Important Announcements
Letter from Executive Director Omari Walker:
April 1, 2020
Si ou bezwen plis enfomasyon oubyen translasyon, rele: Laurie Casimir (774) 274-6653
Sí necesitas ayuda a leer esta carta, por favor llame a Sra. Silva. Su número es 774-328-4995.
Se precisare de ajuda a ler esta carta, por favor chame a Sra. Silva. O seu número é 774-328-4995.
Dear Families,
I know that many of you have expressed questions and concerns about our shift to remote learning next week. I am writing this letter to provide you with information that will ease some of your anxiety and most of these topics will serve as the basis of our discussion for Sunday, April 5.
We will be holding a Parent Zoom Meeting this Sunday
I will be holding a virtual parent meeting via Zoom for all parents in order to go over this information in more detail. This meeting will take place on Sunday, April 5th from 6-7pm. Only the first 100 parents will be able to access this meeting due to meeting room capacity. We will also post this meeting to our website and social media platforms for you to view by Monday evening. You can access this meeting through using our Meeting ID: 788 138 808.
Will there be Chromebook Distribution?
With this online component being added, we will be making a limited number of loaner chromebooks available on Friday, April 3rd from 4-6pm at our Main Street campus. We are asking that only those students who need the technology come pick up a loaner on this date. We want to be clear that families who borrow a computer from our school will be responsible for any damages or lost chromebooks.
It is important to understand that this process will support all social distancing guidelines. All cars should enter through our Main Street entrance and a staff member will be onsite to direct you through the process. In order to limit personal contact, we are asking all families to remain in their cars and give the child’s name through the car window. You will then be directed to a table where you can pick up the chromebook that we have assigned to your child.
How can I access my student’s assigned work?
All teachers are expected to launch their google classrooms by Sunday, April 5th. Your child should receive this information through their school Gmail account, if they have not done so already. If your child has forgotten his/her email account information or password, it is imperative to email lharwood@nhcsb.org for assistance by Sunday evening the latest (Ms. Harwood will be extremely busy on Monday morning to help with this request).
Once students log into Google Classroom, they should have a classroom for each of the 4 subject areas: English, math, science, and history. If students do not see all of these classes, they should contact their teacher directly for an invitation. In each classroom, students can find the work that teachers will assign for 5 days of the week. It is important that students stay on track with this work because it will be graded and recorded in Powerschool for Term 3.
How does my child know what class to attend?
Beginning on Monday, April 6, teachers will be holding virtual classes via Zoom. Students will have the opportunity to meet with one subject-area teacher per day (see schedule below). Students are only required to attend one session per day.
| Monday | ELA | 10-11am | 5-6pm |
| Tuesday | Math | 10-11am | 5-6pm |
| Wednesday | Science | 10-11am | 5-6pm |
| Thursday | History | 10-11am | 5-6pm |
How can my child access Zoom?
All teachers are expected to invite students to their virtual meetings using a Zoom Meeting ID and password by Sunday, April 5. If your child has not received this meeting information by Sunday, please have your child check his/her Google Classroom for the invitation from the teacher. You will find directions for using Zoom attached to this message.
What is expected of my student during online classes?
Leaders from other districts have reported “classroom” management challenges while using this online format. Because we value all minutes of learning, we have trained our teachers to follow specific classroom guidelines and routines. All teachers have been asked to mute student microphone access to allow for one voice during lessons. There is a “raise your hand” and chat feature to allow students to communicate with their teachers during each meeting. At this time, we have enabled all videos while in zoom.
Any student who brings unwanted distractions or disruption, may be visually blocked from the rest of the class, have their chat disabled, and/or be removed from the zoom session. A serious infraction will be accompanied by a phone call home from the Dean of Students to the parent/guardian. We remain committed to providing every student with a high-quality education during this time. Even online we will foster a positive and safe environment that is conducive to learning and will increase the success of all students.
We appreciate your patience and support during this extraordinary time. We will continue to assess how best to meet the needs of our students keeping in mind access and equity. We may have to adjust our plans based on the needs of our community. I will continue to provide you with regular updates along the way and look forward to our discussion this Sunday. If you cannot attend this meeting on Sunday, please visit our website for a video link of the family forum.
Sincerely,
Omari Walker
Executive Director