UPdate SUMMARY
- UP School (pre-k-6) Cyber School Day One Accomplished!!! We are leading the state by doing so and our staff are heroes (whether anybody knows it or not!). Praise God!
- 45% of the children in our six After School Programs have been successfully reached and interviewed to learn how they are feeling, what they have heard, and what they need.
- Email from UP Academy (8-12) to parents and families introducing Cyber School sent.
- “All teachers are looking forward to tomorrow, but very tired.”
Dear Friend,
I have been so encouraged by your response to our emails. You care and we feel it!!! Some days you’ll be too busy to read these, but by sending them I give you the option. I want to create every opportunity for us to face this crisis together. We’ll be sending you UPdates, pictures, and stories, sometimes daily, so we are all woven into the community of Kicking COVID. We will need each other and the more you know about what our children, families and staff face the more you can be involved. Since you will probably face many of the same challenges and feelings, these emails help us carry one another’s burdens. I believe the love of our community will grow, and that is the essential starting point to Kick COVID.
Below is the summary of how day one of UPS Cyber School went. I know it would be good to keep things short, but this list gives such texture and feeling to the scale of the task, the level of sacrifice, and the challenge of sustaining it. This is right off the summary emailed to me. You might as well be present at our staff meeting, and that’s kind of what I want. I need to feel you are there with us and so do my staff. And from your feedback, I think you want that connection. The second note is the email sent today to our UPA high school parents and students, simultaneously. Likewise, you’ll see the standards, complexity, and commitment to giving our students a cyber school with substance. What we are striving for is crucial to them not losing ground, but the burden on students and parents is also great. I think volunteers and prayers can help a lot on this point, so stay posted.
I hope you enjoy these two peaks behind the scenes. These days are unbelievably long and exhausting. But to see us making real progress to love our children is worth all of it. Thanks for your help (including reading these Updates!), it feels like hope.
Peace,
Rob
From: Rhonda Raines – Principal UrbanPromise School
UPS Summary 03/18/20
Cyber School Feedback Day One
- Online sessions began today from 9 to 4:50, grades 2 thru 6.
- 3rd grade starting with math only each day for 50 min.
- Anna, Shannon and Faith teach their grade level math, they each teach Soc. Studies (Anna), Science (Faith) and ELA (Shannon) grades 4 thru 6. Each class is about 50 min. long.
- A letter will be sent to parents via email outlining the expectations for the Zoom classroom sessions.
- Those who attend the session with their homeroom teacher (Math) will be counted as present for the day. All other scheduled classes attended will get a grade for participation and graded for any completed assignments.
- Letter about the Foodbank Drive was sent out on ALMA to UPS and UPA families and staff.
- Phone Conference with Tim and Denise. Discussed contacting families, lesson plans, attendance completing processes, DE Dept. Ed. adjusting the school year and standards, how will students be graded( bullet point 5).
- Finalized the Nextiva phone and cell phone set-up with Paul. May be able to send text messages to parents from the Nextiva system with cell phone. Will test run with teachers first.
- Spoke to each teacher one-on-one today to get feedback on their day and to see how they are doing and if they had any needs.
- There was an approximate 70% attendance today for online sessions.
- Pre-K thru 1st started getting assignments turned in by students as of Monday. (Schedule will be coming soon)
- 2nd grade is being taught by Shannon (ELA and Math)
- Theresa and Meloney had positive and encouraging feedback about the 2nd grade session. Shannon was enthusiastic and so were the students and they were engaged.
- Some students missed getting on sessions because they are home with grandparents who were not very familiar with being online live, connection problems. Teachers have already reached out and have solved issues.
- Will be setting up IXL online learning for Pre-K students, Moby Max is too advanced.
- Overall teachers feel good about their plan to teach online going forward and felt fortunate that they started this week which allows them to work out any kinks. All are looking forward to tomorrow but very tired.
Hello Ms. (parent) and (student),
Given the COVID-19 state of emergency declared by the state of Delaware, the UrbanPromise Academy looks forward to educating the student body through the UrbanPromise Academy Cyber School. Teachers have spent the week planning for the best online experience that we believe seeks a full life for all involved.
We will begin cyber classes on Monday, March 23, 2020 and will email out a schedule for cyberclasses this Friday 3/20/2020.
Students will need the following materials to successfully engage in the UPA online course:
- Laptop, tablet or smartphone with accessible camera and microphone
- Wireless Internet (Wi-Fi)
- “Zoom” app (automatically will be prompted to download once invitation is sent out)
- Writing utensils (e.g. pencil and pen)
- Loose-leaf paper
- Smart phone to submit assignments
As we progress with the cyber courses, teachers will communicate/can be reached through the following means – teachers will communicate regularly through email and will ask students/parents to check their emails/phones first thing in the morning, once at midday and once in the evening:
Teachers will be available Monday through Friday during regular school hours, 8AM – 4PM. For extra support, students may schedule outside of school hours to virtually meet with teachers.
Assignments can be turned in the following ways:
- Share with teacher in Google Drive
- Send teacher picture of assignment as attachment via email***
***Child Safety Policy: For safe practices, the staff will include the students’ parents
and/or principal in any communication thread (e.g. email, texts,
etc).
Reminder: Check urbanpromisede.getalma.com to see grades and assignments
Thanks,
Mr./Ms. Teacher