AVA Newsletter
September 2022
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Welcome to the Advanced Virtual Academy for the Academy of Math and Science network! We are excited to have our scholars start with the online learning platform, Schoology and Zoom, as they transition back to school over our learning management systems. As we get started we wanted to ensure all scholars and families are aware of the differences the next few weeks will have when compared to the entire year moving forward.
Schedules
For the first day, not all scholars will follow their long-term schedule. The homeroom teacher will have an adjusted schedule to support scholars on the first day in the virtual classroom. As some scholars might have in their schedule a special area class or intervention course first period that is separate from their homeroom teacher and we want all scholars to be welcomed day one with their homeroom teacher. Additionally, as the teachers are supporting scholars today to sign into Schoology, Zoom, Google Drive, virtual learning procedures, and internet safety we also wanted to give the scholars time to meet their classmates. This is why, depending on the grade level, teachers have elected for day one to be unique in the schedule where scholars may not switch to all their teachers. Day two scholars will start switching to their various content teachers and begin with their long-term schedule.
Specials/Flextime
Special area classes are built into your scholar's schedule and their teacher will let them know when is the appropriate time to attend their special area class each day. As scholars become comfortable with navigating their Schoology accounts they will begin to have their special area course and lessons within Schoology moving forward. This week our teachers will support scholars in the learning process of Schoology. This year we are offering the following special area classes: Art, Music, Computer Science/Technology, Foreign Language.
Flextime is now going to be integrated into your scholar's learning schedules. Flextime is the perfect time for scholars to take enrichment classes or intervention classes. Each scholar will be able to attend these classes in order to grow and learn academically together.
Schoology
Our Advanced Virtual Academy is now using Schoology, an integrated learning management solution that provides course management, mobile learning, and support for system-wide communication. Schoology enables our scholars, parents, and teachers to engage with learning materials and their school community from the classroom and beyond. We look forward to using Schoology in our classrooms to enhance connectivity and communication across our Advanced Virtual Academy.
With Schoology, scholars can digitally submit homework assignments, review grades, participate in interactive discussions, receive announcements and feedback, take tests, write academic blogs, and more. As a parent, you will be able to view your child’s activity within the platform. We will be emailing you parent access codes in order to connect your scholars to your own Parent account in the new few weeks.
The login credentials provided to your scholar from their teacher can provide access to the Academy of Math and Science Schoology system, Zoom, GoGuardian, Google Drive, and the Chromebook. If your scholar is brand new to the Academy of Math and Science their login credentials are being developed; homeroom teachers will provide you via email and Class DoJo with login credentials. If you need login credentials please email your scholar's homeroom teacher or [email protected] with your scholar's full name and grade. We value your participation in your child’s education, and we encourage you to read Schoology’s Privacy Policy & Terms of Use at https://www.schoology.com/privacy. Student progress and activity will be monitored by faculty to ensure a safe, secure, and controlled environment using the GoGuardian platform tool.
Additionally, to help teach our scholars how to use Schoology, Zoom, and be successful as virtual scholars, our teachers will be introducing courses individually to their scholars starting with one course and moving throughout the weeks to all the courses listed on their Schoology dashboard.
We know how excited everyone is to use Schoology and start the school year. We want to be sure scholars are safe on the internet and have the organizational tools needed for success. This is why as we launch Schoology we are having our teachers timely introduce each course as it becomes appropriate for their grade level.
Please check out our website at AVA for our Learning Coach Resources including videos and flowcharts to support you and your scholar with our virtual platforms. If you have questions or feedback regarding Schoology, please email us at [email protected]
Technology Support or General Questions
As we begin this exciting endeavor at Advanced Virtual Academy we know questions and technical support needs will occur. We have a team available to support all technical support as well as general questions for your family at [email protected]
If at any time your scholar, the teacher, or a learning platform is unable to launch virtual learning due to a technical outage, internet connectivity concern, natural disaster, etc. we have procedures in place to support the quick adjustment to the learning delivery. Please monitor your school's Class DoJo and your scholar's Schoology if a disconnection occurs as we will promptly post a new link or next steps to get your scholar reconnected. Unfortunately, with technology sometimes these disconnections are unpredictable and we want to be sure to promptly support the flexibility needs as well as thank you all for your patience ahead of time.
Attendance
We will continue to have our Academy of Math and Science network team send out the attestation forms for families to record attendance weekly. These forms will continue through the year and will be sent to your email address that we have on file using the SchoolMint system. The email will include a link to your SchoolMint account and directions on how to access the forms and fill them out for each scholar. Attendance is very important and the admin team with the office team will help support you in this area.
Class DoJo
As a reminder from a previous communication, we want to ensure you are receiving updates and have direct access to communicating with our school. If you have not already connected with your scholar's homeroom teacher on Class DoJo please follow the below link to get connected.
Class Dojo is an app that will allow our school to communicate directly with our families. By now, you should have already received an email to join your school's Class Dojo. If not, please click on this LINK to get registered and connected. It is IMPORTANT that you get logged in via your computer or mobile device, as Class Dojo is where you will find all your child’s important school information.
Click here to get connected to Class Dojo!
Click here to get connected to Class Dojo!
Advance Virtual Academy Leadership
Finally, we wanted to ensure all families have the direct email addresses for our admin team. If you need any support please reach out to our team as we are thrilled to help.
Sincerely,
John Paquin
Principal
Principal
Principal - John Paquin
Assistant Principal - Melinda Wallace