Greetings Montgomery Virtual Academy Voyagers!

Looking for a sweet celebration with your kids this week? Break out the hot cocoa on December 13 for National Cocoa Day! Should be just the thing to hit the spot on these cold days!

And since the weather is definitely turning colder, although things like outdoor recess are not part of our virtual academy experience, we want to make sure families have winter coats for each child. If your child is in need of a winter coat, please contact us so we can help you connect with community resources that can assist.

As we approach the winter holidays, while there is no expectation for gift-giving, some families often reach out to me this time of year because they are interested in offering small gifts of appreciation to our staff. The MVAPTC is requesting $5 gift cards from a store of your choosing (Amazon, Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, Chipotle, etc) to be distributed to all the MVA staff for the holidays. The goal is to provide one gift card per staff member to let them know how much families appreciate all their hard work this school year. Gift cards can be emailed to treasurermvaptc@gmail.com or can be mailed/delivered to MVAPTC/Montgomery Virtual Academy, Attn: Staff Appreciation, 15 West Gude Drive, 2nd Floor, Rockville, MD 20850.

The MVAPTC wishes to mention that If you wish to send a gift card or gift to an individual teacher or staff member, please send it to them directly as they do not have the volunteers to manage individual gift card distributions. Gifts for individual staff can also be dropped off at the MVA offices at 15 West Gude Dr., 2nd Floor. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Also, weekly meal kit requests continue. Be sure to complete the request form to reserve a box for the following week. Please note the THURSDAY pick-up on December 22, for the current form. See details below!

I want to thank all of you all for your support & partnership! We are so happy to have you on our voyage!

Mrs. Cassandra Heifetz

Dean

Cassandra.Heifetz@mcpsmd.net

• Tuesday, December 13- World Cup Lunch Bunch with Mrs. Jeffcott
  
• Tuesday, December 13- Rainbow Club (3-5)
• Friday, December 16- Meal Box Pick-up (Prior Reservation Required)
• Monday, December 19- Winter Spirit Week begins- details coming soon!
• Thursday, December 22- Meal Box Pick-up (See Form Below to Make Reservation)
  
• Friday, December 23 - WINTER BREAK BEGINS- NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
  
• Monday, December 26- Winter break- Schools and offices closed
  
• Tuesday, December 27- Winter break, MVA office open 10 AM -2 PM
  
• Wednesday, December 28-Winter break, MVA office open 9 AM -3 PM
• Thursday, December 29- Winter break- Schools and offices closed
  
• Friday, December 30- Winter break- Schools and offices closed
  
• Monday, January 2- LAST DAY OF WINTER BREAK- Schools & Offices Closed for New Year's Holiday
• Tuesday, January 3- Students return from Winter Break
  
• Thursday, January 12- MVAPTC Meeting at 6:30 PM
  
• Thursday, January 19- MVAPTC Special Education Committee Meeting at 6:30 PM

Students in Grades 3-12 now have the ability to set and change their passwords for their MCPS accounts. Because this practice started last November, there are large numbers of students whose passwords are going to expire by November 30th. Since allowing students to set their own passwords, email communication was the only way students were being notified about the expiration date and the need to change their passwords. MCPS received feedback from many that email wasn’t the most reliable method. This message provides information on new processes in place to help communicate with students whose passwords are about to change. In addition, please have your child check their MCPS Gmail account to see if they have a message to update their password.

myMCPS Classroom (Canvas) Course

To help alert students to change their password, MCPS has created a new district-wide Canvas Course (Student Password Reset) that the central technology teams will use to target students whose passwords are about to change. During the month that students need to reset their password, students will be enrolled in the course and will be assigned a no-submit assignment to change their password. This will trigger an alert as well as an action item on the student’s to-do list in Canvas. This, in conjunction with the email, will help create an awareness for students using Canvas regularly as part of their school experience.

Chrome PopUp

In addition to the email and myMCPS Classroom course assignment alerts, MCPS has created a chrome popup for students. When students log into their chromebook, a message will pop up in the corner reminding them to reset their password. (see image)

Directions for Student Password Changes

As was shared with the students in the email notifications to student Gmail accounts, they simply need to go to https://SPM.mcpsmd.org and log in with their current username and password. That will allow them to reset the password.

Password Report Access by School Staff

As a reminder, should any of the students fail to reset their password by the expiration date, the account does not get disabled, but the password is changed automatically and the new password added to the password report. The MVA office staff have access to that report and can provide the new password, if needed. Please call 240-740-6060 for assistance if needed.

We are aware that some of our students have been experiencing challenges with accessing instruction in the recent weeks. We have been in close contact with our partners in the technology office to try to identify what might be causing some of the specific issues. To support this work, we have been gathering data from our staff to try to identify any patterns. As we work to find a more comprehensive solution, we shared some tips at the MVAPTC meeting this past week. The tips that were shared address obstacles that we typically see, as well as the current issues with the password resets and Zoom functionality issues. These tips have helped some of our students, but not all. In most cases, the issue is not with the device itself and does not require a device swap. Please continue to reach out to our main office at 240-740-6060 and email the Community Help Desk mailbox at communitytechsupport@mcpsmd.org . We thank you for your continued patience and willingness to help problem-solve.

If you are having technology issues, please submit an e-ticket by emailing your question or issue to communitytechsupport@mcpsmd.org or submit a ticket via the Community Tech Support portal This account is monitored daily and you will receive email notifications throughout the process.

For helpful support guides and screencasts in English and Spanish: https://montgomery.service-now.com/csm.

Community Tech Support Portal Support Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cczbhEXF7x3TBquSMQGUGsxIcqsm_BtG2KBBi_bA0_0/edit

To request tech support or submit a Chromebook Repair Request
communitytechsupport@mcpsmd.org

Zoom Log in information & Troubleshooting

Zoom for Students /Zoom para estudiantes

myMCPS Classroom/Canvas Information & Troubleshooting

https://classroom.mcpsmd.org/

Having trouble logging in? Please review the support guide

The following MVA Parent Council Announcements are being shared as a public information courtesy. The MVAPTC is the MVA parent-teacher organization with non-profit status and insurance.

MVAPTC (Montgomery Virtual Academy Parent Teacher Council) Announcements:

Request: MVAPTC is requesting $5 gift cards from a store of your choosing (Amazon, Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, Chipotle, etc) to be distributed to all the MVA staff for the holidays. Our goal is to provide one gift card per staff member to let them know how much we appreciate all their hard work as a community this school year. Gift cards can be emailed to treasurermvaptc@gmail.com or can be mailed/delivered to MVAPTC/Montgomery Virtual Academy, Attn: Staff Appreciation, 15 West Gude Drive, 2nd Floor, Rockville, MD 20850. If you wish to send a gift card or gift to an individual teacher or staff member, please send it to them directly as we do not have the volunteers to manage individual gift card distributions. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

New: Seeking parents/guardians and teachers/staff to form a subcommittee of the MVAPTC to make recommendations to the MVA regarding policies pertaining to attendance, grading, student engagement, schedule, improving parent/teacher communication, innovation, and more. Please contact Jessica, MVAPTC President, at presidentmvaptc@gmail.com to express your interest.

Staff Appreciation Wish Donation Wish List: https://smile.amazon.com/hz/charitylist/ls/2AYECVMZIHTZ3/ref=smi_ext_lnk_lcl_cl Thank you to all who donated!

Shirts, Necklaces, and Earrings are available for purchase at the MVA office.

Next MVAPTC Meeting: Thursday, January 12th at 6:30 PM.
Meeting slides, meeting minutes and other documents are available for review on the MVAPTC website located at http://www.mvaptc.org.
Zoom Link: https://mcpsmd.zoom.us/j/83004264203?pwd=M09hQzNtbVgyWVB6SGF3UE1sU2Fodz09
Meeting ID: 830 0426 4203 & Passcode: mvaptc

Next MVAPTC Special Education Committee hosted by Andrea Levy: Thursday, January 19th at 6:30 PM.

(Please note that the December meeting has been canceled due to the holidays.)
Topic: Transitions: What does it mean to transition to the next school level?

Helpful Links:

Website: http://www.mvaptc.org

Facebook page: Montgomery Virtual Academy Parent Teacher Council

Facebook Discussion Group: MVAPTC Discussion Group - Montgomery Virtual Academy Families & Staff(MD)

Facebook Special Needs Discussion Group: MVAPTC - Children with SN - Montgomery VIrtual Academy (MD)

Shirts, Dues & Donations: https://mvaptc.square.site

Please contact Jessica, MVAPTC President, at presidentmvaptc@gmail.com to volunteer, or with any questions or concerns.

Family And Friends Mental Health Support:

http://namimd.org/family__friend_support

Food Resources

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/get-help/food.html

Food Giveaway Events this week:

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/get-help/food.html#events

Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center:

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/gilchrist/

Health Care for the Uninsured (English): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FoOQWe-GVr6ljzHjIxYRcl5VxtdBQCHN/view?usp=sharing

Health Care for the Uninsured (Spanish):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15Pss-kVuL1IDh7cG1o47PrF0ZWImn1GY/view?

usp=sharing

Montgomery County Resources and Supports for Residents

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/covid19/get-help/

Montgomery County Public Library Programs:

https://mcpl.libnet.info/events?=undefined&r=thismonth&term=Virtual+Program

Utility Assistance from Montgomery County Government:

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/HHS-Program/Program.aspx?id=SNHS/SNHSUtilityA-p746.html