EXCEL NEWS
Providing an Innovative Approach to Personalized Learning
Thank you for another great week of virtual learning!
Thank you so much for another wonderful week of virtual learning! I appreciate your patience, understanding, and positive attitudes as we have navigated through an unusual start to the 2020-2021 school year.
This week I am very pleased to share the following information about our plans to welcome our Face to Face students back into our school. Please make sure that you read through the information below regarding next week's school schedule, safety protocol, and our arrival & dismissal procedures. As a reminder, all students will have their temperature taken upon entering the building. Students who have a temperature registering 100 degrees or above will be taken to our school nurse.
If you are an RCL 2020/Virtual DBE student, you will still be required to attend all Monday Google Meet sessions. Links to these sessions can be found in each of your Canvas courses.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call or send me an email.
(423)378-2185 or shensley@k12k.com
⬇️ Daily Schedule Reminder ⬇️
Tips for Being a Successful Virtual & Hybrid Student
Treat online course like a “real” course
When it comes to online courses you need to have the follow through and discipline to sit down and complete the work. Remind yourself that these courses will count for high school credit, attendance and toward your GPA.
Practice time management
Create a weekly schedule that you follow, designating certain hours each week to reading, watching lectures, completing assignments, studying, and participating in forums. Commit to making your online coursework part of your weekly routine, and set reminders for yourself to complete these tasks. Make sure to factor in prior commitments.
Try time blocking where you set aside certain times throughout the day to work on certain classes or assignments.
If you're a morning person, wake up early and block off the morning to get your work done. If you work best later is the day block off time after dinner to do you assignments.
Make a daily to- do lists and cross off assignments as you complete them. Refer to each teacher's weekly pacing guide to ensure you are staying on track.
Create a study space conducive to learning.
Have a regular spot where you go to work on school. This place should be where you are most productive.
Avoid beds and couches. Try working at desks or tables to be your most productive.
Try to find a spot that is out of communal areas where family and friends could easily distract.
Keep materials that pertain to your course work here. Paper, pencil, notes, handouts in an organized manner so that they are easy to retrieve.
Eliminate distractions
Keep TVs and music turned off in your study space
Put cell phones on silent
Actively participate and leverage your network
Make sure you are checking in as often as you can. Logging into classes daily to check on announcements, read feedback from teachers or comments left on discussion boards.
Make friends in the course and ask for contact information. Your peers can give your feedback assignments and answer questions. Form virtual study groups. Chances are they will thank you for the contact.
Email teachers clarifying questions about assignments. Ask for feedback. If you feel like you are falling behind, reach out to your teachers for advice.
Come to Google meets/ zoom sessions.
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⬇️Attention ALL 12th Grade Students⬇️
ACT Test – To earn a regular high school diploma in Tennessee, all students must take the ACT (or SAT). On Tuesday, September 22, 2020, the ACT will be administered free of charge to all Kingsport City Schools seniors. If a student has not taken the ACT prior to August 2020, he/she must test on the September 22 test date.
If you are a student who has previously taken the ACT and do not wish to test on September 22, please e-mail Mrs. Kerkhoff at rkerkhoff@k12k.com by Tuesday, August 18. Students who do not contact Mrs. Kerkhoff by August 18 will be registered for the September 22 test. To clarify, students who plan to test on September 22 do not need to take any action at this point. Only students who have already taken a Saturday test and do not plan to test again need to contact Mrs. Kerkhoff by August 18.
Valuable resources for ACT preparation can be found at www.actstudent.org.
Canvas Parent Accounts
At D-B EXCEL, we strongly recommend parents to create a Canvas parent account so that they can observe their student's courses. Observers can link their Canvas account to their student's account so they can see assignment dues dates, announcements, and other course content. Observers can view the course content but cannot participate in the course. Please review the reference sheet below for the steps to create a Canvas Parent Account.
School Meals
With the return to in-person (at school) face-to-face learning, please be aware that beginning on Monday, August 31, 2020, meal distribution for students not attending school in-person will be available on school days through ON-SITE PICK-UP FROM 10 - 10:30 A.M.
Feeding Program - School Site Pick-up Option
- Lunch will be available at school sites from 10 - 10:30 a.m.
- Families with students at multiple KCS schools may pick up all meals at one school site.
- Food will be distributed using a “drive-through” or “walk-up” process. Cafeteria seating will not be available for students not attending school in-person.
- Cash transactions will be available at school pick-up sites.
Daily school site meal pick-up is intended for students that have selected Remote Choice Learning -OR- those that are on a hybrid schedule and attending school virtually that day. Click here for a listing of school locations and distribution sites.
⬇️ DB Pulaski Club Sign Up ⬇️
Dobyns-Bennett Pulaski Club
Attention 11th & 12th graders....
The main objective of the D-B Pulaski Club is to educate high school students in the science of wildland fire and its role in managing our natural resources. We accomplish this objective by:
- Pulaski Club meetings after school two Mondays per month in Mr. Kerns room (Math pod E109)
- Completing online National Wildfire Coordinating Group training courses S190 & S130 (see video on Pulaski Club website). These are professional certifications that are recognized nationally by every wildland fire agency.
- Conduct our very own, on-campus Fire Ecology Research Project at the D-B track. We do our own prescribed burns at the D-B track and study the effects of fire on the ecosystem.
- We have several local partners, both government and private, that invite us to participate in their prescribed fire events. These are usually a full-day field trip that students never forget!
- We have all our own PPE (personal protective equipment) to participate in any live fire event we are invited to or perform on our own.
For more information about this club, please visit their website - https://sites.google.com/k12k.com/dbhs-pulaski-club/home
If interested, please contact Bryan Kerns at bkerns@k12k.com.
Student Contact Form
Contact Us!
Email: shensley@k12k.com
Website: http://dbexcel.k12k.com/
Location: 400 Clinchfield Street, Kingsport, TN 37660, United States
Phone: 423.378.2185
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dbexcelkcs/
Twitter: @KCS_DBEXCEL