2-9-2021

Parent/Teacher Conferences for All Students:  Parent/Teacher conferences are for all students, both virtual and in-person learners.  Students benefit greatly when their parents interact with the teachers and are updated on the progress of the student.  

 

This is the third week of the second semester and parent/teacher conferences are now occurring.  The schools are not implementing the cafeteria style format for conferences this year.  Instead, teachers are scheduling individual appointments for parents to discuss student progress.  A conference may be scheduled for in-person, ZOOM or over the phone.  Teachers have been reaching out to parents by phone and email.  If a conference has not yet been set up for your son/daughter, parents may call the school office or email the teacher directly.  

 

Friday, February 12 - Virtual Learning Day for All Students K-12:  With the tiered bussing system and the staggered drop-off schedule for students, running a half-day of school in person has very little contact time for students.  The district is using the virtual learning strategies for the half days planned on February 12 and April 1.   

 

Virtual Students: Learning at home provides some options for students to be flexible, self-paced and limit face-to-face interactions.  Having said that, being a virtual student takes focus, dedication and self-discipline.  Each school has teachers dedicated to helping virtual students.  These teachers are available for live ZOOM sessions, phone calls, emails and even face-to-face meetings as needed.  All virtual students should be talking or meeting with their teachers regularly. The absolute minimum is two (2) conversations every week, but more frequent is encouraged and needed for most students.  

 

Some of the virtual students are doing well and the online option has been effective.  However, learning at home as a virtual student is not working for everyone  Some students are not doing enough school work or they are trying to cram a lot of work into a few days or even a few hours.  Those techniques aren’t proving out to be effective.    

 

Here is a list of strategies that successful virtual students are using.

1. Keeping a regular schedule; including getting up in the morning at a normal time and going to bed at a reasonable time. 

2. Completing school work on all scheduled school days.

3. Completing all assignments.

4. Communicating with the teacher on school days. (email, ZOOM, phone call, Google Chat) 

5. Showing and talking about their school work with a parent or other person in the home.          

Parents have access to check student work through PowerSchool and the Virtual Learning Platforms of Edgenuity (grades 6-12) and Accelerate Learning (grades K-5).  Every child that is a virtual learner has a specific teacher. This same teacher is also available to help parents in this process as well.   Parents and teachers are encouraged to have regular communication with each other in order to form a team supporting the student. 

 

Updates for Specific Winter Sports Teams:  The winter sports teams have resumed a schedule with both practices and competitions.  The coaches for each team have provided players with the schedule.  The calendar on the district’s website also is a great place to check for current sporting events and other school related activities as well.  www.hillsdaleschools.org 

 

Below are the current guidelines for the winter sports teams. 

 

Basketball:  All participants must wear masks at all times.  Even if an individual receives a negative rapid or PCR test, a mask must still be worn during competition.  If a student has a disability or medical situation that would not permit a mask to be worn, the student would need to obtain documentation of such disability or medical situation from a medical provider (MD, DO, PA, NP) AND complete a negative COVID test within 24 hours (rapid antigen test) or 72 hours (PCR test) for each day of competition and practice.  Both items must be documented and paper copies shall be made available to all officials and opponents prior to each contest.

 

Competitive Cheer:  Competitive Cheer is considered a non-contact sport under the current epidemic order and modifications have been made by the MHSAA to rules in eliminating the most high-risk maneuvers for 2020-21.  Schools and coaches must follow the modifications provided in the MHSAA Return to Play document.  Note that there have been no reported issues by MHSAA member cheer schools and Michigan college programs surveyed of face masks being a hindrance during fall and winter sessions.  All participants must wear masks at all times in all competition rounds and practice sessions.  Even if an individual receives a negative rapid test, a mask must still be worn during competition.  If a student has a disability or medical situation that would not permit a mask to be worn, the student would need to obtain documentation of such disability or medical situation from a medical provider (MD, DO, PA, NP) AND complete a negative COVID test within 24 hours (rapid antigen test) or 72 hours (PCR test) for each day of competition and practice.  Both items must be documented and paper copies shall be made available to all officials and opponents prior to each contest.

 

Wrestling:  All participants must have a negative rapid antigen test on either the day before (done in conjunction with home weigh-in) or day of a meet or a negative PCR test within 72 hours of competition.  All tested wrestlers would be able to compete without wearing a mask during the match; masks would be required of all individuals at all other times during meets and practices.

END OF UPDATE