Greetings Virtual Voyagers!

I hope this message finds you and your family doing well on this snowy Friday! This past week we passed by our 100th day school this year. Though, this is typically celebrated in our elementary classrooms, it is a great reminder of how we are well past the halfway point this school year. With less than four months left, a few extended weekends and Spring Break, there is no doubt that time will fly by. If you can believe it, we are already focusing on planning for the 2022-2023 school year. Please be on the lookout next week for some important updates regarding scheduling and selecting classes for the fall.

Below you will find some important updates. I would like to draw special attention to our clubs section as we are going to be kicking off these new opportunities for students. Based on interest we are going to launch:

* Art Club
* Book Club

* Gaming Club

Next year we will be working to expand these opportunities to our first Ski Club and potentially an E-Sports team. If you would like to learn more please fill out the sheet included within the section entitled "Announcing: Virtual Campus Clubs."

We have also been noticing a trend with some of our students missing the live class sessions, particularly for secondary. The Virtual Campus is designed to facilitate the same standards and benchmarks found within our traditional Rochester Community Schools classrooms. The live (synchronous) lessons are an opportunity to ensure that students are learning the material and to receive feedback from a highly-qualified teacher. To further engage with your student about their progress please consider the following discussion topics:

* Ask your student about their schedule. They should have planned out time to attend ALL synchronous classes and ample time to complete the course work. Their schedule can be flexible but should still comprise of at least 32 hours of work per week.

* Attend Parent/Teacher Conferences. If you have any questions about signing up, please connect with your student's teacher.

* Ask your student about their progress. Whether they are attending one of our Virtual Campus synchronous courses or a self-pace course, they should be able to show you their progress.

Please remember that all of our teachers are available during Office Hours throughout each week. This is a great time for students to get individualized support and attention for any of their course material. The information for each teacher's Office Hours are posted within their class tile on Brightspace.

On behalf of our entire team, enjoy your Midwinter Recess.

Sincerely,

Jeff Frankowiak

Principal

RCS Virtual Campus

February 23 - Scheduling of Secondary Conferences available on ParentVUE

March 2nd - Parent/Teacher Conferences (6-8 after school)

March 3rd - Parent/Teacher Conferences (9-12 after school)

March 4th - Half Day of school/End of Trimester 2 (TK-5)

March 4th - Teacher PD (6-12)

March 18th- Half Day of school/End of 3rd Quarter (6-12)

March 28-April 2nd - Spring Break (TK-12)

We are pleased to announce that parent-teacher conferences will be conducted through Zoom meetings again. Parents will have the ability to preschedule conferences in ParentVUE, rather than waiting in line to see a teacher.

The spring parent-teacher conferences are scheduled as follows:

• Middle School - March 2nd - 5:00-8:00pm
• High School – March 3rd - 5:00-8:00pm

Please use the attached quick start guide for instructions on scheduling your conferences. We are asking parents who are planning to attend conferences to schedule five-minute time slots with the teachers with whom they would like to speak. If a parent does not have any concerns or questions for their son or daughter’s teacher, they do not need to feel obligated to schedule appointments during that time. Also, if a parent feels their concern will require more time than the allotted five minutes, they are welcome to contact the teacher to set up a separate appointment.

Families will have the ability to schedule meetings beginning on February 23rd, up until the evening of conferences. If parents are planning to see multiple teachers, we recommend leaving 5-10 minutes between scheduled appointments to join the next meeting.

In order to schedule appointments, it is important for parents to be able to successfully login to ParentVUE. You may use either the ParentVUE mobile app or visit https://rcsvue.rochester.k12.mi.us.

If a parent is having difficulties with their ParentVUE login, they can email ParentVUE support at rcsvuehelp@rochester.k12.mi.us.

Are you interested in joining a club at Virtual Campus? Then this is the place for you! Join your classmates and teachers in Book Club, Art Club, or Game Club this spring.

How can I learn more? Please complete the interest form, and we will contact you to follow up in the coming weeks: https://forms.gle/TV9PoPwsCh16wNCM7

When: Fridays from 11:00AM - 1:00PM (when school is in session)

Where: The Schultz Campus 1440 John R. Rd, Rochester Hills, MI 48307

Enter using the main entrance (on the north side of the building) and staff will direct you to the book room

We can't wait to see you! Happy Reading Voyagers!

As a reminder, all RCS students are required to have a district device for use in the classroom.

If you do not yet have an RCS device, please schedule an appointment by using this link: https://form.jotform.com/203207837751153.

Families may use this checklist to ensure an efficient device pick-up.

• Device deployments will take place at the RCS Administration Center, located at 501 W. University Dr.
• Directions and available times will be provided during appointment sign-up.
• For faster service, please arrive with a completed Student Device Loan Agreement.
• High-school students may pick up their own device, as long as the agreement form is signed by a parent or guardian.

We truly appreciate your support in providing our students with the necessary tools and resources for a productive year of growth and learning.

If you already have your Chromebook device, we strongly recommend viewing these Chromebook tutorials to remind you how to take care of your device and get signed into Zoom:

• Chromebook Do’s and Don’ts: https://youtu.be/GakzWneZqzk
• How to Sign into Zoom on a Chromebook: https://youtu.be/O6zXGySnozQ

Getting Logged Into Your Chromebook

For our elementary students or those new to the district, we have a tutorial to walk families through how to access your student’s login information on ParentVUE: https://youtu.be/R2NqkOlgQNA

For our secondary students, we have a tutorial that walks students through how to navigate StudentVUE. This will be most helpful to our 6th graders as they now have full access to the platform: How to Use StudentVUE- https://youtu.be/w8CMwxzZf9E

Technology Troubleshooting

Just like students new to middle school may get locker jams or our little friends may need help finding their classroom cubby, there may be some virtual snags that happen as we kick-off our new school year. Should you run into any technical issues (that are not Brightspace related), we recommend the following steps:

1. Visit our district Family Technology Support Page. There are tutorials and information on many of our common technology tools including: ParentVUE and StudentVUE, Zoom, Flipgrid and Seesaw.

1. If that does not solve your problem, complete a Technology Support Form and our district technology support staff will get back to you as soon as they are able.

1. If you still have questions or need assistance, please contact Julie Rains at jrains@rochester.k12.mi.us

Seniors,

Virtual Campus Seniors are invited to all of the home school building culminating events like Senior Portraits. Please be sure to stay up-to-date by checking in with your home school's "Senior Class Information" website.

Check out the links below to connect to each High School's Senior Page:

Adams HS - CLICK HERE

Rochester HS - CLICK HERE

Stoney Creek HS - CLICK HERE