Schools
Novato Unified School District VLA Middle School Newsletter - November 6, 2020
The students' VLA schedule will remain the same through December.
November 6, 2020
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Hello VLA Middle School Families,
Wednesday, November 11th- Veterans Day NO SCHOOL
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In honor of Veteran’s day there will be no school. This means that there will not be any synchronous or asynchronous work assigned. To our Veterans, thank you for your service and commitment to our nation.
2nd Reporting of Grades Now Posted
The grades for the second reporting period have been posted and can be accessed online through both student and parent Aeries portals. I recommend that you and your child look at the grades posted. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s teacher/s. The next reporting period will be the middle of December for the 1st semester grades.
Parent Education Series
Calling all VLA Families and students! NUSD has an active Tobacco Use Prevention and Education program (TUPE). NUSD staff and students work in collaboration to educate, prevent and stand up to the resurgence of the tobacco industry. Vaping is twice as addictive and accessible to our youth as cigarette smoking. We welcome parents and students to join our TUPE district coordinator Phoebe Smith for a Parent Education night on December 3, 6 – 7:30pm on zoom to learn more about vaping, tobacco and marijuana use among our youth.
Be Respectful. Be Safe. Be Kind. Join NUSD Restorative Practices Lead Specialist, Phoebe Smith in an Anti-bully Education information night January 7, 2021 at 6:00 – 7: 30pm on Zoom. In this session you will learn how to advocate for your child who may be the target of bullying. Learn to navigate the educational system to deal with bullying effectively. Learn more about our Anti-bully program for students that teaches them how to stand up to bullying.
NUSD Flexible in Person Moving to Hybrid, What Does this Mean for VLA?
Middle school teachers, administrators, families, and students met together over a couple of sessions to discuss various schedules for hybrid for the Flexible In-Person classes. The students’ VLA schedule will remain the same through December. Starting on January 4th , the NUSD VLA will follow the approved hybrid schedule as we have many teachers who are teaching both Flexible In-Person and VLA and we need our teachers available to teach their classes at the corresponding times. This is the link to the Hybrid schedule. The VLA team will be meeting to discuss how we will use this schedule to best support VLA students and will share with families how this schedule will translate over to VLA.
Spring 2021 Semester Placement Request for Virtual Learning Academy or Flexible In-Person Learning
NUSD families have the option of remaining in either Virtual Learning Academy or Flexible In-Person learning program or request a transfer for the spring semester that begins on January 4, 2021.
You do not need to complete the form if you intend to have your child remain in their respective program.
To inform us of your choice, you can click on the link here. Informing us of your choice by November 20, 2020, will give you priority for the requested change. Requested changes are not guaranteed. Forms received after November 20 will receive lower priority on a waitlist. We will honor the waitlist and make placements as best we can until January 15, 2021. For purposes of classroom continuity, placements will remain for the rest of the school year. Unique cases will be addressed as needed.
Aeries Parent Portal and Parent Google Classroom Updates
I encourage parents to regularly check their parent portal of Aeries for updates on students’ grades and missing assignments. If you don’t have access or remember how to log into the platform, please email help@nusd.org for support. I also recommend that parents be added to the Google Classrooms as parents/ guardians. If you are not currently connected to your child’s Google Classrooms, please connect with the teachers to add your email address for the daily or weekly updates. Teachers maintain Google Classroom and Aeries regularly which will indicate missing assignments and scores on assignments. Being linked to Aeries and Google Classroom will help you to engage in conversations with your child around their progress in each of their classes.
Amanda Davis and Elizabeth Olinyk
Co-Principals, Virtual Learning Academy
This press release was produced by the Novato Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.
