We hope your second semester is getting off to a great start! By this time, your students should be settling into a nice groove, and any scheduling issues should be resolved. If your student is still facing any struggles, please reach out to their teacher. They are here to support your student and are happy to help!

Don't forget that it is VERY important for your student to participate in two-way contacts each week. This is how we track attendance for your students, and we are required by law to report students who are not attending.

Each student is counted as present by participating in two-way contacts with their homeroom teacher each week. This can be accomplished by:

• Attending a live virtual session

• Responding to teacher-initiated emails

• A phone conversation

• A virtual meeting

• An in-person meeting

If a student does not participate in at least one two-way contact each week, that is considered the same as five days of absences. After the first week of no contact, families will receive a warning. Any future absences will require us to file truancy.

In this newsletter, you will find important information about conferences, spring testing, and scheduling for next year. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with important dates and content.

As always, please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

Allyson Walroth

Bobcat Virtual Learning Director

awalroth@gbcs.org

810-591-1658

By this time, you should have heard from your student's teacher about the end of the semester dates. While deadlines are flexible throughout the semester, the end of the year deadlines are not. Given the nature of online classes and the heavy workload that tends to come in at the end of the semester, teachers need to set end of the year deadlines earlier than the rest of the district.

Here are the common end of the work submission deadlines for the second semester of Bobcat Virtual:

• Elementary classes and middle school classes that do not give an exam and are not tied to high school credit: Wednesday, June 8
• High school classes and middle school classes that have an exam and are tied to high school credit: Friday, June 3; Exams will be given during the week of June 6-10

Senior Deadlines: Since seniors are done on May 20, 2021, the work submission deadlines for seniors in high school classes will be May 13, 2021, at 11:59pm. Exams will be given/collected during the following week.

We know that for some of you this might be a hard decision to make at this time. We just ask that you make your best guess about either staying in BVL or returning to the building so that we can adequately plan for staffing and curriculum. You can always change your mind at a later date.

Please begin to have discussions about where you plan to be next year so that you can complete the appropriate scheduling surveys when we send them out in the coming weeks.

• Tuesday, March 1 - 5:00pm-8:00pm
• Wednesday, March 2 - 5:00pm-8:00pm
• Thursday, March 3 - 12:30-3:30pm

Similarly to first semester, you will receive an email with a link to sign up to speak to your student's teacher(s). Almost all of the Bobcat Virtual teachers will be available for conferences sometime during this window. Teachers who are split between buildings may have fewer time slots to account for their other classes. In the event that you have a teacher who is not participating in the Bobcat Virtual conferences and you would like to speak to them, please reach out to them individually to schedule a meeting.

We are currently in the planning stages for the exact times that students will participate in testing, but you should plan for your students to participate in testing on April 13 and April 14. These tests will take place at the High School West Campus, and students will be placed with other BVL students of the same grade. Parents will need to provide transportation, so we want to make sure you plan ahead by giving you the dates now.

Please keep an eye out for further, more detailed communication on spring testing in future newsletters.

If you have questions or concerns about this testing process, please contact our office at 810-591-1658.

There is a different club each day of the week:

• Monday - Gaming Club, 1:00-2:00pm, Google Meet code: bvlgame
• Tuesday - Arts & Crafts Club, 1:00-2:00pm, Google Meet code: bvlcraft
• Wednesday - BVL Cafe, 1:00-2:00pm, Google Meet code: bvlcafe
• Thursday - Anime Club, 1:00-2:00pm, Google Meet code: bvlanime
• Friday - Fandom Club, 1:00-2:00pm, Google Meet code: bvlfandom

For a description of each club, please see this newsletter from Mr. Stuck. All secondary students are invited to attend!

Black History Month (Tuesday, February 1 through Tuesday, March 1) is an annual celebration of achievements by Black people and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. President has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating Black history. (Source: History.com)

Thank you to families who indicated that they would be interested in participating in the National School Lunch Program, which provides free breakfasts and lunches for our students on all days when school is in session.

Now that we know we have enough interest, please complete this survey with specific information about your family so that we can start to schedule pickups: https://forms.gle/hoN4im1TE3m8W2AW8.

You must complete this form if you plan to participate. You can fill it out even if you did not complete the original interest survey. It must be completed by Friday, February 18.

As a reminder, they are tentatively planning to have a pick up once a week on Thursdays from 12:30-1:00pm at the High School East Campus bus pick-up line. This plan is TENTATIVE and is subject to change based on feedback from this survey.

Please contact us at Grand Blanc Dining Service with any questions: (810) 591-6675 or (810) 591-6928.

Seniors, It is almost senior scholarship time at GB! (This does NOT include 13th yr Early College students).

Please see the scholarship/award informational letter below for more information.

View scholarship/award descriptions:
Visit: www.gbcs.org/page/1134

ALL ARE DUE FEBRUARY 25 at 12:15. Late applications and recommendations are not accepted. If there is a snow day, only printed applications are accepted the next school day by 12:15 p.m. All applications submitted online are still due by February 25 by 12:15 p.m.

View, print, submit scholarships/awards applications: (only available to print Jan 24 - Feb. 24)
Visit: www.gbcs.org/page/1213

Recommendation link to send to those you want a recommendation from - or you can print out a paper. Applications you print out already have the recommendation form attached if one is needed. ALL recommendations must be submitted through this link.
www.gbcs.org/Page/1125

When you are applying for scholarships/awards that are submitted online, you must be logged into your “student school google account”.

If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Briggs at tbriggs@gbcs.org

• Literacy Tidbits
• Family Flyer

Are you struggling with:

• Overwhelming Stress
• COVID related distress
• Mild or moderate mental health symptoms
• Urgent mental health needs

Genesee Health System is here for you. Our Virtual Behavioral Health Staff are here for you 24/7/365.

Behavioral Health Urgent Care

810.257.3740

877.346.3648

• Main Desk/Technology Help: 810-591-1658
• Enrollment/Grades: Elaina Martinez - 810-591-6391
• Counselor: John Hentes - 810-591-1634 or jhentes@gbcs.org
• Mentors (grades 6-12): Elizabeth Ralbusky (last names A-J) - 810-591-6368; Scott Thurlow (last names K-Z) - 810-591-6366
• Coordinator: Kevin Keilitz - 810-591-6375 or kkeilitz@gbcs.org
• Director: Allyson Walroth - 810-591-1658 or awalroth@gbcs.org
• Classroom teachers should all include information on how to contact them on their course. If you have course-related issues, please reach out to your teacher first. They will respond back within 24 hours (during the work week) and can usually clarify things quickly. You can also attend their office hours, which should be listed in their course.