Click here or see below to find out how to show your school spirit every day this week!

Please join us for this year's K-5 Back-to-School Night on Tuesday, September 13 from 6:30-8:00 PM. Please see this flyer for information on the K-5 BTSN

Please see below for an overview of the evening. An additional email will be sent to families on Monday 9/12/22 with links to the teacher videos and their Back-to-School Night zoom sessions.

K-5 WEBINAR: 6:30-7:00

The evening will begin with a brief webinar from 6:30-7:00 PM with important information for all families. Spanish translation will be provided.

Webinar ID & Link: 834 4019 0559

https://mcpsmd.zoom.us/j/83440190559?pwd=YTloYm5hNUxQVXBHZHhYcXduMU94QT09

Passcode: mva

Classroom Visits: 7:00-8:00 PM

• Session 1 (7:00-7:20)

• Session 2 (7:20-7:40)

• Session 3 (7:40-8:00)

There will then be three 20-minute sessions for classroom visits. Families of students with different teachers for math and reading are encouraged to use session 1 to visit their morning teacher and session 2 to visit their afternoon teacher. The third session provides the opportunity to visit other teachers including art, music, physical education or the teachers for a different child.

To provide important information on the curriculum and classroom expectations, all teachers are preparing brief recorded presentations for families which can be viewed before or after Back-to School night. Teachers will not be showing their recordings during the live teacher-led sessions. The teacher-led session will be for parents to get answers to general questions. Please do not use the teacher-led sessions for individual conferences or conversations about individual students.

Note for Families of Accelerated Math Students and Hybrid (In-Person) Students

Your child's teacher will be communicating details on the best time attend a teacher-led session focused on your child's accelerated math class.

Technical Support During Back-to-School Night

Families having difficulty accessing zooms during Back to School Night may get assistance by joining the Family Tech Support Zoom which will be open from 6:30 PM-8:00PM.

MVA K-5 Family & Tech Support Room 2022-2023

https://mcpsmd.zoom.us/j/88469906493?pwd=MldpcDNKZk53RlFXNWF2amY4Y3VCZz09

Meeting ID: 884 6990 6493

Passcode: mva

Exciting News! The MVA Lower School will be offering Instrumental Music Lessons to 4th & 5th grade students. Students will have free group lessons weekly during the school day.

Students in grades 4 & 5 will be offered the opportunity to learn the following instruments: Clarinet, Trumpet, Percussion (snare drum & bells), Violin and Viola.

Students MAY also be offered Flute, Trombone, and Cello.

Students WILL NOT be offered Saxophone or Baritone.

The MVA has been allotted an extremely limited number of instruments for students so we will follow these procedures

• Families who can rent an instrument from a music store are strongly encouraged to do so.

• If your family can not rent an instrument from a music store, please send Mrs. DeStefanis an email with the name of your home school and the instrument you need. I will work with your home school to try to find an instrument for you.

• If there are no instruments available at your home school, then an MVA instrument will be considered for use by the student.

If your child is interested in participating in the MVA Lower School Instrumental Music Program this year please come to the Back To School Night Instrumental Music zoom meeting on 9/13 from 8:00-8:30pm. After attending the meeting, please register your child for Instrumental Music lessons by using this link https://forms.gle/a9zfNShuWK2Nt1157 Please only register once per child.

Then go to MCPS Instrumental Music to learn more about how to rent an instrument. Finally look at this shopping list to be sure you get everything your child needs for Instrumental Music.

Please e-mail me with any and all questions! rebecca_m_destefanis@mcpsmd.org

The Instrumental Music zoom meeting on Tuesday, September 13 at 8:00-8:30 PM will be held on the following link:

Zoom Meeting ID: 874 1578 2156

Passcode: mva

Can't wait to get started!

Rebecca DeStefanis

rebecca_m_destefanis@mcpsmd.org

Each school year families are asked to communicate updates about contact information, health, directory withholdings, emergency contacts and more. These updates are now processed in ParentVUE using Online Registration to access MCPS Form 281-13 “Annual Notice for Directory Information and Student Privacy.”

Using this form, parents/guardians may also indicate that the student does not want to be recorded during virtual classroom sessions for future viewing by students in the same class. Completing this form does not exclude a child from having a camera on during non-recorded instruction. Parents/guardians who choose to complete this form should do so by September 12, 2022. Please use the following guide to support you in this process: https://montgomery.service-now.com/csm?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0010232

Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Testing is given to all MCPS students in grades K-8 every fall, winter, and spring. This is a test that can be administered virtually to our students! Please read through the following information, and reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any questions.

WHO: All MVA K-5 students

• Several Virtual Academy staff members will be supporting testing

• Students will be in breakout rooms with homeroom teachers, math teachers, ELD teachers and/or special educators

• One room will have a staff member available for technical support and students will be sent there as needed

• Student screens (cameras) must stay on for the duration of testing (county policy)

• To ensure a limited distraction environment, we ask that testing rooms remain quiet. Students must stay on mute and raise their hand or type in the chat box if they need anything (like a bathroom break) so that we can pause the test for them

WHAT: Measure of Academic Progress (MAP)

• Grades K-2: MAP-P → Math
• Grades 3-5: MAP-M → Math & MAP-R → Reading

WHEN: Please see schedule in image below.

WHERE: Students log in to their regular homeroom Zoom for their testing time; the students will log into the assessment following directions that we give, and will stay in Zoom for the duration of the assessment.

WHY: These assessments give teachers information about what students are already able to do, and what they are ready for next. The data helps inform our instruction. Please do not assist your child with identifying the correct answer. Helping students with the problems in any way at all will give us inaccurate data.

HELPFUL HINTS:

• Ensure you have a Lenovo Touchscreen Chromebook. If you need to exchange of pick up a device, please come to 15 West Gude Drive (2nd floor) M-F 8am-4pm PRIOR to your assigned testing day.

• Ensure that your child fully turns off the Chromebook each night to allow updates to be pushed through to the device. Closing the lid on the Chromebook, is NOT fully shutting it down and will not allow for these important updates to be made.

• Please ensure that your student has a good night’s rest the night before

• Please ensure that your student’s environment is free from distractions (quiet/ no tv/ etc.)

• All students must have their cameras on during the test

• We need to know that your student is completing the assessment by themselves

• The assessment should be completed entirely by your student

• Please encourage them to do their personal best

• If we see grown-ups or siblings helping, we will have to stop your student’s assessment

• Please make sure technology is fully charged or plugged in

• This test is UNTIMED and students will have ample time to complete the test. Most students will complete the test in about 45-60 minutes. We are allotting over two hours to make sure our students have plenty of time!

Extra Resources for additional information about MAP testing

1. MAP Student Resources site
2. The Parent Toolkit - The online home for parents interested in learning more about MAP Growth
3. The Family Guide (available in several languages here) which includes:

• An overview of MAP Growth.

• An explanation of the purpose and design of MAP Growth.

• An introduction to the RIT score and how the assessment results are used

• Students/parents/caregivers can check their device configuration here: https://check.nwea.org/ to run a self-check on their devices at NWEA Workstation Diagnostic to verify they adhere to minimum requirements b. Disable pop-up blockers that may prevent access to test.mapnwea.org

Please feel free to reach out to your child’s teachers with any comments, questions, or concerns.

Students who missed the Student Picture Day on August 19 or wish to have a re-take, can sign-up for Student Portrait Make-Up Day on September 30, 2022. Getting your child's student portraits for the 2022-2023 school is as easy as 1-2-3!

1. Please use this link to sign-up for an appointment:

https://www.appointment.com/barksdaleschoolportraits?redirect_url=/customer/calendar.php&y=2022&m=09&schedule=Montgomery%20Virtual%20Academy%20West%20Gude%20Location

2. Please use this link to select and pre-pay for your photo package. Packages will be mailed to your home. Shipping charges are included.

https://www.barksdalestorefront.com/shop/login/?ac=0089990AR

3. Please come to 15 West Gude Drive, 2nd Floor at your scheduled appointment time on September 30.

To start the school year our media specialist, Tracy Jeffcott, and media assistant Ellen Rahr will be visiting lower school classrooms to introduce students to our new MVA Library Media Center Website. Click here to view the site! The Media Center Website is also linked at the top of the Montgomery Virtual Academy website.

Research indicates that meaningful personal engagement with their teachers and peers is one of the most important predictors of student learning and achievement.

As a result of a review of the research, the Montgomery Virtual Academy (MVA) presents the following revisions to its policies and expectations around student engagement, participation, and attendance for the 2022-2023 school year and beyond.

1. All students are expected to appear on camera for the majority of every class
2. Students should actively demonstrate engagement throughout each lesson.
   
3. Students who demonstrate no engagement for the entire class period may be marked “Absent” for that class period.
   
4. The MVA continues to expand opportunities for students to engage meaningfully with teachers, staff, and each other outside of the classroom.
   

For more detailed information on these expectations, please see:

Families who meet certain federal income standards are eligible for free or reduced-price meal benefits. All Virtual Academy families are encouraged to complete this year's application for Free and Reduced Meals. See flyer below for additional benefit that may be available to qualifying applicants. Apply online at www.MySchoolApps.com to determine if your family qualifies.

Only one application is needed for all students in a household. A new application must be completed for any family requesting assistance this school year. The online application is now open for families to submit applications.

At this time, due to changes in federal funding, weekly meal box distribution to Virtual Academy families is suspended. Families who need food assistance are asked to contact the counselors by emailing corinne.e.whited@mcpsmd.net or nicole.m.bamberger@mcpsmd.net or call the Montgomery County Food Access Call Center at 311

For more information and How-To videos visit the Food Services website: www.montgomeryschools.org/departments/food-and-nutrition/meal-payments/#FARMS

Families and students can stay engaged throughout the school year with Parent Academy TO GO, a series of webinars for families to watch at home. The webinars are available on the Parent Academy website. Registration is available here.