It was great to have all of our students actively engaged in virtual learning this week. We have found that as the week progressed students began to settle into the routine and become more comfortable with the virtual learning environments. 

Below are a few key items of note for the upcoming week. 

• Virtual learning surveys: Please know that your feedback on how virtual learning is progressing is important. ISY is surveying the students, parents, and teachers to ensure we are delivering a well balanced program. Please complete the parent survey which will be emailed to you this afternoon. 
• Attendance to virtual classes– Attendance will be taken in each class. If a student is not present for their lesson we will email students and parents letting them know that their child is missing a learning opportunity. Attendance is taken within the first 10 minutes of class. Therefore if a student is late to their lesson, there is a high likelihood that the student will be marked absent. To avoid this from occurring, students need to inform their teacher if they arrive late to class so that attendance can be adjusted. In middle school, we are working on taking attendance through a survey system where students answer a random question. This is being done in order to maximize our teaching and learning time with students.  We continue to work with students to ensure that the students understand the system we have in place. We will begin emailing parents next week if their child is not present in class. Please know that our goal with emailing is not intended to be punitive but is simply a means of communicating. We understand it is hard to keep track of your teenager’s learning when school is virtual and this is our way of providing immediate feedback to students and parents. 
• Students have been asked to keep their camera on during zoom lessons. This has been requested for a few reason:
• To provide feedback to students as they complete a tasks
• To be able to utilize hand signals during the lessons as a means of communicating and checking for understanding.
• Ensure students are actively present and not simply logged into the session, but not physically present. 
• To ensure the person behind the tile is actually an ISY student
• Teachers have been instructed to remove any person who is not a student from their zoom call. If you have questions or concerns about a class, please contact the teacher.

Virtual Back to School Night 

Even though school is virtual it is important that we get to know each other. The purpose of this evening is to learn valuable information about your child’s classroom experience. Build connections and establish understandings.  Teachers will host zoom sessions to introduce themselves and provide an overview of their programs. This evening is not the time to ask student specific questions. If after the event you would like to ask student specific questions, please schedule another time to meet. At the end of each session, you will be provided with e-mail contact information for your convenience.

You will be provided zoom links to your child’s back to school night appointments on Tuesday of next week. 

Wednesday, September 9, 2020: High School Back to School Night  

5:30-5:45 – Opening remarks from Ms. Powers and Dr. Hedger- This link will remain open for the duration of the event. If parents have questions or concerns, we will be available at this link to address them.

5:45-5:55- Day 1 Period 1 

6:00-6:10- Day 1 Period 2 

6:15-6:25- Day 1 Period 3

6:30-6:40- Day 1 Period 4

10-minute break

6:50-7:00 Day 2 Period 1

7:05-7:15 Day 2 Period 1

7:20-7:30 Day 2 Period 3

7:35-7:44 Day 2 Period 4

Thursday September 10, 2020:Middle School Back to School Night

Grade 6: 5:30 PM

Grade 7: 6:15 PM

Grade 8: 7:00 PM 

Tuesday, September 8, 2020⋅ 5:30 – 6:30pm: 9 Grade Parents Virtual Meeting – Setting the Stage- 

Thursday, September 10, 2020. 5:30 – 6:30pm: Senior University Virtual Meeting Thursday, September 10⋅5:30 – 6:30pm

Blogs
Secondary School
Elementary School
Athletics & Community Education
Service Learning
Global