Trailblazer Times
September 11, 2020
Dear VBL Families,
We are so ready for the VBL Hybrid Learning Phase!
The student schedule for in person learning will be exactly the same as it is now. The only exception will be that YOU time will be V BE L culture building time when students are at school.
If you choose to have your student participate in the in person learning option, 7th and 8th grade students will be attending school two days per week and 6th and 9th grade students will be attending school four days per week. If you choose to have your students stay home or they cannot attend school, they will be expected to follow their schedule Monday - Friday from home exactly as they are now. Fridays will remain to be a Leadership Course online for all students.
Students with last names A-K will be attending Monday and Wednesday, while L-Z will be attending Tuesday and Thursday.
Please respond to this survey to let me know if you will or will not be participating in at person learning beginning September 21st.
As a condition of returning to In-person/On-campus learning parents/guardians will need to sign an acknowledgement form prior to the start of the In-person Hybrid option. This is a stipulation put forth by the District’s insurance. This form will be shared digitally with you from our district office.
I am so proud of our students at this time. They are working during their learning lab time on Edmentum content and 89% of them finished those assignments last week! They also came to their assessment Schoology course to take formative tests on Thursday and were very successful at showing they have mastered concepts from ELA and Math. The science formatives in Schoology are also showing mastery of concepts.
Please remind students to be on time for each class with camera and microphone on and follow the same expectations that would be expected if they were here. Our goal is to make this as close to being at school as possible.
Students and parents are assigned and notified if they have re-teach classes from 3:00-3:30 each week through email. Please help your student adapt their schedule when they are assigned re-teach. This is the time students have the opportunity to change their formative grades and learn concepts they are struggling with.
All parents should have received an invitation for the parent portal from Edmentum. If you have not, please contact us so that we can set that up. Please check with your student on their progress each week in Edmentum and in Powerschool to check their overall grade and other assignments. You should also be receiving a report each Friday that communicates the Edmentum completion, scores and module mastery.
In each of the content lessons students will be required to complete a "guided notes" template. I am excited to use this option in Edmentum. It will help guide their note taking skills without overwhelming their efforts. Teachers will be moving slowly with this piece and all pieces but will begin to explain this to students next week.
At this time all students have the Leadership Elective in Edmentum. They should be working at pace with this or ahead, but do not need to complete it all until the end date of September or December for high school students. There are due dates for each assignment and a course calendar to follow.
Below you will find a details on what Hybrid learning will look like at Vail Blended.
Thank you for all of your support in this unusual circumstance. Please reach out for any reason.
Kristin
Hybrid and Brick to Click Learning Details
- 6th and 9th grade Monday - Thursday 9:00-3:30 in person
- 7th and 8th grade - 2 Days in person, 2 Days remote (Monday/Wednesday A-K, Tuesday/Thursday L-Z)
- Brick to Click will follow their schedule from home Monday-Thursday (the same as they have been doing the last 5 weeks)
- All students follow their schedule all days
- Friday will continue to be an elective day, currently the Leadership Elective in Edmentum
- Class sizes will be less than 15
- Students will rotate classes for ELA, Math, Science and Learning Lab
- During Learning Lab students will one to a table
Vail Diaper Drive
Student Schedule
Attendance will be taken virtually and in person each day.
VBL Calendar
In Person and At Home Learning Expectations
- Student will participate in lessons according to their schedule each day.
- Rigorous grade level content in Math, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts will be provided by teachers.
- Lessons will be delivered through Schoology.
- Student attendance will be counted DAILY.
- Parents and students will be given training in Schoology, Edmentum and other needs.
- Teachers will maintain connections with students through scheduled Schoology and Zoom Opportunities.
- Grading and feedback will be provided to students in a timely manner.
- Advanced math and re-teach will be available to students. Students in advanced math will be able to attend attend their recorded class at any time. Re-teach will be available daily directly following the instruction time.
- Re-teach will be assigned based upon formative testing results each week. Students and parents will be notified if they are required to attend re-teach.
- Special Education Support will be provided by Camille Haynie and our Special Education Support Team.
- Leadership Elective Course will be assigned and is mandatory for each student.
- All public, group and private chats comments are appropriate and relevant to topic
- Video and Microphone on at all times
- Speaker Courtesy - Active Listening skills
- Calendars in Google cal
- Eat and restroom during your learning lab times
School Supplies
In School Learning
- 3 notebooks, one for ELA,Science and Math
- computer with internet access
- college ruled lined paper (paper and writing instruments will not be loaned or shared)
- graph paper (supplies will not be loaned or shared)
- dry erase markers (paper and writing instruments will not be loaned or shared)
- writing instruments including a red or blue pen (paper and writing instruments will not be loaned or shared)
- ruler (supplies will not be loaned or shared)
- scissors (supplies will not be loaned or shared)
- colored pencils (supplies will not be loaned or shared)
- index cards
Free and Reduced Lunch
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year. We are happy to announce that the Free and Reduced Price School Meal Applications are now available for the 2020-2021 school year. Please remember that a new application must be completed every school year to determine if your child qualifies for free or reduced meal benefits. Also, due to the annual changes to income guidelines, every family is encouraged to apply for Free and Reduced Price School Meals.
Applications can be completed electronically at mymealtime.com. Paper applications will also be available in the office of your child’s school or at the district office.
If you have a student who is currently enrolled that received free or reduced meal benefits during the 2019-2020 school year and will have new student(s) joining the district in 2020-2021, please contact Vail Food Service after July 1 to have this benefit extended to your new student(s).
Your students free or reduced meal benefits from 2019-2020 will remain in effect for the first 30 days of the 2020-2021 school year or until a new application has been approved. As of today, the 30 days will expire on 9/22/2020.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Vail Food Service by email at vailfoodservice@vailschooldistrict.org or phone (520) 879-3913 or (520) 879-2015.
Thank you,
Vail Food Service
Mary Filip (520) 879-3913
Michelle Gibson (520) 879-2015
Computers at School
If you will be participating in at school learning starting on September 21st and have a computer that is not school issued, please email Jeannie Mindziak so that we can start preparing to have your computer operational during your first day back.
Because our provided Chromebooks use the Chrome operating system and many of our classes will be using Applications that run in the Chrome Browser your device must be able to run the full (not mobile) version of the Google Chrome Browser. The laptop also needs to be able to connect to an advanced wireless system (WPA2 Enterprise) and 5.0 GHz wireless WiFi.
In order to do these tasks the minimum requirements are
Operating system: As of 2020-2021 VUSD does not support BYOD chromebooks nor Windows S.
Hardware:
An intel or AMD processor with at least 1.6 GHz of power At least four gig Ram and support 5.0 GHz WiFi (wireless). At least 128 Gigabytes of storage.
Additional details.
You give express written agreement that the Vail School District will retain complete administrative control over the School’s laptop’s settings, controls, applications, and so forth, while your student is enrolled at a District School if you have chosen to use a District-provided laptop.
All technological devices brought onto a Vail School District campus are subject to search and seizure. For BYOD devices, you give express written agreement that the Vail School District may install required software, certificates, or change settings in order to satisfy State of Arizona, School, or District requirements. These include but are not limited to filter settings or certificates, state testing web browsers, local remote access applications, or wireless settings. Admin passwords are not being requested. Malicious or filter bypass software or other inappropriate use may cause a user to be banned from using a BYOD device.
Vail Blended Learning
Email: murrayk@vailschooldistrict.org
Website: https://vbl.vailschooldistrict.org/
Location: 10775 East Mary Ann Cleveland Way, Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone: (520)879-1304
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vailblendedlearning