We will be using the ACCESS program this year (as we do during the school year) for online courses. This will be mostly virtual, with a small amount of required attendance at the high school each week. More information about attendance, grading, etc. is below.

Students should review the PowerPoint attached with their parents. This has valuable information, including LOGIN information for the ACCESS program.

On June 8th (from 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon) all Summer School students will have a mandatory IN-PERSON training at DHS in the cafeteria. Students will be spaced according to COVID guidelines. The teachers will walk the students through the courses, how to navigate the program, and how to access help that they may need. All students will need to bring their Chromebook and charger. Those who do not have access to their course content yet (as it can take a day or so to be enrolled) will be allowed to leave once the training is complete and questions are answered. Those who have their course available are welcome to stay until noon and begin working. Students will need to bring a mask and wear it for the duration of their time on campus this summer.
ACCESS requires an online Orientation to be complete. The course content will not be available to students until this is complete with a grade of 90 or higher. Those who wish to complete the orientation prior to Monday (in order to begin working on the course right away) can do so with the directions on slide 11 of the PowerPoint attached. Those who have not completed orientation will do so during the mandatory meeting on June 8th. Their courses will not be available until (approximately) 24 hours later.
Parents can review student grades and progress by having their student log in to the ACCESS program and open the grade book for each course. Unfortunately, we do not have a parent portal to see student progress, as this program is not connected to INOW. It is a good idea to have your student log in and save the username and password to a home computer if you have one

Summer School hours are Monday-Thursday from 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Dates for the program are as follows:
Session 1 runs from June 8th – June 25th
Session 2 runs from July 6 – July 23

Half credits are set to be completed within the session dates the student begins them in. (For example: If a student takes Health during session 1, they must complete it by June 25th)
In the past, students have been able to continue working between sessions for full credit classes. The ACCESS and DHS teachers are not contracted during this time (June 26th – July 5th) and thus are not typically available to answer emails right away or grade assignments, but the content is still available. When ACCESS teachers return to work, they will grade what the student has submitted. Students are encouraged to continue making progress in their courses.

Attendance is required for Summer School.

Once per week, students will be required to attend in person. We originally expected that the Summer School session would be entirely online due to COVID, but we have recently received guidance from Central Office and our State Department of Education that students are mandated to report to the school once per week during the Summer School hours. Teachers will be available through email and/or Google Meet or phone conference on days that students are not in physical attendance.
Students are expected to be working on their Summer School work every single day (Mon-Thurs). Those who neglect to do so are at risk of being removed from Summer School courses once they have two absences. There will be a virtual process for “clocking in” each of their virtual days as they begin work, and teachers will be calling weekly/daily depending on the student’s progress. The attendance will be monitored daily.

Each course a student takes will have two teachers.One will be online with ACCESS. This teacher will be available to email through the student’s ACCESS course portal. This teacher is responsible for grading and working with the student to help them to stay on track with the set pace of the course. Students should check their ACCESS messages for each course they are taking every day.The second teacher is a Daphne High School teacher. An English, history, science, and math teacher are staffed and facilitate each course. A special education teacher is also staffed for assisting students that have an IEP and qualify for additional services. The DHS teacher is monitoring student progress and attendance. If you have questions or concerns, this is the first point of contact for parents and students. The facilitator at DHS will also be in contact with the ACCESS teacher.
These courses will not be graded for completion. Although summer school will be similarly structured like our spring virtual learning due to COVID, summer school courses will be graded normally (where a passing average is 60+ and each assignment is graded for accuracy).

Due to COVID, students will be allowed to test from home this year.

Students will start out with a ZERO in their course (these are called placeholder zeros). Every assignment they complete and turn in will replace the zero grade and bring their average up. Once they are happy with their average, they can request their facilitator (DHS teacher) to have them marked complete. A 60 in the course is considered passing. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in a student earning a zero on an assignment. Students need to cite sources when they are writing papers and are responsible for producing their own work.
Once the DHS teacher or counselor confirms with the student and parent that they are complete in their course, they will no longer be required to attend physically or virtually.
 

To recap – students need to:

Complete the online orientation and score a 90 or higher as soon as possible! Monday is the deadline, but we are able to have students get access to their courses early if they go ahead and complete this!
Attend the Summer School meeting on Monday morning at 8:30 a.m.
Report (at least) once per week in person for Summer School and work from home the other days
 

I cannot stress enough the importance of students working every single day. Those who do not will not be able to pass their courses. Taking these courses requires a lot of dedication, as students are taking a full course in a much shorter time frame during the summer.  

If you have any concerns about internet connection at your home please contact cdarby@bcbe.org or slawless@bcbe.org.

If you believe you have an extenuating circumstance that will prevent you/your student from attending in person, please email cdarby@bcbe.org or slawless@bcbe.org.


As always, we are here to help! If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out.

 

Sincerely,

Chesley Darby