MHS Update: August 27, 2020

 Good morning, 

I have quite a bit of information for you over the next week, so I will be sending more updates than usual. You can always access all information here on the Solon Salutes by checking past posts. 

Schedules: Our schedules are about ready to be sent out to students. We believe they will be in the mail by this weekend, along with other pertinent forms that should be filled out and returned with your student on their first day of school. If your student is virtual, you can mail the forms back to the school or drop them off in the box out front of the main office. When you receive the schedule, some students will not have both Quarter 1 classes scheduled. In few cases, mainly for 11th/12th grade, students may not have any Q1 classes scheduled. This more than likely is because they did not have a full course load request in the spring. As noted in my prior communication, we strongly encourage our students to sign up for enrichment courses so they don't miss an entire quarter of not being in school. Please see below for more information on enrichment courses. Additionally, students who are enrolled in PE or Personal Wellness, this will be a Block 9 course where students will have teacher support to engage in physical activity at flexible times. The teacher will reach out directly to those students who are enrolled in the quarter and will communicate expectations for the course to earn credit. 

Enrichment Courses: Students will receive their schedules over the next few days, and some of our students will have "gaps/space" in their schedule. As I have shared in past communication, we will open up enrichment opportunities for our students who have the time in their schedule. There will be a range of options available for students (in and out of school). Our teachers just received their schedule for Quarter 1 last Friday. Over the last week, those teachers who are available for enrichment courses have worked this week in collaboration around creating engaging opportunities for our students. This is new for them as well, so we'll be asking for some understanding and patience as we develop these courses and learn the ropes through Quarter 1. 

For those students who have availability in their schedule for Quarter 1, we will reach out to them directly with enrichment course descriptions mid-week next week. We are working on ways for students to sign up directly for those courses through PowerSchool. If that doesn't work, then we will send out a Google Form to solicit students' top three choices for enrichment courses that are offered on the days those students are not scheduled. Enrichment courses will not start until the week of September 14th. For each future quarter, enrichment course offerings will be delivered directly to the group of students about two weeks in advance of the next quarter to select courses that fit their schedule. Again, we highly encourage all students to take advantage of these opportunities to stay connected to school and find ways to enrich their learning experience beyond the traditional course offerings at MHS. 

Meal Ordering Update: We have changed the process a bit for our students who would like to order breakfast or lunch. You can see the updated process here. Mainly, students will be able to access the form from school or home (form will be placed on the MRPS/MHS website) and teachers will remind students in the class period to get on the form and submit their order for the following day. Meals will be available for purchase on Tuesday, September 8th and Wednesday, September 9th. Thursday, September 10th will be the first day of delivery. 

First Week Schedule: For our first week of instruction, we are planning to hold all in-class instruction for the week. This means we would not have a remote day on Wednesday, September 9th. Instead, our students should plan the following:

• Tuesday and Friday: White Day Schedule
• Wednesday and Thursday: Green Day Schedule

Starting September 14th, we will move to to our regular schedule found here. 

Add/Drop Courses: Please see the Student FAQs from July 31st.

What if I want to add or drop a class? This year, we are not allowing students to add or drop classes.  The two biggest reasons: there will not be room in most classes for additional students and the quarters are much shorter than a semester class, so  adding a class after the quarter begins will mean a student has already missed substantial learning. What if I want to add or drop a class before the school year begins? Just as we would in years past, students can work with their guidance counselor ahead of time to ensure they are scheduled for the classes that make the most sense for their levels of interest and graduation requirements.

Cohort Information/TA Meetings/: Teachers will be reaching out to their classes next week with specific cohort information. We will take all preferences into consideration, but there are many variables that exist when creating cohorts. Also, Teacher Advisors (TA) will be reaching out to students over the next few days to set up a 15-minute virtual meeting to review the student's schedule across the year and Quarter 1 which will include cohort information. Additionally, there will be some time for students to ask questions. 

Our MHS Staff is working on a 'Welcome Back' video including safety protocols and expectations for the year ahead. That will come your way next week!

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For VTVLC Students/Guardians:

If you or your student is attending VTVLC, please also subscribe to the blog that is specific to VTVLC. https://mrpsvirtualacademy.blogspot.com/

August 25th Video: (important information) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUzzmJqip54&feature=youtu.be

Teacher Advisory: For students attending VTVLC, we would still love the opportunity to connect with your students through TA at 10:15 on Wednesday mornings, beginning September 16th. Teachers will be reaching out to their entire TA to invite them to Wednesday TA time on the 16th and each Wednesday throughout the year. 

Renée DeVore

Principal