FOX FEATURE WEEKLY UPDATE
APRIL 6, 2020
GRADING FOR STUDENTS
On Tuesday, March 31, 2020 South Carolina State Superintendent of Education, Molly Spearman, issued guidance on grading for the remainder of this school year. Due to this guidance, School District Five is making the following grading updates:
- Students in grades 3 through 12: Third (3rd) and fourth (4th) quarter grades will be combined into one semester grade. Therefore, the grades that will be posted on Tuesday, April 7 in Parent Portal for students in grades 3 - 12 will be considered Interim grades, not end of quarter grades.
- Students in grades PK through 2: PK - 2nd grade parents will receive information from their teachers via email or telephone about their child's progress thus far. Due to this new guidance from the State, report cards for PK - 2 will not be mailed on April 7th as originally stated in our communication to families on March 26th, but will be issued at the end of the fourth (4th) quarter or end of second (2nd) semester. Third (3rd) and fourth (4th) quarter grades will be combined for one semester grade.
- High School Seniors: Seniors/Parents of Seniors will receive individual contact from their school to ensure that graduation requirements are being met and to assist with needed academic support. If your child is having any difficulties with work during this time, reach out to your child’s school for assistance.
The period of time for course completion, demonstration of mastery, and course remediation for seniors must be finalized by May 15th.
Therefore, all assignments for seniors must be completed and submitted to teachers no later than May 15th.
- Grading of Completed Assignments During the Closure: Teachers that have established a Google Classroom will continue to give feedback and grade information to students through Google Classroom. School Districts across the state are in the process of working with the South Carolina State Department of Education with technical issues related to entering grades so they are visible in Parent Portal. Once the technical issues are resolved, we will communicate new details on grading to our families.
- Collection of Completed Assignments During the Closure: Now that we have received this guidance from the State Department of Education, and since our closure has been extended through at least the month of April, we will begin the process of collecting completed assignments during the closure. Some students have already submitted assignments to their teachers, but others have not. Specific information on how we will collect completed assignments will be shared with families next week (April 4-8) by your child’s school.
If you have any questions or concerns during this closure, please reach out to your child's teacher or a school administrator: www.lexrich5.org/D5StaffDirectory.
SPRING BREAK
School District Five will still observe spring break. April 10 is a Student/Teacher Holiday. All schools and offices will be closed April 13-17. No distance learning assignments will be provided on these dates, and there will be no virtual staff office hours. Technical support also will not be available during spring break. School District Five will still provide meals for the week of spring break. Five days-worth of meals will be available on Monday, April 13. Visit our website to see our school year calendar: www.lexrich5.org/calendar
HOW TO TURN IN PAPER PACKETS FROM PHASE 1 (MARCH 17TH - APRIL 3RD)
We are encouraging that work packets be submitted virtually to your teachers. You can use google classroom, email, etc. Below are links to other options that might help parents and students as well:
D5 FEEDING SITES REMINDER
Free meals for children age 18 or younger are offered on Mondays only at six schools in Lexington-Richland School District Five. Students receive 5 days-worth of breakfast and lunch items, during the Monday meal offering.
To ensure we serve as many children as possible each week, families should visit only one of our sites each week and accept 1 (one) 5-day supply (per child age 18 and under) each week. Though students are not required to be present at feeding sites, parents will be required to show their students' ID cards, if they have them. If they do not have them, they will be required to sign their name and list their children’s names in order to receive the meals.
- Click here for more information and for feeding site locations: https://bit.ly/2wCpFt9
Feeding site menu items for the week of April 6, food reheating instructions and nutritional facts can be found online at the following link: https://bit.ly/2V47oNg
PERMISSION FOR STUDENT USE OF GOOGLE MEET
Dear Parents/Guardians:
In order to allow teachers and students to communicate in a live format, the D5 Technology and Instructional Technology Departments have been working diligently to provide a platform that is safe for both students and teachers. As a Google for Education District, we will use Google Meet as we move forward with Distance Learning. All sessions will be recorded and made available for students who are not able to attend. It is recommended that a parent is in the home while these sessions are taking place, however, we understand that may not always be possible.
We are glad to be able to provide this platform so that our teachers can interact with their students. In order for your child to participate in these live sessions, we need parent/guardian permission.
Please complete the form linked here as soon as possible. Thank you for your support in providing this valuable resource for distance learning.
RISING 8TH GRADE EXPLORATORY REGISTRATION (CURRENT 7TH GRADE STUDENTS)
Good afternoon Fox Families. Plans are underway for 8th-grade Exploratory/Fine Arts choices to be selected electronically for the 2020-2021 school year. The DFMS website contains information that will help with making these choices. You will find videos about the registration process as well as video descriptions of the exploratory options. You can access the DFMS website/registration tab via this link.
The selection of Exploratory/Fine Arts classes will be collected through a Google Form accessible by students. Students will access the form through the 7th Grade Google Classroom. Please review the class options with your student and assist them with selecting classes for the 2020-2021 8th grade school year. Students can only submit choices one time and the form asks for parent and student electronic signatures. Please see the image of the original paper copy of the form to reference class options.
The deadline for submission is Thursday, April 9, 2020. If your student has trouble submitting, please contact Tara Safriet, Assistant Principal for Instruction.
DUTCH FORK MIDDLE SCHOOL
Website: http://lexrich5.org/dfms
Location: 1528 Old Tamah Road, Irmo, SC, USA
Phone: (803) 476-4800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dutch-Fork-Middle-School-549147891811317/