RRISD Middle & High School On-Campus Re-Entry Virtual Town hall Key Takeaways

July 30, 2020July 30, 2020 Rebecca 1829 Views 0 Comment

The Round Rock ISD Middle & High School On-Campus Re-Entry Virtual Town Hall was held on Thursday, July 30, 2020.

Here are a few highlights from the presentation and some questions that were answered.

Phase 1: Aug 20-Sept 10 – Virtual Classes

All middle school & high school students will have 8 courses and meet their teachers during this time

Phase 2 : Sept 10 – welcome kids in building

parents have a choice for students to come into school
students will be in small groups/learning labs
all students will be instructed virtually with support from their teacher mentor
with the same teacher/learning advisor
will be restrictive
students will get stretch breaks

Phase 3: Later – movement will increase on campus

“Later” was not given a certain date.
students may move into automotive and band hall

All students will get the same type of instruction whether they are on-line or on-campus.

Middle School/High School On-Campus Schedule

On campus learners will have the same teacher all day
they will be enrolled in virtual classes
students will have synchronous learning with classmates both on-campus and at home
students will have asynchronous learning time to meet their own needs
students will get to choose when to engage in asynchronous learning
Students can follow the designated schedule
Students can establish a schedule more convenient within other priorities

Middle School Classes

block schedule
all students will have 4 classes a day
both at home and on-campus will utilize Schoology
30 minutes of learning instruction per class

Phase II – provide lots of opportunities to stretch and not sit in a classroom all day
lunches will vary upon campus size
children will not come to school until after 8AM

High School Schedule

High School already practices a block schedule
will begin the school day with asynchrouns learning to allow the day to get started without the kids rushing to all get there at the same time.
will begin synchronous learning at 9:30 AM
Lunches will depend on the campus – will be eating in non-traditional places
will end asynchronously so they can allow for a staggered release of students to maintain social distancing

High School Classes

this model allows for students to remain in all 8 courses with the same teacher
all students will remain with the same teacher regardless of on-campus or at home learning
will allow for on-line tutorials
this model allows our students to have a mentor teacher to have an emotional and social support

Attendance

Per TEA guidance students who are learning at home may be counted present for attendance purposes under one pf the following:

Daily progress in the Learning Management System (LMS)
Daily progress via teacher-student interactions, or
Completion/Turn-in of assignments
Attendance is counted daily. Students will need to attend 90% of the days

Grading Policy

According to TEA Policy, the grading policies for virtual & in-person instruction must be consistent with the District’s grading policies pre COVID-19
Parents & Students will receive a syllabus and grading expectation on the first day of school for each of their courses.
Testing procedures will be addressed by content specific teachers on the guidelines for testing environment and test format for on-level, Honors, AP and IB classes.
Middle & High School principals have asked to move from a six week grading period to a 9 week grading period.

Athletics

Students who are virtually learning may participate in extracurricular activities on campus. Parents will be responsible for transportation.
UIL has announced that off-season sports may practice before and after school for one hour starting September 10.
Annual sports physicals waived this year except for new athletes with medical concerns.
Face covering required for athletes (but not in the actual competition) and spectators
Stadium and venue capacity limited to 50%

Fine Arts

Phase I: All fine arts will be offered virtually
Phase II: Teachers will be delivering instruction to both on-campus and online learners
Once before and after school rehearsals are deemed safe, they will take place and will be optional for all students
Virtual learners will be able to participate in before & after school rehearsals.

SAT, ACT, and PSAT

Seniors: Most colleges are now test optional for this coming year but some scholarships might request a score
College Board is working on an at-home test
SAT is working on scheduling extra testing dates

For virtual students coming on campus for athletics or fine arts, how will that work?

They students will reports directly where the activity takes place accorsding to the coach. They would not need to go anywhere else. At the end of that, they will return to their vehicle and go home.

How will fine arts work for wind instruments or singing?

They have bee working with fine arts directors across the state and at all the research that is coming in. They don’t have directives yet on that.

What are supply lists for middle schools?

The main supply needed for students is headphones.

Will 2-3 hours of homework still be required for high school students?

There will still be a rigorous expectation of homework and learning for high school students. There will be more time throughout the day for asynchronous time for students to work on this.

What will classes look like for band and athletics for middle school students?

It is difficult to play your instrument in your learning cohort, so we can not send kids to a band hall until it is “safe”. So we will guide our students virtually and ask them to practice at home.

Athletics will look similar as they have been able to work this summer on practicing social distancing. There will always be an emphasis on safety.

If a student is sick, not necessarily from COVID, how do they make up their work?

The student will be able to log-in virtually from home to the same classes if they are sick.

Will there be a list of classes that are hands-on?

They are refining a list of courses from the TEA that need hands-on, but there will be alternative courses that virtually learners can take.

Can we bring lunches for our students?

At this time, they advise parents to send lunches with their students at the beginning of the day. They are trying to minimize the amount of visitors to the campus.

Round Rock ISD will offer virtual online learning all year for families that would like to continue. If on-campus instruction needs to cease, they will move to online environment easily.