UPDATES For 2020-2021

 Information on Fall Re-Opening  

Link for the Guidelines and Information for Online meetings

April 1, 2020

Good Afternoon Stafford Students!

 

I wanted to take a few moments to provide you a couple of important updates. 

 

NOTE: This is written to the students but I am also including families and staff members so we are all on the same page!

 

1.  April Break will happen as scheduled!  Phew!!!  Woohooo!!! Our break will be the week of April 13th – 17th.  I encourage you to get away from the screen during this time while also abiding by the Stay Home, Stay Home order from the Governor.  It is imperative that we all follow this directive and keep our physical distance so we can flatten the curve.  The faster we do that, the faster we get back to life as we know it. 

 

2. Attendance – Please make sure you are checking in with your teachers!!  You will be marked absent if you do not have an educational exchange with them on any day you are scheduled to be with them.  An educational exchange can be one of the following: participation in a Google Meet, turning in an assignment that is due, emailing with your teacher, talking to your teacher on the phone, texting with them, etc.  It is NOT  accepting a Google invite for the rest of the school year.  It is not saying you are awake.  It is not logging into your Google Classroom and not doing any work. You must have communication back and forth.  You must, in some way, show evidence that you are working on your assignments and communicating that information to your teacher. Again, if you normally see a teacher on an ODD day, check in with them.  If you normally see a teacher on an EVEN day, check in with them.  You all should be checking in with your program teacher EVERY day!!!!! If you have questions, please ask!  

 3. Grading – We will still be assessing you during this remote time on your academic, pertinent/possible technical, and professional skills. In fact, Quarter 3 progress reports are on their way! It is important that all of you stay engaged so that you are staying on track for graduation and, for those coming back next year, meeting requirements for returning to Stafford. Attendance and engagement are more important than ever! 

 I know that this is not ideal, far from it! I would much rather be visiting you in your labs and seeing your work in person. I ask that you engage, work with your teacher to complete assignments, and reach out if you are having difficulties.  The entire staff at Stafford and your high school are available to you.  

 Teachers, I ask that you copy this message and place it on your Google Classroom as an announcement.  Just in case an email is missed!  

 Families, I ask you to remind your students of these important reminders.  Engagement is key!

 Thank you, everyone!  I am so proud of everything you are doing in these challenging times. We will get through this!  

 #staffordstrong

 

❤Mrs. Connor

March 25, 2020

Good Morning Students and Families!

I wanted to share this resource with you.  It is a link to FREE wi-fi hot spots that are available statewide.  Many of you are dealing with everyone in your family needing internet access and stretching your bandwidth or no internet at all.  Hopefully this will help some people with limited or no internet service at home.  Be well!!!

Hello from VSAC’s Educational Opportunity Center (EOC)!

 

We all know that not having internet access can be a huge barrier for the people we serve. Luckily, we have a new resource available, a map of public Wi-fi hot spots that can help those who don’t have access to internet.  They can access from outside of the buildings, and the map is color-coded and provides info for each location as well as a password if needed. I encourage you to play around with it a bit and pass along to anyone who might benefit! See the link below.

 

https://vtpsd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=c926d155167d4a5586e8e1aca1701cfa

 

Thank you to Amanda Moore at VABIR for forwarding this excellent resource from Cindy at Department of Labor!

Melissa Connor

~~~~~~~~~~

March 22, 2020

Good Evening Stafford Students and Staff,

Tomorrow is a new day for us.  We will be together as a learning community but it is going to look very different than it has.  This past week your teachers, para educators, secretaries and administrators have been working around the clock to make certain we are ready to go on Monday.  The district IT Staff has been amazing making all things possible. I have been so impressed with the can do attitude of everyone.
Each instructor has shared their Google Classroom with Ms. Allard and I and I have been so impressed with the amount of engagement that has already taken place.  As my husband and I were sipping coffee this morning he asked what alerts were chiming away on my Ipad.  I smiled and told him it was Stafford engagement in action!  Each chime was a student commenting on a post or turning in an assignment.  I asked him if he wanted me to turn the alerts off and he said not to “because I can see how happy you are each time it goes off.”  He is absolutely correct!  Every chime is a connection to each of you that I will miss over the next couple of weeks.  I am so proud of each of you for giving this your very best effort.  I realize that this is not the ideal situation but we are going to make it work.  Be patient as we work through the inevitable issues that will arise. Communicate if something is not working for you.  Reach out if you are feeling overwhelmed.  We will get through this one day at a time.
Please reach out if you need anything.  Mrs. Allard and I are available throughout the day, just send  an email and we will get back to you as soon as possible.   We would also love to hear how you are doing in general!  Stop by for a “virtual mint” and we can chat.  We miss you all already and cannot wait to see you all in person very soon! Be well.
Mrs. Connor

March 20, 2020

Dear Students and Families,

I am sure you have been inundated with emails, phone messages, and social media posts so I apologize in advance for the length of this communication! I want to lay out the plan that Stafford Technical Center has put together along with the expectations we have for the next two weeks. Additionally, I have included a link  to a letter from our school counselor, Lori Cillo, with some tips and resources around dealing with anxiety and depression. In times of change and uncertainty, we all react differently. We want to make sure you are aware of the resources that are out there to help you.

· Remote learning will officially begin on Monday, March 23rd. School is in session, we are not on vacation, and we need students to actively participate. Yes, it will look different, but we need to do the best we can to encourage engagement. Teachers have, or will, reach out as to individual expectations. Students should be checking their Stafford email on a daily basis.

· Several Google classrooms are already up and running and students have been contributing and submitting assignments. As a parent, you can request that the instructor add you as a parent/guardian so that you can keep track of assignments and whether your student has turned things in or not.

· Our expectation is that students are fully participating in the lessons that teachers are preparing. If a student does not have technology at home, instructors have mailed assignments out and we ask that they are working on those. Expect a phone call from each instructor to check-in with you.

· Teachers will take daily attendance in Infinite Campus at the end of their work day. If you meet with a teacher daily, you should be checking in with them daily. If you meet with a teacher on odd calendar days, you should be checking in with them on odd calendar days and the same for even days.

· Examples of being present include: participating in a video chat or a phone call, contributing to a discussion board, turning in an assignment, exchanging an email with the teacher, etc.

· A student will be marked ABSENT if he or she was expected to engage in some educational exchange and did not. If you submit work after a teacher has submitted attendance, they will notify Ms. Delpha the next day and she will adjust the attendance status. Parents, if you receive IC alerts regarding attendance this will allow you to know if your student is participating in class or not. All attendance questions should be first directed to the instructor that marked the student absent.

· For students that do not have technology at home and have had packets of work mailed home, you will be marked absent with a note that class materials have been mailed. Once your teacher and you have made contact regarding your progress, attendance will be changed to note you are on track. Again, teachers will be reaching out to you by phone.

· Teachers are available for one on one conferencing and students may request assistance through Google classroom or email. Many have set-up “office hours” where students can sign-up for this conferencing time.

Our number one priority is keeping everyone healthy and engaged in their education. At home, work to establish a schedule for when school work will be completed and, if possible, a designated area for that work to be completed. Encourage hand washing, social distancing, and good sleep, nutrition, and exercise habits. As I told our staff, this is a time for “structured flexibility.”

Should there be any technical issues, be patient with us. As updates are needed, I will communicate those out to you. As one of our instructors said, “We are building this plane as we fly.” I am so thankful for the resilience, dedication, and engagement of our school staff, students, and parents as we move to this remote learning platform. Please be safe and stay healthy.

Sincerely,

Melissa Connor, Director

March 17, 2020 A Message from Superintendent Wolk

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, and this is Superintendent Dave Wolk.  Many thanks to all of you for your cooperation as we navigate through these uncharted times.  I hope you feel the loving embrace of your schools.

I’d like to update you on what we feel is a creative, safe and effective way to deliver meals to all Rutland students.

We are committed to strengthening our community by providing healthy and well-balanced meals to children year-round. In accordance with Governor Scott’s directive, all schools in the district will be closed beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, March 18. While schools remain closed, for however that long that will be, we will continue to feed our students.

We will be preparing bagged meals (breakfast and lunch) out of our production kitchen at Rutland High School, where our professional staff will prepare meals in a safe and sanitary environment.  School buses will then be distributing these meals at 10 locations around the city between 11 am and 1 pm, Monday through Friday. We will begin the distribution tomorrow, Wednesday, March 18.

In addition to the five locations at Northeast School, Northwest School, Rutland Intermediate/Middle Schools, Allen Street Campus and Rutland High School, look for our yellow school buses in the parking lots at the College of St. Joseph, Mount St. Joseph Academy, Christ the King School, the Salvation Army and Ocean State Job Lots.  These locations can also be found on our website. We are trying to make the distribution as convenient as possible.

Meals are available to all children under age 18, regardless of school enrollment.  No application or prior approval is required.

We want our children to continue to be healthy, well-nourished and able to continue learning even while schools are closed.

As you know, each school has developed their own approach to remote learning that will begin on Monday.  Please communicate with your teachers and school leadership if you have any questions.

I look forward to welcoming students back once it is safe to do so.  In the meantime, please take care of yourselves, your families and your neighbors.

March 16, 202o

I will be providing daily updates to all of you as we move through this new frontier called COVID-19 and remote learning.  Many of you will have questions that I cannot answer at this time but I will do my very best to find out the answer for you. As you heard from Superintendent Wolk’s message yesterday, Stafford Technical Center will be closed until April 6th.  Today and tomorrow are optional in regards to attendance.  Students will not be penalized for missing these days.  I am going to do my best to outline that plan we have in place at this time. Please keep in mind it could change and I will update you as it does.
This Week:
1. Our instructors are preparing to move to a remote learning environment.  Individual teachers will be communicating with your student as to how this will work.  For many of our students without technology at home, it means we are preparing hard copies of assignments and mailing them home. Some instructors will do a hybrid of online and hard copies.  This is still being developed and we will share more as it solidifies.  Remote learning will begin on Monday, March 23rd for all Stafford students.
2.  If a student needs a Chromebook for use at home, they may come to school to pick one up.  If your child is a Rutland High School student they should go to the RHS Library.  If they are from another high school they should come to the Stafford Office through Friday of this week.  We will be in the office from 7:30 AM – 3:00 PM each day this week.
3.  If you need internet access in your home, please reach out to your high school as they may have resources to help you during this time.
4.  School meals – each of our partner high schools are making arrangements to have meals available to students that normally receive assistance.  Please reach out to your home high school for this information as well. As information is shared I will pass it along.
5. Special Education Services: If your student is on an IEP or 504 they will still have access to services, just in a different format.  Ms. Gides is working with all of our partner high schools to make arrangements for this.  She will be available for  any student during our time away should they need assistance and may be reached at [email protected]. She will be available  for both program and academic assistance. Message from Ms. Gides:  “I have gone around to programs to let all students know that if they run into difficulties with their Stafford work (program, academic, and online classes) to reach out to me via email.  If I can’t assist via email we will set up a time to talk on the phone or via google hangouts.  I am also going to set up ‘office hours’ for any students currently scheduled into the Learning Center so that students are able to independently schedule time with me via google calendar.”
6. School Counselor:   Our school counselor, Lori Cillo, will be available to support students and families throughout the school closure.    If students have questions or concerns regarding academics and classes, scheduling and credit, college/post secondary planning, career planning, or social/emotional concerns they can reach Lori via email at [email protected].  Lori can also be available by phone as needed – just email the request for a phone call and she will connect with you by phone during the day. 
7. Parent teacher conferences: If you had a conference scheduled the instructor should have reached out to you to schedule by phone or email at a mutually convenient time.  This would be a great time to ask questions of your instructor about this transition!
 
If you have questions regarding a specific class or program I encourage you to reach out to the instructor directly.  All contact information for our instructors is on our website, www.staffordonline.org.  This is uncharted water for all of us so I ask for your patience as we navigate these waters together.  One way or another, we will get through this and our hope is that we will all learn something from it whether it be new technology skills, patience,  or compassion. One day at a time.  
 
Please reach out if you  need assistance!  
 
Melissa
 

Melissa Connor, M.Ed.

Director/Principal

March 15, 2020

Good evening. This is Superintendent Dave Wolk. I imagine you already know this but I wanted to reiterate the statewide school closure news from the Governor this afternoon, and to reassure you that we have planning in place to serve our students. Student attendance on Monday and Tuesday is a family decision. No student will be penalized for not attending school. There will be no classes or activities in school buildings from this Wednesday, March 18 until Monday, April 6 at the earliest. Your school staff had already started planning for this possibility. We will have more news for you soon in the next few days, including on our website, regarding continued learning from home and the delivery of nutritious food as well. In the meantime, stay healthy, and be a good neighbor. That is our priority.

Links to our partner schools and from the RCPS district

Information from the RCPS district Re: COVID-19 

Mill River Information

Otter Valley homepage

Poultney High School

West Rutland School

Proctor Jr/Sr High School

Fair Haven Union High School

Mount St Joseph Academy

 

Parent-teacher conferences will look a little different this year. Due to the concerns around  COVID-19, we will be moving to phone or email conferences on March 19th and 20th. If you have a parent teacher conference already scheduled, the instructor will reach out to you to discuss how you would like to hold your scheduled conference, by phone or an email update. Thank you for your understanding and patience.