Jr / Sr High School Remote Learning Expectations

Dear Students and Families, 

We know you have a lot of questions and concerns surrounding the remote start of school this year, and we appreciate your patience in allowing us time to prepare. Administrators and teachers have spent a lot of time this summer working toward solutions and are excited to be able to offer you some additional details regarding remote learning plans and policies.  If we continue remote learning beyond the four weeks currently announced, we will continuously re-evaluate these guidelines—reflecting, evaluating, and possibly updating them as we go. 

The structure of remote learning for students this fall will be different than last spring, as shared in a previous email. This adjusted structure is based upon collaborative reflection informed by academic data, surveys, and feedback about what worked and didn't last spring. Evolving best practices, in addition to prior experiences, inform this model of virtual learning.

Virtually this fall, typical Junior High School students can expect approximately 26 hours of school work per week, and typical High School students can expect approximately 28 hours of school work per week.  High School students taking AP courses should expect additional hours (see details listed under “Asynchronous Learning” below).  Normally, NCS students are in school 35 hours a week, engaging in learning activities, lunch, and Activity Period, which allows time for clubs, activities, and extra help sessions to take place.  Our revamped remote structure captures as much of this time as possible within a virtual environment. 

School work will be organized into 2 types of learning: synchronous and asynchronous.  On top of this, students are offered times within the schedule to participate in clubs and activities, socialize, or receive extra help from teachers.  Here is an updated remote schedule for the fall for a five-day week:

Here is a link to the A/B Calendar for the first four weeks of school:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1snhWDDxRvmRzu5oyz-e3lhpvdVgCb1Qc/view?usp=sharing

We have created a blank schedule you can individualize/use as a weekly planner.  You can print the page (high school or junior high) weekly for your child or make a copy of the Google document and modify it electronically each week.  Here is a link to the blank schedule:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17dSt6YCvp-Z2bcWzB9bpNWXXO29kMlUm/view?usp=sharing

Synchronous Learning

Synchronous learning is when students and a teacher work together “live” in real time, engaging in class on a virtual conferencing platform.  From 9 AM to 1 PM, M-T-TH-FRI, students can expect approximately 8-12 hours of synchronous learning per typical week.   Time spent in blocks, during “live” or synchronous learning sessions, will focus around review of concepts learned during asynchronous times and will include interactive activities that help students practice, understand, and master content.

How it Works

A few minutes prior to the start of a block, students, in uniform, should sign into class using their school emails, prepared to learn with all needed materials on hand.  

Attendance

When teachers take attendance, students must visibly show their faces on screen in order to be marked “present.”  During class, students are expected to actively interact with their teachers and each other when prompted to do so.

Missing a Synchronous Class

• If a student is sick or unable to attend a synchronous class, then the student is responsible for contacting the teacher via email and making up any missed synchronous work.  Teachers are responsible for providing students with details about missed work upon request.  

• A student who misses more than two synchronous classes in one day will be marked absent for the entire school day.  The student is responsible for contacting teachers and completing any missed synchronous work.

• Finally, standard attendance policies apply for students who miss multiple days of synchronous classes.  Here is a link to the standard NCS Student Code of Conduct, which states our attendance policy in its entirety:    

  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KosK8G0sWc2KWu_l8DaeKwNZTPHlSgsQ/view

Asynchronous Learning

Asynchronous learning is when students learn on their own time, outside of class, with virtual guidance and support from their teachers. For example, asynchronous learning assignments may require students to watch and comment on direct instruction videos, write up lab findings, practice math skills, play a musical instrument, complete an art project, or read and respond to an article or chapter in a book.  

Asynchronous learning activities, which again, may include videos, reading, writing, practice problems, projects, etcetera, should be expected to take students a significant amount of time.

• A typical Junior High School student should expect approximately 14 hours per weekof asynchronous work.

• A typical Senior High School student should expect approximately 16-18 hours per week of asynchronous work.

• Students should expect approximately 3 hours of additional asynchronous work, beyond the approximations listed above, per week for each AP course.

Asynchronous work can be completed on Wednesdays and during typical homework times on other days.  Please note, students learn at different rates and actual time spent on asynchronous activities will vary by students.

How it Works

Asynchronous learning assignments will be updated on teachers’ Schoology pages by the end of each school day along with resources that help students complete them.  Students are expected to  log into their teachers’ Schoology pages at least one day before synchronous classes and complete activities that prepare them for the upcoming live sessions. Students are also responsible for completing any other posted assignments by their due dates.   

Wednesdays

Wednesdays of five-day weeks are considered independent work days that are structured to provide students with time to complete their asynchronous work.  Students are required to sign in to school at 9:00 AM in order to receive attendance credit for the day and to participate in Advisory Classes.  Advisory Classes will give students the opportunity to socialize with peers and prioritize their workload with assistance from an Advisor.  Please look for details on Advisory Classes to be given at the start of the school year. Also, students with IEPs and 504s, or with multiple absences, may be assigned extra support times on Wednesdays or during teachers’ office hours, as needed.  

Please note, during weeks with fewer than 5 school days due to holidays, synchronous learning is scheduled on Wednesdays.  This occurs on the first week of school due to the observance of Labor Day.  

Office Hours

Students completing independent, asynchronous work may need additional assistance and support, so teachers are available everyday throughout the week to help.  Monday through Friday, by appointment, from 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM or 2:00 - 3:00 PM, teachers will hold office hours to provide individual or small group support.  Teachers are also available throughout the day on Wednesdays by appointment.  Students should visit teachers’ Schoology Pages to find details on how each teacher can best be reached during office hours.  Please note, a teacher’s work day is from 8-3:00 pm.  Also, teachers will respond to emails within 24 hours. We are here to help and support students.

Grading

When we moved to remote learning this past spring, we followed a hybrid pass/fail grading system for the fourth marking period and allowed students to turn in work with more flexibility regarding deadlines.  This fall, however, we will return to our previous grading policies and practices.  This means students will receive number grades for every course and regardless of the type of learning, can expect to have a mixture of assignments, quizzes, tests, and projects with set due dates. Also, unlike this past spring, students may not necessarily be given multiple attempts, or retakes, to correctly complete assignments or assessments for grades. 

We recognize that students may require some flexibility with deadlines because of issues outside of their control created by our remote environment.  Students are encouraged to use requests for extension if needed, which requires them to reach out to individual teachers via email with explicit deadline extension requests.  Here is a link to the standard Grading Policies and Procedures Manual which explains this process in detail: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yLbbn2GTYyLFSkVW05OHgCrOLajVzie8/view?usp=sharing

Activity Period

Students need opportunities to socialize with peers and teachers outside of class, engaging in clubs and activities that build interest and skills.  In addition to time allocated for synchronous and asynchronous learning, we’ve included 2 hours a week for students to participate in supplemental social and academic activities during Activity Period.  Activity Period offerings may vary based on grade level, and more details will be provided after the start of the school year.   

Remember, these guidelines for remote learning are in place for at least the first 4 weeks of school and may be updated if warranted.  Students are held to high academic and decorum expectations and can expect to be actively engaged, receiving support and interacting with peers and teachers throughout any given week.  Even though it’s hard to predict where we will physically be at the end of the school year, we envision these guidelines will keep students on track with grade level work despite the challenges of online learning.  

Sincerely,

Lisa Ueltzhoffer, Ed.D.

Jr./Sr. High Principal