Go to bit.ly/ccsdlearningfromadistance to view all updates from ChurchillCSD. All updates on the Learning from a Distance website are available in English and Spanish.
Nominate someone who you think is a ChurchillCSD All-Star
Please submit someone who is a Champion right now--a student, staff member, community member, or parent--Let’s celebrate the awesome job everyone is doing!!
Fill out your nomination at: bit.ly/ccsdtop10
Plans for the Remainder of the School Year
Based on the Governor’s continuation of physical school closures, the district will continue with our Learning from a Distance plan through the end of the school year. Currently, the last day of the school calendar is May 29, 2020. We will be working with the Nevada Department of Education over the next several weeks to determine exactly what the remaining five weeks of school will look like for our learners and staff. Please continue to monitor email, our district website, and Facebook pages for the most current information. We recognize and understand the anxiety and stress that is being felt across our community, as we observe it in our staff and we hear it from our students and their families. These are extraordinary times, and we will come out of this difficult period in a stronger position than before. Please see below for specifics around attendance and grading practices for our Learning from a Distance period. We will address Summer School availability and summer sports and activities (camps, workouts, etc.) in future updates.
Attendance
Our main goal during this time is to support student engagement and learning, while also being fully aware of the unique challenges that this situation presents. Given the disparity in access to curricular materials and supports, participation becomes another basis for holding learners accountable during this period. The state is requiring students and teachers to engage in effective two way communication at a minimum one time per week. In ChurchillCSD, elementary classroom teachers will continue to take attendance with their classroom students and MS and HS Advisory teachers will take attendance one time per week with their advisory students, at a minimum. The attendance requirement is for all students through the entirety of the closure.
Please contact your child’s teacher(s) if you have additional attendance questions.
Grading and Report Cards
This is an exceptional time in the history of public education in America. For many years, experts have been studying grading and reporting to find that the key factor to improve learning in “grading and reporting” is quality feedback that guides the learner and informs specific skills and competencies that are strong or that may need improvement. We have an opportunity to provide learners with information about their learning during the closure that reflects their ability to complete the work, about their skills in relation to the expectation of what mastery is for the work, and also provides us an opportunity to focus on the learning over a letter or number grade.
Grading Procedures
The Nevada Department of Education has reiterated that during Emergency Distance Learning we are to “do no harm.” As such, grading during the 4th quarter will follow a “hold harmless” approach.
For learners in Kindergarten-5th grade, the “hold harmless” approach will have the 3rd quarter grades/marks on the 3rd quarter report card stand and will ensure that staff provide feedback to the work being completed during the time of the closure. The teacher will mark the report cards with comments only for the 4th quarter regarding each student’s work toward skills/competencies and other learning expectations.
*If retainment was being considered prior to school closure due to COVID-19, the teacher and principal will continue to collaborate with families about final decisions.
For learners in 6th-8th grade, the “hold harmless” approach will also ensure that the 3rd quarter grade stands. For 4th quarter, tasks completed will receive teacher feedback to support learning (or those not completed will be marked with an “I” for Incomplete), and only those tasks that help to improve a student’s grade will be calculated into a student’s final semester grade. Parents and students will only be able to see the tasks that are assigned and completed in the gradebook without grade calculations, just performance on tasks (so no progress grade will show for 4th quarter).
With this in mind, it is incredibly important for our students to try to complete as much work as possible during our Learning from a Distance.
For learners in 9th-12th grades, the “hold harmless” approach will also ensure that the 3rd quarter grade stands. Teachers can work with individual students who had a failing 3rd quarter grade to determine best solutions for improving that grade. For 4th quarter, tasks completed will receive teacher feedback to support learning (or those not completed will be marked with an “I” for Incomplete), and only those tasks that help to improve a student’s grade will be calculated into a student’s final semester grade. Parents and students will only be able to see the tasks that are assigned and completed in the gradebook without grade calculations, just performance on tasks (so no progress grade will show for 4th quarter).
With this in mind, it is incredibly important for our students to try to complete as much work as possible and check in with their Advisory teacher and any other teachers they have during our Learning from a Distance.
Seniors specifically will want to engage in all of their courses to ensure they have passing marks should they not have had a passing grade at the end of 3rd quarter. Please note that no graduation requirements have changed, with the exception of the civics exam required by the state (this exam has been waived during this extreme circumstance). We will, however, be working on an individual student basis to ensure that each student has the opportunity to meet the other requirements. We believe that this approach will do no harm to any high school student, regardless of their aspirations beyond high school. Higher education systems across the country have been making many exceptions during this national pandemic.
Please contact Dr. Stephens ([email protected]) or your building principal if you have questions about these procedures. We understand that expectations are different than what has traditionally been in place, and we want to ensure that we honor all of our students and support them in the best ways possible during this unprecedented time.
CCHS Graduation Update
Plans are underway to organize a graduation celebration for the Class of 2020! Just as the saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child,” we want to ensure that our village can celebrate our children! Currently, a team is being formed to have a plan in place with a target date of May 8th to bring together a celebration for May 29th, 2020. This team will include seniors, teachers, administrators, parents, and community partners who will work together through virtual meetings. Even though it will not look like our traditional ceremony because of these unprecedented times, it will be a truly memorable experience for our seniors and their families and friends! If you have a graduation suggestion or questions, please email Scott Winter, CCHS principal, at [email protected].
CCHS Yearbook Sales
A limited number of copies of the 2019-2020 CCHS Yearbook are still available--get your copy today!
Order at www.yearbookforever.com by May 11th!
Internet Connectivity Help
As we continue learning from a distance at ChurchillCSD we want all families and students to be aware of resources available from our community partners to help assure all students have internet access for their learning.
- Verizon is offering an additional 15GB service through the end of May for all accounts. If you have Verizon for your cellular service, you will be able to access that data through your phone as a hotspot.
- T-Mobile is offering an additional 20GB hotspot data per line of service. This offer can be activated on the T-Mobile app, online, or by calling T-Mobile.
- CCCommunications is generously offering internet in homes of students that require access through the end of the school year. We sincerely appreciate the service to our community. For more information about this service, call 775-423-7171 ext. 1450.
- Charter Communications is also offering internet access to homes where students need access through the end of the school year. Call this number for more information: 1-844-488-8395.
We invite all families to reach out to these community partners if these offers would be helpful in getting internet access for your student.
Census 2020
Half of Nevada has completed the census. Have you taken a few minutes to fill out the form? Each person counted will earn our state $20,000 in federal funding over the next 10 years. Doing your census now means a federal census worker will not knock on your door. Online (census.nv.gov) | Phone (844) 330.2020) @NVCensus2020 #BeCountedAtHomeNV
Wear Blue on Wednesday, April 29th
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. As we are not allowed to gather for our fun activities this year, we are asking the community to wear blue on Wednesday, April 29, 2020 to show your commitment to giving the children of our community a #greatchildhood. All children deserve great childhoods because our children are our future! You can share photos of you in blue via email to [email protected] or via Facebook message.
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