Tacoma Online Secondary Newsletter
September 26, 2021
URGENT - State Testing October 18-22 IN-PERSON - Sign up by 10/3
Tacoma Online will administer the following State makeup tests from last Spring, for students during the week of October 18-22. Not all grades are testing this Fall, see below for details.
6th - ELA, Math, Science
7th - ELA, Math
8th - ELA, Math, Science
9th - ELA, Math, Science
10th - NO TESTS THIS FALL
11th - ELA, Math
12th - Science testing, with ELA & Math optional as needed for graduation pathway.
These tests will be administered IN-PERSON at the Tacoma Professional Development Center in North Tacoma. In order to observe COVID Safety protocols, we will only schedule students to test who respond to this sign-up saying YES, they will take these tests.
Tacoma Schools and WA State allow families to OPT-OUT of state testing by filling out a simple form. If you answer NO to the testing question, you will be taken to the form to fill out online.
Use this short Form to say YES - please schedule me, or NO, I want to Opt-Out.
New to Tacoma Online this week?
Thanks for choosing Tacoma Online. Our staff are working very hard to enroll new students and build schedules for your student. The volume of new enrollments means that this process will take a few school days. Please look for an email from your new P.A.C.E. coach with instructions for your PACE meetings.
TOL Staffing Update
Please join us in welcoming:
Sara Carder is new to TOL and will be taking over all of the 10th Grade ELA class.
Dr. Betty Williams returns to TOL Secondary this year taking over portions of the 6th and 8th grade Social Studies classes.
Cynthia Iverson returns to TOL Secondary this year taking over most of the MS Music elective course.
Barbara McPeak returns to TOL Secondary and will take over all 6th Grade Math.
Brandy McCollim is new to TOL and will take over 6th Grade Online Learning & Digital Citizenship.
We're putting the finishing touches on two more hires from last week who should begin by the end of the week.
Enrollment in or out of Tacoma Online is closed
Thank you for choosing Tacoma Online. Transfers in or out of Tacoma Online are no longer available until the semester break in early February. In January, we will provide instructions for families wishing to enter or leave TOL for Spring semester.
Our Tacoma Online Enrollment
Middle School - 415
- 6th - 122
- 7th - 143
- 8th - 150
High School - 581
- Freshman - 130
- Sophomores - 141
- Juniors - 157
- Seniors - 153
Tacoma Online is an ALE School (Alternative Learning Experience) - What does this mean?
One of the biggest changes this brings is that TOL will not take daily attendance for students. Instead, each student will be counted "present" for school each week by attending a 1-to-1 video meeting on MS Teams with their P.A.C.E. Coach. Students will spend much of October developing a Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) and a primary purpose of the weekly 1-to-1 meetings will be to review progress toward the goals each student has developed in their PLP.
PLEASE NOTE - these Weekly 1-on-1 meetings are required. Missing these meetings is being "truant" from school. Repeated missed meetings will result in an Intervention Plan which could lead to removal from TOL. Please connect with your P.A.C.E. coach to ensure you can make this meeting.
iReady Assessments continue this week
Please make sure to update your TPS laptop as described below and click on the PDF below to familiarize yourself with How to login to Clever and i-Ready
TPS Laptops need updates - please do ASAP
Student laptops need to force quit and then be restarted to load all district updates. Please consider doing this step this weekend.
- Important to Note: Student laptops default to "sleep" rather than power off. "Sleep" mode does not load district updates. To ensure the laptop is powered all the way off, hold down the power button for 10 seconds. Press the power button again to turn on.
The night before your student takes the iReady screener, please keep the laptop powered on and plugged into a power source. This step will prevent some common tech challenges the morning of the screener as well as ensuring the laptop is fully charged.
High School Juniors and Seniors - Prepare to take the PSAT and SAT Tests in October
Tacoma Online and TPS has paid for you to take the SAT(seniors) or PSAT (Juniors). These tests is optional and will be administered IN-PERSON at the TPS Professional Development Center in North Tacoma. See below for more specifics.
SENIORS - The SAT is an entrance exam used by most colleges and universities to make admissions decisions. The SAT is a multiple-choice, pencil-and-paper test created and administered by the College Board.
The purpose of the SAT is to measure a high school student's readiness for college, and provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants. College admissions officers will review standardized test scores alongside your high school GPA, the classes you took in high school, letters of recommendation from teachers or mentors, extracurricular activities, admissions interviews, and personal essays. How important SAT scores are in the college application process varies from school to school.
Overall, the higher you score on the SAT and/or ACT, the more options for attending and paying for college will be available to you.
This test is optional, but can help meet graduation requirements and it will be administered IN-PERSON at the TPS Professional Development Center in North Tacoma during the mornings of Wednesday, October 13th and Thursday, October 26th. Seniors, Please let us know your plans to take this test or not by completing this short form by Wednesday, October 1.
Tech Tip Videos to support Tacoma Online Families
Edgenuity Parent Portal
Free, drop-in tutor support available to TPS middle and high school students
TPS partner Enhanced Prep offers tutoring support for homework, AP courses and exams, SAT and ACT prep, scholarship applications and more. They host FREE drop-in sessions open to TPS middle and high school students looking for support.
Drop-in times:
· Sundays, 4-6 p.m.
· Wednesdays, 3-5 p.m.
· Thursdays, 6-8 p.m.
To attend a drop-in session go to zoom.us, click “join meeting” and enter the meeting ID 949 668 0575. The Zoom app is not available on student computers, but the web-based version is allowed.
Tacoma Library Card Design Contest - calling artists!
Show your creativity! Tacoma Public Library is holding an art contest for new library cards. Winners will see their card design created for the entire system!
- Open to all Tacoma Public Library cardholders
- Stop by any branch for a paper template or download a template, opens a new window. Using a template is optional.
- Submissions may be in any art medium (pen, paint, crayons, illustrations, photography, etc.)
- Artwork must be original and free of copyright restrictions
- Both horizontal and vertical designs will be considered
- Image size resolution should be at least 890 x 445
- Upon submission, entrants grant Tacoma Public Library all rights to the artwork and consents that all artwork may be displayed and/or reproduced without limitation and without compensation
- Limit one entry per person. Please do not include your name in the artwork
- TPL staff and immediate family members are ineligible to participate
- ENTRIES MUST BE SUBMITTED BY OCTOBER 7, 2021
Winning designs will be awarded to:
- 1 Youth (10 and under)
- 1 Teen (11-17)
- 1 Adult (18 and over)
Click HERE for all of the details
A Message from our School Nurse
Kudos to everyone scrambling to get vaccinations complete down to the wire! And Kudos to all who had them complete earlier in the year! Just a reminder that pharmacies do not always record vaccinations in our Washington State Registry. If they do not, there is no proof without that receipt, that your child had that immunization. They will need this in the future for college, military or, possibly, jobs. As we are busy entering immunizations of new students still, please be patient while we do this. You may receive robo calls and emails related to this.
All students must be complete on childhood immunizations, or have an approved exemption form on file, in order to be enrolled. Please reach out to me at lsnyder@tacoma.k12.wa.us with questions.
If you are able, until our fax is up and running, please email Health Care Plans to me. If your student needs a Health Care Plan for a medical condition, please let me know. These would come into play if your child is on school campus for clubs, sports or meetings.
Our Vision/Hearing screen will not be until January 2022. As soon as I am set up, I will do Hearing/Vision screens on a case by case as needed. Usually, these are teacher referrals or an upcoming IEP. I am also happy to do individual concerns, outside of our school screening, as time allows!
It looks like TOL is off to a great start!! Congratulations to everybody for making this happen!!
Nurse Linda
P.A.C.E. Program
Additionally, each P.A.C.E.coach offers daily meetings with small groups of students and is a resource for each of their students' social and emotional learning. The connections made in P.A.C.E. groups, both student-to-student and teacher-to-student are the key to Tacoma Online's personalized approach to learning.
TOL Social Media - please follow us!
Tacoma Online
Email: tpsonline@tacoma.k12.wa.us
Website: https://tol.tacomaschools.org/
Location: 6501 North 23rd Street, Tacoma, WA, USA
Phone: 253-571-1545
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TacomaOnline/
Twitter: @online_tacoma