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Dear D303 Middle School School Parents and Guardians:

As the school year has progressed, we have had to make significant changes to account for students moving to and from remote learning. Due to those shifts, we have sometimes had to move hybrid staff and students, as well. In preparation for third and fourth quarter, we have surveyed families regarding learning preferences. With that information, we are adjusting our instructional schedule to best fit the needs of students.

In practical terms, many students may have their schedules changed for quarters three and four. We realize that this is not ideal, but in this pandemic, we have had to change past practices to meet our current situation. Please note that our Rise student schedules have not changed.

As we rebuild the master schedule, remote students' schedules will be reflected within an 8 period day structure. This will align with our current in-building schedule. If we continue full remote learning, students will follow an odd-even schedule in which all students will see each of their teachers every other school day. We are also supporting teachers to develop strategies so that students are not in front of screens during their entire class period. Our remote teachers have been able to share insight into how to best manage in a virtual setting.

The schedule portion of Home Access Center has been temporarily taken off-line so that we can make necessary schedule changes for the second half of the year. When the schedule is ready, we will notify you that schedule shifts are complete and give you access to your child’s schedule in Home Access Center.

As always and certainly during these unusual times, we appreciate your flexibility and understanding.

As we have more students attending remote learning, we would like to remind everyone of some of our guidelines:

• If your child is going to be absent for all or part of the day, please still call them in. (331-228-3700)

• Should you experience Internet issues where your student can't log on for class, a parent/guardian must CALL the attendance line. The parent/guardian may also choose to email the teacher in addition to the call. We cannot accept student call-in/email regarding any attendance issues.

• We have a whole bunch of students skipping some of their challenging classes, or classes they don’t like. Be sure to check the Home Access Center to monitor your child’s attendance.

• If you are questioning an absence for a single class period, please contact the teacher first for clarification.The teacher can access data for student login time and duration.

• As we have stated in past Friday Forecast messages, if students are logged in, but not showing up on camera or participating, the teacher will call on them a couple of times. If they still do not respond, they will delete them from the Meet or Zoom and then mark them absent.

This week our 8th graders participated in zoom meetings with their high school counselors. The purpose of this meeting was for 8th graders to get to know their high school counselors and to begin the process of their high school registration which will take place in January. Please click here to access additional information from the high schools as it will help the 8th grade students as they navigate this year’s course selection process.

In October your son/daughter participated in the PSAT assessment. Just recently, the scores were shared with schools, but have now become available for parents and students to review. If your son/daughter entered a personal email into the questionnaire portion of the PSAT test, it is very important that he/she review his/her personal email inbox to determine if a message was delivered directly from College Board. These students should have a direct link to access the scores from the College Board website.

Paper copies of the student score reports will be sent home after the schools have received them. Do not be alarmed if your son/daughter did not include a personal email, he/she will simply include this information when he/she creates a College Board account. Either way, in order for any student to retrieve digital PSAT results, they must be 13 years of age or older. If they are not of this age currently, parents can create an account to access this information for their child. Please click HERE to see how to create your Collegeboard account.

In addition, the following youtube video, Understanding Your PSAT Score Report, will help you better understand how to interpret your son/daughter's PSAT results. Please see below for additional resources that will support you as you navigate PSAT results and Collegeboard. Finally, if any additional questions please contact David Chiszar, Director of Assessment and Accountability, at (331) 228-4911. He can be reached by email at David.chiszar@d303.org

Resources for you:

• What is in your PSAT 89 Score Report

• Why create an account in CollegeBoard

• How to read your CollegeBoard report

• PSAT/SAT Practice in Khan academy

When your student is experiencing Chromebook issues, including a problem with their camera and/or microphone, we have some helpful information for you:

• Follow each step in this process (see graphic below).
• DO NOT skip step #4: CHAT with IT as they can often remote in and repair your device directly!
• Only go on to step #5 after you have completed trying the first four steps on the flowchart! This helps us rule out a lot of potential problems immediately when trying to help your student.
• There's also this WMS page, Instructional Tech for Families with a ton of helpful information.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to join our School Counselor Google Classroom, you still have time! Any student who joins the google classroom will have their name entered into a raffle for a chance to win a gift card.

We are asking that you join our google classroom by 9 AM on Monday December 7th to be eligible to win the gift card!

The School Counselor Google Classroom has tons of resources that will help you while you are learning from home during this crazy time. In the Classroom you will find a Zoom Link for Counseling Office Hours - Tuesday through Friday 2:30-3:30. During these office hours, we are available to discuss any questions or concerns that you may be encountering.

Here is the code to join- struj2c

Hope you are all doing well :-)

-Your Counselors,

Mrs. Hult, Mrs. Cwinski and Mr. Wood

Peer Leadership is an extracurricular program that matches selected incoming freshmen with juniors and seniors who make the transition into high school fun and easy and mentor them throughout the year. Because this program meets during the school day, it has to be put into a student’s schedule when registering for next year’s classes. Although we would like to be able to offer this to all interested incoming freshmen, our numbers are limited by available classroom space and our budget. Therefore, in order to start the selection process, interested students should apply using THIS APPLICATION.

If your child is interested in the program, please fill out the application and e-mail it to Jim Reed, the Peer Leadership Coordinator (James.Reed@d303.org). Completed applications must be received no later than Tuesday, January 19th, 2021. For more information about Peer Leadership, please attend Future Saints Night in January.

We hope to hear from you!

Welcome to remote learning! Remember that remote students have classes every day. Below are resources for our full remote learners:

• Remote Academy Calendar (and Bell Schedule)

• Overview and Expectations

• Teachers and Resources

You can check the attendance for any of your students at any time by logging into the Home Access Center and clicking on the attendance tab to view. Toggle between students using the arrow in the upper right hand corner.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call the main office at (331) 228-3100! We are here to help!

Virtual

December 8, 2020
6:30-7:30 p.m.

Being the parent of a gifted child means MORE – more intense, more curious, more sensitive, more active, more idealistic, and more intuitive. Understanding these unique personality characteristics and how they combine in individual gifted children can provide insights into behaviors at home and school. This presentation will focus on the affective aspects of being gifted, including sensitivity, intensity, and perfectionism. Dr. Michele Kane, professor of Gifted Education at Northeastern Illinois University, will provide parents with effective strategies and techniques for dealing with these personality traits, as well as ways to help kids deal with the unique stressors of giftedness, especially during times of increased turmoil. Please fill out this form if you are interested in attending.

ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS NEWSLETTER IS CURRENT AS OF THE PUBLICATION DATE. NEW INFORMATION WILL BE ADDRESSED IN FUTURE NEWSLETTERS.