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Principal's Update - Middle School

January Newsletter

Dear Parents and Students

Parents and Guardians,

We hope everyone is remaining healthy and finding some time to rest and enjoy some snow. Classes for students have started and all courses are published in canvas.

We’ve had a great Fall semester with several student successes:

  • Students are engaging socially on Tuesday/Wednesday with their clubs
  • 40% of virtual students completed the semester with all A's or B's
  • We served numerous families with Thanksgiving and Holiday baskets
  • We opened our own chapter of National Junior Honor Society (students should be receiving invitations soon)

We are already planning for 2022-2023 enrollment!

We will begin registration for next year in late January / early February with a couple of high school credit courses being offered for our rising 8th grade students (honors algebra, honors geometry, and honors world language). Students will need to be recommended by their teachers and in the 8th grade for potential high school courses. Our counselor will be reaching out soon with additional information and links to our virtual informational sessions are listed below.

 

Please take five minutes to complete this parent survey regarding technology.

 

We would also like to provide information for future parents based upon your experiences with the Virtual Middle School. These will be posted on our website and will only include the information you provide below. Please use this link to provide a testimonial for other families.

 

Thank you for all of your support,

 

Laicee Hatfield, Principal

Chris Layton, Assistant Principal

 
Upcoming Important Dates
 
 

Upcoming Important Dates

 

  • January 25th - Benchmark testing for 7th/8th grade
  • January 26th - Benchmark testing for 6th grade
  • February 1st - Rising 9th Grade parent interest meeting (more information below)
  • February 4th - End Grading Period
  • February 8th - Parent/Teacher Conferences (6:00 pm - 8:00 pm)
  • February 21st - No School (Teacher Inservice)
 
 
CASE21 BenchMark Testing
 

CASE21 BenchMark Testing

We will be giving our second benchmark test for your student in the following subjects: ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies the week of Jan. 24th. The goal for the benchmark is to see areas for both strength and growth for our students. The benchmark will be given on their asynchronous day (7th and 8th grade on Tuesday Jan. 25th and for 6th grade on Wednesday Jan. 26th). We will provide students with access to connect to their teachers on the day of the benchmark just if they have questions about how to complete and get started.

 

Below are the times based on subjects for both Tuesday and Wednesday

 

9:00 am - 10:10 am - Math

 

10:25 - 11:35 am - ELA

 

11:35 am - 12:10 pm - LUNCH

 

12:15 pm - 1:25 pm - Science

 

1:35 pm - 2:45 pm - Social Studies

 

What does my student need to do on the day of the benchmark?

Students will log on to Canvas on their asynchronous day and for attendance they will need to take their benchmarks for each class. That will be the assignment for their asynchronous day. We wanted to give students somewhat of a schedule to follow and also provide our teachers as help during those blocks of time. If your student wishes, to take each benchmark consecutively of if they complete the first one prior to the second window for ELA, they can take the assessments at their time and pace. We simply wanted to provide them with access to their teachers to help them get onto the benchmark and answer any questions about connecting etc.

 

What do we do with the benchmark data?

This data helps us drive instruction for future lessons. It allows us to see which standards our students understand as a whole or as individuals. It also allows our teachers to see what standards and lessons may need to be revisited as we work to help enhance our students' skills. In many cases, we can use this data to find specific skills or standards that will greatly help improve student performance. For many of our teachers, they may use this data to set up times to meet with your students either one on one or in small groups for future asynchronous days.

 

What can my student do to prepare for the benchmarks?

 

  1. Get a good night sleep the night before
  2. Wake up on time and have a good breakfast
  3. Take time between each benchmark and let your mind relax and reset
  4. Give your best effort
    1. This benchmark is designed for us to see what our students know and areas where our students can improve. The benchmark is not a grade in the gradebook. We want students to take their time, give their best efforts and we can work from there to help them. Please encourage your students to give their best efforts on the test.
 

2022-2023 Virtual Enrollment!!

Parents,

 

 

We have had a great academic year and are already planning for the 2022-2023 school year!

 

If your student is a current 6th or 7th grade student, he/she will automatically stay with us for the next school year unless the transfer is revoked due to low attendance and poor academic performance. You are also welcome to return to your zoned school, but we ask that you make us aware so we can plan for class sizes.

 

 

If your student is an 8th grade student and you would like to continue with us next year in the high school, you will need to complete the transfer application. We will hold a parent meeting on Tuesday, February 1st for only 8th grade parents (rising 9th graders) to learn more about the high school and the opportunities we offer. This will be a virtual meeting beginning at 5:30 using this Teams Link.

 

 

If you already know that you would like to apply for the transfer, please use this link.

 
Yearbooks !!
 

Yearbooks !!

Yearbook & Ad Purchases

 

CLICK HERE to purchase a KCS Virtual Middle School yearbook. Cost of the yearbook is $30 and personalized ads are as low as $20. The last date to purchase is February 1st, 2022.

 

School Fees

Parents,

The link below will give you access to the schools fees account. School fees are used to purchase software to increase student engagement in the classroom. Our teachers use programs such as Jamboard, Kami, Kahoot!, Quizziz, etc. to measure student learning and provide feedback. The school fees help us to provide different platforms for engaging students in a virtual setting.

 

Senior Fees will pay for the diploma and diploma cover.

 

https://knoxschools.schoolcashonline.com/

 
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Class Schedule

Not sure when your student should be in class? Students should be joining their teachers everyday except asynchronous days.

 

On Tuesdays, 7th and 8th grade students work independently (asynchronously) on their assignment.

On Wednesday, 6th grade students work independently (asynchronously) on their assignment.

 
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Attendance

If students miss more than 20 minutes of class, they will be marked absent. To submit notes to excuse the absences, please email them to virtualms@knoxschools.org. Each student is allowed 10 parent notes and unlimited doctor's notes.

 

We are beginning to schedule Progressive Truancy Plans for students and parents and we need to get those absences excused. To see which dates your students was marked absent, please look in Aspen under your student’s attendance tab.

 

Please view this video for a description of the attendance policy

 

Parents as Observers in Canvas

Becoming a parent observer in Canvas is a great way to be able to monitor your student's work submissions as well as see your child's growth. We also have a canvas page just for high school which houses all announcements and information. Please use the link below for directions.

 

Canvas Observer Directions