Letter from Lorna Dill: Information for Middle School Families
Lea este correo electrónico en español.
Dear Middle School Families:
We are delighted to have you join or return to the Creative Minds family! Teachers, staff, and I are eagerly looking forward to August 31, when we’ll start the year on a virtual-only schedule.
Lots of thought and planning by teachers and the Leadership Team have gone into preparing for a dynamic middle school adventure for all our students. Yes, we will be in class remotely, but we will be building community and engaging in a rich learning program together.
These are exciting times! This school year, virtual learning at Creative Minds will be an opportunity for us to take teaching and learning to another level. It is our goal for students to develop or rekindle their voice for self-advocacy; have flexible, meaningful learning experiences; and build learning portfolios. Teachers will host small groups and one-on-one learning sessions, which will be opportunities for them to meet the individual learning needs of our students.
Schedule
This will be our schedule of virtual learning on Zoom—Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday—for students in 5th through 8th grades:
- 9:00 a.m.–9:45 a.m. Morning Meeting (Period 1)
- 9:50 a.m.–10:20 a.m. Advisory
A time when teachers will focus on students’ development of new social-emotional skills, Conscious Discipline, and community building - 10:30 a.m.–11:15 a.m. Period 2
Live classes - 11:20 a.m.–12:10 p.m. Lunch
Students will have the option to meet one another on Zoom for teacher-facilitated social interactions. - 12:15 p.m.–1:00 p.m. Period 3
Live classes - 1:15 p.m.–2:00 p.m. Period 4
Live classes - 2:00 p.m.–2:45 p.m. Independent Work (Offline)
This will be a time for students to finish work and get support from teachers and for parents to check in with teachers.
The Wednesday schedule will consist of Enlightenment classes: music, PE, and Spanish or Mandarin. Content-area teachers will be available for small-group and one-on-one learning sessions and for parent meetings.
Students will have flexible, meaningful learning experiences through synchronous and asynchronous lessons. With synchronous instruction and learning, students are learning with a teacher in real time—for example, during a live Zoom class. Asynchronous learning and instruction happen when students are learning away from the group, on their own schedules—for example, when they’re watching a recorded video of their teacher.
In addition to offering academic instruction and support, teachers will focus on meeting students’ social-emotional needs, with regular check-ins, skill development, and community-building activities.
View a printable version of the schedule in English or in Spanish.
Technology
All students in 5th and 6th grades will receive a Chromebook tablet. All 7th- and 8th-graders will receive a Chromebook laptop. We’ll distribute WiFi hot spots to any families that don’t have reliable internet connections. Stay tuned for information about picking up devices and requesting a WiFi hot spot.
Students’ homeroom assignments will be shared on device-pickup day, and we’ll also distribute planners to help students stay organized during the school year.
Seesaw will be our school-wide learning-management system in 2020–21. Seesaw’s student-interaction platform is very similar to the platform for Google Classroom, which our students used last year. We’ll offer tutorials for students on accessing SeeSaw to review assignments and submit them for feedback. And we’ll be sharing Seesaw how-to videos with families.
Questions?
Please email me at lorna.dill@creativemindspcs.org if you have any questions about middle school in the 2020–21 school year. Our FAQs, in English and in Spanish, also have answers to many questions and include more information about social-emotional experiences, academics and the school day, and our school year.
I am looking forward to our time together as a community of learners, when we embark on a safe start to a strong year.
Best,
Lorna Dill
Director of Middle School