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I know there are many questions as to what the start of this school year will look like and how virtual learning will be different from the e-learning we experienced in the spring.  I would like to share some general information with you here and assure you that as we move closer to the start of our school year you will be receiving more specific information on your child’s virtual learning experience.

First of all, our goal is to replicate a typical school day as closely as we can through an online platform.  For that reason we are implementing several elements to our virtual learning practice that are different from e-learning.  For example, virtual learning will occur Monday through Friday, instead of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as we experienced in the Spring.  We understand how important a schedule is for our students and families, so we are developing a consistent schedule so our students and families will know exactly when students need to log in to their lessons.  Each of our students will have hour blocks of reading and math instruction in which they will participate in real-time instruction with their teachers.  Students will also receive a half hour of daily live instruction with a related arts teacher, school librarian, or school advisor.  Students in need of educational support or instruction will have routinely scheduled sessions in which they receive their needed services.  This means that each student’s school day will equate to a typical 9:00-3:00 schedule that will include consistent times of live instruction and independent work times, as well as needed times for breaks and lunch.  Your child’s teacher will also share with you times that she is available for communication during the day.  Student attendance will be tracked each day and live lessons will be recorded and archived so that if a student missed a lesson for any reason he/she will be able to access that lesson at a different time.

In terms of curriculum, as I shared before it is our goal to duplicate the school day and learning experience as closely as possible.  Therefore, our teachers’ instruction will follow our grade level curriculum maps to ensure that student learning is progressing through the grade level curriculum.  Students will be receiving the 1-4 proficiency ratings in their classes and related arts subjects just like they would if they were attending in person.  These grades will be available to parents through the parent portal.

Students that attended Portage schools last school year retained their devices and will use these from home for the start of this school year.  We will have information soon on how new students will access their devices.  Our Kindergarten students will receive their iPads at the upcoming Kindergarten Orientation that will be taking place on August 4th and 5th.  In order for students to be able to access their curriculum, instruction, and communicate with their teachers they will need to utilize their Google email account.  A student’s username is in all lowercase their first.last name @student.portage.k12.in.us.  Their password is capital first name initial, capital last name initial, and their 6 digit barcode that they use for lunch and other logins such as Accelerated Reading tests.  If you or your child has any issues remembering this number you can locate it in the Parent Portal  If you have not yet registered your child, please do so at this time, or contact the office as soon as possible.

Again we will have more specific information coming out to you soon, but wanted to at least set the groundwork so our Kyle families understood what to expect as we begin to navigate this new school year.  As always if you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to me or our office.

Mr. Sopko