Trailblazer Times
September 25, 2020
Dear VBL Families,
Our first week of Hybrid Learning was a great success!
I just finished the Awards Assembly for our first week of Hybrid Learning and praised students for their efforts, empathy and group-minded attitude this week. I am so blessed to have the parents, students and staff working together to support our community at this time.
YOU time (V BE L culture building time) was a lot of fun. This week students watch videos and presentations made by staff and participated in an icebreaker activity hosted by our WEB club. Next week they will be sharing their VBL Meet Yourself presentations and getting to know each other a little better.
Spirit week was a great way to start our Hybrid Learning. Thank you to all of the Trailblazers who brought their spirit to school or from home. Please check out our fb page to see highlights from the week.
Reading and Math Benchmarks will be this week, September 29th and 30th. Hybrid students will be taking their benchmarks at school. Brick to click students will be taking their benchmarks from home.
Half Day October 1st! Students will be dismissed at 12:50.
Parent Conferences are October 1st and 2nd. Please sign up for a time to discuss your child's progress and successes. THERE IS A HALF DAY SCHEDULE FOR THURSDAY FOR CONFERENCES INCLUDED HERE.
If you have not updated your emergency contact information, please do so as soon as possible.
Emergency Contact Info: Please email mindziakj@vailschooldistrict.org to update your emergency contact information. If your student is showing symptoms they will need to be picked up within the hour.
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. If you have not received this statement, please contact us and we can help you out.
One of the biggest struggles this week was found by teachers taking attendance for both brick to click and in person students. Thank you for your patience with this process.
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.
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 be seated one to a table
HALF DAY SCHEDULE OCTOBER 1ST
VBL Daily Schedule
VBL 20-21 School Year
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 Supplies
Every day students are on campus, they will need:
- Mask (we are encouraging an extra "emergency" mask in backpacks) worn over nose and mouth in all classes and anytime 6ft of social distancing is not possible.
- Water Bottle- fillable at our touch-less water bottle filler
- Computer - fully charged each morning
- Charger
- Earbuds
- pencil and handheld pencil sharpener
- snacks
- lunch (school or personal)
What's for Lunch
Science Labs This Week!
Supplies needed: toy car, ramp, ruler (optional phone or video recorder)
7th - Homeostasis Lab
Wear comfortable clothing, you'll be measuring your heart rate Monday.
8th - SMASH!
Play-doh or modeling clay, (a big rock if joining from home on Monday)
VBL Benchmark Schedule
Hybrid students will take their benchmarks following this schedule at school this week. Brick to click students will take their benchmarks at home following this schedule.
Benchmarks are one tool teachers use to assess student learning. This measurement will help determine what still needs to be mastered. Do your best and eat well on benchmark day!
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