Thanks everyone for the kind words! D seems in better spirits today!
D will be EA’ing most everywhere. App State requires it for merit and honors college, and a few others do as well. That’s the main reason she’ll be using EA.
Well, are district released palans for the upcoming school year, Here are the options 1) on campus as normal w/safety precautions 2) virtual only 3) virtual plus for middle school and high school only which would allow them to come to campus for extra curriculars, UIL stuff and certain electives, career center classes.
A Hybrid option was planned but TEA nixed that. They won’t allow funding for hybrid schedules.
More details will be released for families in the coming days outlining safety precautions and requirements for those who choose to return to campus for in person learning and also for those who choose the virtual remote learning option. Those who choose to stay home will have to adhere to the same attendance and grading policies as those who are in person learning.
Families will need to make their choice by July 18 so that the district can start figuring out staffing needs and make schedules.
I watched the entire 3.5 hour board meeting and took copious notes. There’s a lot to figure out in the coming days.
@Momof3B Our district is doing a hybrid of only two days at school and 3 online, but they announced that last week. When did TEA nix the hybrid plans?
Apparently in the guidelines that just came out yesterday…this is a direct quote from one of our school board trustees who just posted on facebook:
“Hybrid Learning - TEA nixed a hybrid plan that would alternate schedule with both in-person and remote learning. The TEA said they will not fund schools if they are not open every school day, unless the Governor has an executive order to shutdown schools temporarily”.
The hybrid model will now only be contingency if Abbott sets mandates on school building capacities…it would be something like this:
M- A Day
Tue: B Day
Wed: Remote learning at home for all (sanitize and clean all facilities)
Thu: A Day
Fri: B Day
DS did both of the AoPS Python courses. The first one was too challenging for him, I think he was in fourth grade or so, and I could not help him at all. I started calling/emailing local university CS dept’s and after several tries found a student to help.
DS currently teaches an online Python and a Java class and I started watching the recordings to see if I could learn too. It was quite difficult for me as they did not do too many examples and he pointed me to sololearn.com which is not bad. Also, USACO has a tutorial function to it and he could also look at projecteuler.net to try and solve some of their questions, if he cannot solve them, often he can google the answers.
Finally, UCF has a great competition coding summer camp if the kid likes USACO type competitions. (By the way, I think the current head of the USACO program is a professor from Clemson…)
@Momof3B I just read the guidelines and they are completely against what our district plan was, I guess they will have to come up with a new plan.
So in Texas, where numbers are not in check, the plan is to put all kids into school FT? Seems a bit crazy to me. Thank God my husband’s not a teacher in TX!
Our school last night presented possible plans; one is the A/B plan noted above. Parents aren’t happy. The state has to approve all plans, but some are trying to have kids in school as normal, but cut lunch so everyday is basically a 1/2 day. The idea is the kids will wear masks since they can’t socially distance. Not sure that will float with the state. Curious to see how parents will react the first time Johnny gets in trouble for taking the mask off.
@NJWrestlingmom Parents do have the option of choosing remote learning and they can change back to in class learning after a marking period according to the guidelines. I don’t know how many parents will choose remote learning, the survey in our district had 80% wanting to come back to school full time. That number makes sense here since we are a lower income district where few parents have the option of working from home.
I would so love D back in school 5 days a week. I just don’t see it happening at this point, at least not in fall. I’m not jealous of the super’s job!
Speaking of school reopening plans - our town is up in arms. We have two K-8 districts (for a town of under 30,000 people - bureaucracy at its finest) and ours decided on that AM/PM hybrid. The other district announced full time school 5 days a week. These are K-8 kids in the SAME TOWN. They are on our sports teams, use the same library, shop at the same grocery stores - exactly the same demographics. It’s nuts.
And the people who are angry swing both ways. Half the people in our district are saying “open the schools, this is crazy - if I lived 4 blocks away the school would be open” and half the people in the other district are saying “I can’t believe that they are essentially making me keep my kids full time online because full time in person is not safe”
These schools can’t win (though secretly I wish my 5th grader was in full time school now). The high school district is the same, so HS kids will do the 2 on 3 off regardless (they are different HS buildings, but the same district)
Ugh – it’s such a difficult situation, and I too really feel for decision makers right now. They must be so stressed.
Our district has said that there will be a fully remote option for families/students who choose that, but they are working on a hybrid model too but we don’t know any details. I’ve heard from teacher neighbors that all the HS teachers are putting their classes on Canvas this summer. My older D has used that platform and says it’s a good one, so at least there’s that.
BUT the state legislature is trying to mandate schools at least start with ALL students in-person. The Gov. is pushing for more flexibility, and I suspect will use emergency powers to grant more flexibility, esp. since some districts have already announced plans for hybrid models that don’t entail everyone in school at the same time on Day 1 (which seems very unwise anyway!) Hate to see this become politicized; that’s the last thing we need.
My S actually mentioned maybe he just wants to do online b/c it’d be consistent and predictable each week. We’ll see what the hybrid option looks like – I suspect we’ll know in the next week or so. One question he has is if he starts hybrid can he switch to fully online and vice versa.
I’m just thankful not to have younger kids right now. I’ve come around to the idea that while not ideal, my S can probably get what he needs out of online classes this year if need be. I think it’s a much different situation for elementary and early middle school grades.
@AlmostThere2018 I agree with your last sentiment. My SIL who has middle schoolers said she feels so bad for our D21 but we are looking at it differently. D21 has had time to adjust to the idea that senior year just won’t be what she expected but she thinks being a junior would be even worse. Those junior year classes really pick up in difficulty and those grades are so important. Very few ECs might be happening. Her old ballet studio has basically fallen apart but, since she left last year, that doesn’t affect her but she feels so bad for all of the dancers there. It’s their entire life outside of school. Younger high school students and K-8 have to make sure to really learn the concepts being taught because they will be continuing with classes in the district next year and up until 12th grade. She has just one year to deal with and then it’s all new again in college.
Her transcript is pretty much set. She knows this first semester will be important but thinks she can hang on enough, no matter how school is taught. This situation is forcing her to look beyond high school right now and get more excited about college. Her expectations for this year aren’t very high so, if anything like prom or graduation happens in the spring, she’ll will be thrilled. Right now, though, she’s all about making the best of it but looking forward to the next phase. She knows that fall 2021 will likely be better on college campuses but, if it’s not, she’s open to taking a gap year.
@homerdog – Exactly. my S too is looking ahead. He’s ranked 17th which is top 8% so he feels good about that. He’s not expecting to add much in terms of ECs this Fall. Hoping to get a good ACT score this month. He’ll be applying EA a lot of places. I suspect some may defer and ask for 1st semester grades so I’ve been emphasizing he has to dig in at least for first semester!
If online, I think my S figures he can be efficient and knock out his schoolwork fairly quickly and then use his time to pursue his interests (one of which, lol, is video games, but he also reads a lot and is voracious about current events and tech industry news). Would also give him more time to work on his college apps and, hopefully, visit some schools this Fall. I’d like to see him volunteer more.
I’m also realizing my S is more nervous about getting COVID than I realized. Recently, he was the one telling me about the not fully understood risks of neurological damage and such
All this said, I think he will be swayed by what his friends are doing/thinking too…
UNC and UVA are notoriously late in releasing EA decisions (Feb/Mar) – I have never understood this. I’ve heard that it may be driven by yield numbers because all of the ED students who get acceptances from other schools pull out of the pool.
Va Tech this year didn’t release EA decisions until early March! It was only 2 weeks b4 the RD decisions were released. I thought that was crazy.
We just got an email from the district school online first 3 weeks and campus closed. That means they will not be hosting the Aug SAT on campus. S was not scheduled to take it, but a couple of his friends were and they are just giving up on the testing.
Am reading that new college freshmen may be able to see their AP scores in their college portals. A little jealous. (Ours will turn up in Naviance eventually, but probably not before they are officially released.) On the other hand, perhaps ignorance is bliss.
The IB scores came out earlier this week for anyone who is taking IB courses. They were obviously scored without the IB exam.
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I emailed the test site for my D’s July ACT in WY and they confirmed they would be holding the test. They also did the June test.
I’m still not confident. lol
One ACT near us has cancelled for July, the other is still open as of now. S21 isn’t signed up for it, but I’m keeping an eye on it in case it’s an indication of whether the SAT happens in August here.