in and paid.
June 5: Official End date. Teachers may accept work on any students in danger of not graduating up until this point
June 8: Grades due for Seniors.
June 12: Graduation
*** We will have more information as it becomes available such as how and when students will receive cap & gowns and year books and how they will return items such as textbooks and laptops.
Testing Updates
June SATs have been cancelled. The next available testing dates are in August. Given the demand for these seats, the guidance department is looking into alternatives for the fall.
ACTs - April ACT is cancelled and students can now sign up for June or July ACT here is the link https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/registration.html#dates
AP Exam schedule is here https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/educators/taking-the-exams/ap-exam-schedule
Updates for Seniors who plan on participating in athletics in college
COVID-19 Response FAQ These changes may not capture all unique scenarios; however, NCAA Customer Service is available to assist with questions Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Eastern time at 877-622-2321 (Domestic students and Canadian students outside of Quebec) and for international students including Quebec at on.ncaa.com/IntlContact.
Click here to learn more about these important adjustments.
Virtual College Exploration Week
Just because you cannot physically visit college campuses this spring doesn't mean you can't learn a lot about colleges and universities you are interested in. Check out this link to learn more.
Library News
We're looking for more people to join our first digital high school book club for the month of April. Email: Ms. McManus
This month we’re reading The Sleeper and the Spindle, a fairytale mash-up between Snow White and Sleeping Beauty by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Chris Riddell.
The ebook is available on Hoopla (no wait list) with your Boston Public Library e-card or Groton Public Library card. It may also be available on Sora, but only to one person at a time.
Don't have a BPL e-card? Here's a 90 second tutorial on applying for a BPL e-card. (Students, use a personal email when filling out the application)
Want to know about other digital resources available? Check out the evolving list of remote learning resources at the library's website: bit.ly/gdlibrary
READ and WIN MONEY for your class!
The Groton Public Library is offering a Quaran-teen reading challenge that will run as long as school is closed for students in 6-12 grade. Cash prizes for the winning grade.
Latest AP News
Student and Parent Resources and Information
- When students log in to AP Classroom, they will now see free-response questions that can help them practice their knowledge and skills as they prepare for this year's AP Exams. They will see scoring criteria to help them revise their responses and they can get direct feedback from their teachers. Students should also be using the YouTube AP classes and review materials that are widely popular: AP YouTube course schedule and information
- Parent Webinar on AP changes archived from April 16. Please know that parents must register for the webinar as a first step. A follow up link will be sent to parents once the registration information is complete. Parent Webinar Archived
- On Monday, April 13, we sent personalized emails to all AP students, asking them to confirm their AP Exam schedule, and to connect them to free online AP lessons, student practice on AP Classroom, and an intake form should they need tech access for AP Exams.
Scholarships for Seniors
Please mail all scholarships to the address indicated on the application. If it is to be turned into the Guidance Department you can save it as a PDF and email to Ms. Cain, mcain@gdrsd.org
Local scholarships are now available in Naviance Student and by clicking here.
If you need a copy of your transcript for a scholarship it is now available in your SchoolBrains Portal under reports.
Click here to see other scholarships that are sent to guidance and available to our students.
You can fill out the forms by hand and scan them or you can take pictures of the form and attach them to the email.
Class of 2020 Parents on Facebook
The GD Class of 2020 Parents have organized a group on Facebook! Parents are trying to find ways to celebrate our seniors and make some memories for them in this difficult time. If you would like to join, please reach out! If you are not on Facebook and want to hear any updates or share any ideas, please contact Carrie at jiser29@verizon.net
AP Exams
This is a copy of a letter I received from AP earlier this year which outlines the specifics of AP testing for this year.
Dear Massachusetts Principals and AP Coordinators:
First, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! I hope you know that my colleagues and I are here to serve as a resource for you when you need us.
As many of you have reached out to me with AP questions, I wanted to share ways in which the AP Program is supporting schools through free remote learning resources and the development of a new at-home testing option. For each AP subject, there will be 2 different testing dates.
The full exam schedule, specific free-response question types that will be on each AP Exam, and additional testing details will be available by April 3rd on AP Central.
About This Year’s AP Exams
- Traditional face-to-face exam administrations will not take place. Students will take a 45-minute online free-response exam at home.
- We’ll continue to support students with free resources through exam day.
- While we encourage students to wait until closer to the test date to decide, any student already registered for an exam can choose to cancel at no charge.
The AP Program will invest heavily over the next month in the following ways:
· For the 2019–20 exam administration only, students can take a 45-minute online exam at home. Educator-led development committees are currently selecting the exam questions that will be administered.
· AP curricula are locally developed and we defer to local decisions on how best to help students complete coursework. To be fair to all students, some of whom have lost more instructional time than others, the exam will only include topics and skills most AP teachers and students have already covered in class by early March.
· Colleges support this solution and are committed to ensuring that AP students receive the credit they have worked this year to earn. For decades, colleges have accepted a shortened AP Exam for college credit when groups of students have experienced emergencies.
· Students will be able to take these streamlined exams on any device they have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone. Taking a photo of handwritten work will also be an option.
· We recognize that the digital divide could prevent some low-income and rural students from participating. Working with partners, we will invest so that these students have the tools and connectivity they need to review AP content online and take the exam. If your students need mobile tools or connectivity, you can reach out to us directly to let us know.
Test security is a concern.
· The exam questions are designed and administered in ways that prevent cheating; we use a range of digital security tools and techniques, including plagiarism detection software, to protect the integrity of the exams.
· Scoring at-home work for an AP Exam is not new to the AP Program. For years the AP Program has received and scored at-home student work as part of the exams for the AP Computer Science Principles and AP Capstone courses.
Instructional Support
Students and teachers can attend free, live AP review courses, delivered by AP teachers from across the country. These mobile-friendly classes are:
· Designed to be used alongside work that may be given by schools.
· Will be recorded and available on-demand so teachers and students can access them any time.
· Not dependent on current AP teachers continuing instruction. We know many AP teachers now face challenges that would make that impossible.
· Will focus on reviewing the skills and concepts from the first 75% of the course. There will also be some supplementary lessons covering the final 25% of the course.
Teachers who are providing remote instruction can continue to leverage AP Classroom, which we introduced at the start of the school year.
· Within AP Classroom, free-response questions that were only available for in-classroom use due to security concerns will now be unlocked.
· Teachers will be able to assign questions to students digitally.
Here is a one-page overview (.pdf/514KB) of how AP teachers can use the free, daily online practice in AP Classroom to help students prepare for exam day.
AP teachers can access these additional resources to help them get set up with AP Classroom:
· Foundations. Learn how AP Classroom complements the new AP course and exam descriptions and offers students opportunities for practice and feedback throughout the year.
· AP Classroom Demo. See a click-through demonstration of AP Classroom, which highlights how to assign, score, and interpret results from Topic Questions, Personal Progress Checks, and teacher-created assignments and quizzes from the AP Question Bank.
· AP Quick Start Videos. Watch short tutorials on the recent features added to AP Classroom.
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