Clay Connect
Distance Learning Update
March 25, 2020
A Message from Superintendent Broskie
Dear Clay County Parents and Guardians,
First and foremost, I hope you and your family are doing well. No matter the circumstances, we always defer to family first in times like these, and we are truly a family here in Clay County. As a school district, we are certainly entering uncharted waters, and I have faith that we will be stronger as a community when this is all over.
As you are aware, we will begin distance learning on Tuesday, March 31st. Over the past week, district staff, content specialists, teachers, principals, and the Clay County Education Association have developed several resources to help make the transition to distance learning as smooth as possible for students and parents. The OneClay Instructional Continuity Plan is designed to provide a framework for teachers and students to continue the teaching and learning process.
Below are things to keep in mind as students move from school-based learning to distance learning:
Give yourself grace to learn as you go. Moving our entire brick and mortar school system to distance learning is new for all of us--students, teachers, parents, and leaders.
We understand that you may be under a lot of stress with the circumstances at hand, including possible job instability and care of family members. In addition, you may have to continue working during this time. This is a big adjustment for all of us and we will remain flexible as we work around changing family dynamics and schedules.
Our expectation is for instruction to continue from our teachers. We are asking parents and guardians to assist in connecting your students to distance learning content and resources.
We encourage setting up a daily learning schedule for your children. We advise students to create their own work space where they feel comfortable and are encouraged to learn.
Since this is a new frontier for education, we encourage you to utilize all of the School Services that are embedded into the Instructional Continuity Plan, including the opportunity to connect with your school counselor, school social worker, school psychologist, and mental health clinician.
We know that questions will arise as we work through this new process together. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s teacher first and then school administrators. Starting next week, school staff stands prepared to launch distance learning and assist parents and guardians with this shift in the learning environment. Teachers will contact students beginning the week of March 31st via phone, email, Google Classroom, etc. to connect with you and your student regarding their distance learning.
The district has created a dedicated webpage on our district website for distance learning. To view this information in its entirety, including the OneClay Instructional Continuity Plan, please visit our website at www.oneclay.net/coronavirus periodically during the school closures for the most up-to-date information.
I am certain that together, we will all get through these challenging times. I appreciate the support of the community as we continue to help students grow and excel in a new approach to learning.
Clay County District Schools Coronavirus Website
How to get started with distance learning
Are you ready for the first day of online learning?
OneClay students will go back to school virtually on Tuesday, March 31st and we want them to be ready to start learning by ensuring they are able to access their online resources and communications from their teacher(s). Here's what you can do now to get ready!
- Make sure that your student has a device to access their online learning environment. If your student needs a device, make sure you've completed the OneClay Chromebook Checkout form. Many vendors are also offering free internet access. You can contact the CCDS Call Center with additional questions about devices and internet access at 904-336-0090 and choose option 4.
- Make sure that your student can login to Google Chrome. CCDS applications work best on the Google Chrome browser. Click on the buttons and video below for directions on signing in to Google Chrome.
- Make sure that your student can login to the OneClay Portal. All approved online learning applications will be accessible via the student's OneClay Portal. See below for step by step directions.
- In the OneClay Portal--Click on the Google Apps window and then the Gmail tile. This will open your student's Gmail account. You will want to check this regularly to ensure you are receiving important emails from your student's teacher(s) regarding online learning.
- In the OneClay Portal--Click on the Google Apps window and then the Classroom tile to access your student's Google Classroom. Your child's teacher may have already set that up and be posting announcements.
- In the OneClay Portal--Click on tiles like i-Ready, Achieve3000, Edgenuity, and My ClassLinks Student to access additional learning resources.
- If you know your contact information has changed recently, please contact your school to update your contact information in FOCUS. This will make it easier for your student's teacher to contact you.
Please click below for more information on how to get started with distance learning.
Google Chromebook Information
Full Instructional Continuity Plan
Tech Questions?
Internet Access Options
Comcast
Comcast has increased the speeds of its Internet Essentials plan aimed at low-income earners as of March 16. This involves offering 60 days of free service, after which people will be charged $9.95 per month, and increasing speeds on this plan from 15/2Mbps to 25/3Mbps. The simplest, fastest, and easiest way to the apply for the program is from a mobile device at www.InternetEssentials.com. The accessible website also includes the option to video chat with customer service agents in American Sign Language. There are also two dedicated phone numbers 1-855-846-8376 for English and 1-855-765-6995 for Spanish.
AT&T
AT&T is waiving fees for going over data caps, adding that many of its internet customers already have unlimited data. AT&T will continue to offer internet data to qualifying limited income households for $10 a month. There are two dedicated phone numbers for assistance: English (1-855-220-5211) and Spanish (1-855-220-5225).
Verizon
Verizon said it will waive late fees for the next 60 days, and keep homes and small businesses connected while they're negatively impacted by the global crisis. You can contact customer service at 1-800-922-0204.
T-Mobile
T-Mobile announced that it would be providing unlimited data on all mobile plans for the next 60 days. This includes T-Mobile and Metro customers. It will also be providing an additional 20GB of its mobile hotspot service for the next 60 days, and is offering free international calls to any Level 3-impacted nations worldwide. T-Mobile is increasing its data allowance for free to schools and students who use its EmpowerED digital learning programs, providing 20GB of data per month for the next 60 days. You can contact customer service at 1-800-T-MOBILE.
Sprint
Sprint announced that it will offer unlimited data for 60 days starting next week. The arrangement will kick in by March 19, and Sprint will also provide customers with an extra 20GB of mobile hotspot data per month for the same time period. Sprint is also waiving late fees and won't terminate services if customers are unable to pay their bill due to the impacts of the coronavirus. Customers who don't pay for mobile hotspot services will get 20GB per month for the next 60 days soon. You can call Sprint Customer Service at 1-888-211-4727.
Clay County District Schools
Clay County District Schools has put in a purchase order for Mobile HotSpots; however, due to the high demand of these items across the country, we do not expect them to arrive in time for the start of this deployment of devices to the home. If you have existing wireless internet at your house, the students can connect the CCDS Chromebook to the home WiFi. If not, the locations listed below will provide wireless access for these devices in the parking lot areas after student virtual instruction begins on March 31st.
- Keystone Heights Jr./Sr. High
- Fleming Island High
- Ridgeview High
- Clay High
- Orange Park High
- Oakleaf High
- Middleburg High
- Wilkinson Elementary
- McRae Elementary
- Additional sites may be added based on demand
Call Centers
The Emergency Operations Center has activated a call center to answer questions from the public. Clay County residents can call (877) 252-9362 from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. daily. The State of Florida Department of Health 24-hour call center is available at (866) 779-6121.
Clay County District Schools Meal Services
The Clay County School District will be providing breakfast and lunch for students. Breakfast will be served from 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. and lunch will be served from 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Meals will be prepackaged and distributed at the parent pick-up or bus loop to be consumed off site. Children must be present to receive their meal. The preferred way to distribute meals is by vehicle; however, foot traffic is allowed if necessary.
Meal services will resume on the following dates:
- March 31st - April 2nd (no meal service on March 30th or April 3rd)
- April 6th-9th (no meal service on April 10th)
Meals will be available at the following sites (new sites added in bold):
- Keystone Heights Jr./Sr. High
- Charles E. Bennett Elementary
- W.E. Cherry Elementary
- Ridgeview Elementary
- Wilkinson Elementary
- S. Bryan Jennings Elementary
- Middleburg Elementary