Hello!!

 

We have had a good week at school. In the lower grades, K-7, we have completed our first rounds of benchmarking assessments and teachers are strengthening plans for student growth. We administered the school day SAT to seniors, and our new guidance counselor, Lynn Loya is scheduling student meetings ahead of a busy college application season.

 

Teachers at all levels are beginning to virtually replicate, our traditional back to school parent nights with their classes. So, far the Middle Grades and Mr. Petrik have had successful after hours parent Meets. Our specialist teachers will be sending out information virtually about student expectations and program expectations, while others will formally hold virtual meetings. The goal is to keep you informed. We often find, even in a small school like ours, it is often a challenge to keep the lines of communication open.

 

I'm happy to say that we have all our seniors who wanted an Internship placed. Next week, I hope to give you more information about where they are in the community. We are beyond happy to have our first internships at the Harbor Departments and the Power Company. We really appreciate the community taking our seniors under their wings in order to give them some real life experiences before we have to let them fly off to their next destinations.

 

We have had normal seasonal illnesses that you see in our line of work. Some belly aches and headaches. As I reported last week, the new testing protocols from the state require a formal test( sent off island with a two+ day turn around) even after a negative rapid response test. So, this week we had one case in which we are now waiting for the results after a negative rapid test. Also, Please remember to follow the RIDOH rules if you travel out of state. Depending on the state, a negative COVID test may be required to return to school.

Generally, grades in Aspen for 8-12 students reflect how a student is doing within a two week range. This means that if you look in Aspen during most times in a quarter you can get a general sense( give or take a few assignments still needing to be graded) of how well your child is doing in a course. At Mid-quarter and at the end of the quarter grades accurately reflect performance. So, with that said, Mid-quarter is upon us, and next Tuesday is our high school teacher's deadline to update grades in Aspen to reflect accurate student progress at the mid point of quarter one. I encourage you to look in Aspen this year if your child is in grades 8-12, and to contact teachers directly if you have questions or concerns. If you are having trouble monitoring your child's grades in Aspen, please let me know.

As mandated by our state calendar, each month has one DL ( Distance Learning) Day. This Monday is a virtual-only day in which students will not meet live with teachers. Students should refer to their Google Classrooms for assignments.