BHS News
April 16 2020
English:
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Spanish:
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Portuguese:
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Arabic:
إذا كنت بحاجة إلى ترجمة هذا المستند ، فالرجاء التمرير إلى أسفل الصفحة للحصول على ميزة الترجمة.
April Vacation - School In Session
Monday, April 20 - No School
Tuesday, April 21 - School Day
Wednesday, April 22 - School Day
Thursday, April 23 - School Day
Friday, April 24 - No School
During this time we want students to remain connected to their teachers and the school community. Wednesday will remain a "catch up day" allowing students to make up any missing assignments and get extra help from teachers.
Our last day of school will now be June 18, 2020
Recording a Classroom Google Hangout Session
Teachers would like to start recording these sessions and posting them on their Google Classroom Sites. This would allow students who are not able to attend the Google Hangout to access the lecture and Q&A from the session.
Thank You!
Please click the link below to access the BHS Parent Permission Form for Video
School-issued Gmail Accounts
All students in Grades 3-12 will be issued a school Gmail account. All accounts except Grades 11-12 will be restricted to the @bpsdk12.org domain. Grades 3-10 will only be able to send/receive within the school domain. Grades 11-12 will be treated the same as teacher/staff Gmail accounts with the ability to send/receive globally. NOTE: All District Google/Gmail accounts residing in the domain @bpsdk12.org are continually monitored on and off school property. This is in accordance with the CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) of 2000. Additionally, all school-related email accounts are considered public domain.
You will also see a link to more information below.
BHS Making PPE
This is made possible by our collaborative relationship with the Blackstone Valley Ed Hub and our work with Project Lead the Way.
Thanks to these partnerships, we can put this PPE in the hands of front line workers in the Blackstone Valley who need them.
We are all in this together!
Notes from the Athletic Director's "home office" ...
What do Athletic Director's do when Spring Sports are on hold?
After deleting our original spring schedules and replacing those with the planned shortened season schedule, I turned my sites on the 2020-21 school year.
Along with my peers at the other TVL schools, we are focused on hiring our Fall coaches and, of course, scheduling the more than 800+ home/away athletic contests that our teams will participate in during the school year. We have a few known coaching changes this coming year and we will introduce our coaching staff in future newsletters.
Being immensely cognizant of the possibility of no spring sports, FamilyID.com has been opened for ALL THREE SEASONS next year in the event that you would like to use this downtime to register your student-athletes and either pay now or pay later.
As for those previously paid spring sports user fees, the plan is two-fold. The first action item, should the season not occur, is to refund the Class of 2020 user fees. The second action item is to reach out to all other grades and inquire if you would like the user fee applied to your child's next sport or receive a refund by check; our agreement with UNIPAY does not offer the reversal of credit cards or ACH payments.
With the early registration window (a $50 savings) for fall sports expiring on the planned last day of school in June, it is in your best interest register now and to simply apply the user fee to a Fall sport, or future season sport and pay any applicable difference, if any.
The economics of the current Covid-19 situation will effect all families differently and should you have financial concerns you may wish to explore free or reduced lunch because on the athletic front, free lunch recipients receive free sports and reduced lunch pay 50% of the user fee. How to apply is on the schools website bellinghamk12.org.
I invite you to check out the Sports Spotlight section of the May Bellingham Bulletin. In it you will find an article written by one of our student-athletes addressing some of the MIAA playoff format changes coming our way.
If you should have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me via email, mconnor@bpsdk12.org
Updated Remote Learning BHS & BMS
Implementation will begin on April 6th
Goals:
Maintain relationships and connections of our learning community.
Minimize skill and learning regression.
Connect students to meaningful intellectual engagement of content.
Attain what progress we are able to facilitate with all students on the most essential learning.
Guiding Principles:
New content can be covered.
We expect ALL students to participate in learning made accessible to them.
Special Education Staff and Service Providers will collaborate with general ed teachers to ensure accessibility for all students
Special Education Staff/Providers will provide accommodations/ modifications as required
When possible live chats and virtual meetings will be provided to keep connections and a sense of community for all of us.
When possible live chats will be recorded and posted to google classroom for students to access at a later time
Relationships & Communication:
Be flexible. Students, families, and faculty are functioning under nonoptimal work and learning environments.
We will make as much personal connection as we can, but teachers will also need time away from email and work to manage their own family needs.
Teachers will set clear guidelines and times regarding parent and student email and online availability. Please respect these.
We all need to manage our expectations. Everyone has an individual mental picture of how this should be managed and it will take time to establish our best approaches.
Schedules and Workload:
New assignments will be posted daily, (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) by 8:30 AM.
Per DESE mandate: work should be equivalent to 50% of the school day. Each class period should plan for approximately 30 minutes of work on average, with Wednesday no new assignments.
Wednesday will be reserved for students to catch up on assignments. There will be no new work assigned on Wednesdays.
We will cover a LOT less, so content and learning will focus on the essential. We anticipate covering less than 50% of the content and learning that would normally be accomplished.
Families are urged to set up schedules and routines with their children that are predictable.
Grades 8-12 will be expected to work with the continued expectation of 30 minutes of school work per class; AP classes will involve more time, as the students are preparing for the AP Exams.
No new assignments will be given on Wednesday of each week, allowing students time to catch up on their work (and seek assistance as needed).
Grading, Feedback and Expectations:
Teachers can and will provide feedback and grades to guide student learning. These grades will provide information for the following:
Course placement levels for 5-12
Promotion to next grade based on participation combined with the 2019-2020 school year grades (September-March)
The final closing grade average for this online time period will be a Pass/Fail (7-12)
Teachers will use the District Approved Rubric to determine the Pass/Fail Status (To be released to Families the week of April 10)
When a student is not completing assignments teachers will reach out to the student first to prompt them to engage in the work. If the student does not respond the teacher will reach out to the parents to keep the lines of communication open.
Special Education and Support Services:
The co-teachers will continue to co-teaching practices in the virtual classroom. They will work together with the general education teachers to ensure students are supported.
Students enrolled in Academic Support Classes (High School) will continue to work directly with special education teachers who will continue to support students both with organization and prioritization of their work, as well as providing extra help in academic areas.
OT/PT and Speech and Language will work with students to provide the most support possible in a virtual setting. This will include posting assignments to google classroom and contacting families directly to address students’ individual needs.
School Counseling Office
Counselors will continue to reach out and support students during this time. Students can email their school counselor if they have any concerns and would like additional support. Students and families are urged to check out the new BPS COVID-19 Social-Emotional Supports page under BPS Remote Learning Resources on the district website for more information on coping resources.
Counselors are working on course selection and scheduling for next year. They are emailing any students who need additional electives or still need to complete the process.
Counselors will continue to provide information to students and families on college and career planning. They will be sharing updates regarding SAT changes, college tours, and admissions information. They will also be setting up a Google classroom and utilizing Naviance to deliver information and activities for students in each grade.
Staff Privacy
Teachers and other staff expect students to seek permission before recording them in person and have the same expectation for video conferences.
Student Responsible Use
Responsible use of technology by students is part of our curriculum at all grade levels and students are used to being expected to follow their school’s principles of responsible use.
We created the following expectations for students. Expectations for Video Conferencing
Bellingham High School
Email: mlafayette@bpsdk12.org
Website: https://bhs.bellinghamk12.org/
Location: 60 Blackstone Street, Bellingham, MA, USA
Phone: 508 966-3761
Twitter: @meglafayette