Parents/guardians in the Sioux City Community School District have been given the opportunity to elect Virtual Learning for their child’s instruction during the 2020-2021 school year. A family must commit to Virtual Learning for at least one quarter.
Parents that choose the Virtual Learning option will be expected to support their child at home with their learning. It will be the family’s responsibility to acquire the internet in their home.
Training
At the beginning of the year, students will be taught procedures that will include accessing Outlook e-mail, accessing Outlook calendar, joining Teams meetings, participating appropriately during instruction delivered through Teams, accessing the District “landing page” that holds the District supported and most commonly used programs/applications, accessing and navigating within Canvas or Seesaw, and accessing the help desk for technical questions or problems. Parents/guardians will receive additional information with details about accessing the training materials. Students will not be required to be on-site for training.
View technology resources for guidance and support.
One-to-One Device Program
Each student enrolled in Virtual Learning will be given a laptop or learning device. This device is property of the District but will remain in the student’s possession throughout the school year. Students will be required to use the device for various class and curriculum activities. All appropriate use policies for technology use apply. Students will be required to follow policies and procedures defined in the acceptable use agreement.
Instruction
Instruction provided to students during Virtual Learning will be required to be completed with attendance taken by teachers, grades issued, and credit awarded. Students will receive instruction from high-quality Sioux City Community School District Virtual Learning instructors.
Parents/guardians that voluntarily elect Virtual Learning for their child will have access to the same high-quality common core classes and curriculum. However, some exploratory courses and/or elective courses may not be available through Virtual Learning. View a list of current courses available through Virtual Learning. A student’s class schedule for the upcoming school year may need to be modified if Virtual Learning is selected. Call the school counselor from your child’s school for assistance with this process.
Virtual Learning will occur five days a week. The number of hours students will be logged into virtual instruction versus the number of hours spent on assigned work will vary by grade level and course. Virtual Learning instructors will contact parents/guardians and students to provide details about when to log in and which programs/applications students should use.
The items on this school supply list will be necessary for students to fulfill learning assignments this year.
We recognize each student will have unique needs in preparing for this school year’s grade-level learning. Our educators are ready to scaffold and differentiate instruction to help each student learn the critical concepts necessary to be grade-level proficient. We are committed to the success of each student. During the first month of the 2020-2021 school year, assessments will be administered, and data analysis conducted to determine the educational level and proficiency of students. The data will help educators make informed decisions to serve each student’s individual learning needs.
The following assessments will be used to make programming and placement decisions: IGDIs for literacy and math for preschool students, FAST literacy assessment for students in grades TK-5, FAST math assessment for students in grades TK-5, District-developed BME math assessment for students in grades 6-12, Rapid literacy assessment for students in grades 6-8, Open Response writing assessments in grades 9-12 and the District-developed pre-assessment in literacy for students in grades 2-12. Assessment results will be shared with parents at the fall parent-teacher conferences.