Hello East Middle School Families,
We are getting closer to the beginning of the school year. We are hoping to give you small doses of information that will be helpful to understand logistics of the school year. Last week we promised to provide answers to frequently asked questions. The following items address some of these questions.
Attendance
Distance Choice
There will be an attendance "Question of the Day" that your student is expected to answer every day. They will log into their Advisor's Canvas page to answer the question by 3:00 p.m. Automated absence notification calls and emails will be sent to households after 4:00 p.m. if your student has not responded. Individual teachers will reach out to students and households if attendance and/or engagement issues are noted in individual classes.
Hybrid
In-person: Period attendance will be taken by the teacher during each class.
Remote: There will be an attendance "Question of the Day" that your student is expected to answer. They will log into their advisor's Canvas page to answer the question by 3:00 p.m. Automated absence notification calls and emails will be sent to households after 4:00 p.m. if your student has not responded. Individual teachers will reach out to students and households if attendance and/or engagement issues are noted in individual classes.
Music/PE Period
Music: Regardless of Hybrid or Distance Choice placement, music will be delivered online. Music teachers will be providing direct instruction online at least two days a week. Instruments will be utilized for music instruction.
Physical Education: When students are attending school, they will participate in their Physical Education/Health class. Hybrid students will not change for physical education; they will have no access to locker rooms. Distance Choice students will have on-line instruction twice per week.
Hall Lockers
Middle school students will not be using lockers for at least the first semester of this school year. Students will be allowed to carry a backpack into their classes. The goal is to limit passing time in the hallways and reduce students congregating between classes.
Hybrid Schedule
Many students will be following a Hybrid schedule found in Skyward Family Access on September 8. Students have been placed in either an A Group (meeting in person on Mondays and Wednesdays) or a B Group (meeting in person on Tuesdays and Thursdays) to experience live, on-site instruction. The remaining days will be filled with remote learning activities. Teachers will set up the work to be done on remote days at the end of each in-person lesson. Canvas will house information for each type of learning day whether in person or remote. Everyday, teachers will be available for virtual office hours at a set time in the schedule, enabling all students to see and interact with their teachers every day of the week if desired. Virtual office hours are a great time to get questions answered on remote learning days. On Fridays, students will engage in team meetings, help sessions, enrichment activities, test taking, and other activities that teachers will develop to address student needs.
Distance Choice Schedule
We also have many students who have elected to attend Wayzata Distance Choice. Wayzata Distance Choice students also have a schedule that can be found on Skyward Family Access on September 8. Choice students follow their schedule through the school day in order. Meetings times are synced up with the on-site Hybrid schedule to facilitate teachers who work in both programs. Choice students are assigned to a middle school team of teachers primarily from their home school and have an advisory class. Students use Canvas to access materials and manage their learning. Students will engage in a mixture of synchronous (live lessons via Zoom) and asynchronous activities (recorded, or otherwise directed). Students are expected to participate in school in real time. Many Distance Choice classes will follow a similar meeting pattern to those represented in the A/B hybrid model. On Fridays, students engage in a number of types of asynchronous learning activities.
Orientation
Wayzata middle schools will not be having students in the building for back-to-school and orientation type experiences. All three middle schools will be doing a virtual Curriculum Night. A link to the virtual Curriculum Night Presentation will be sent to families on Thursday, September 10, and on the website. We realize this is a disappointment for some students and families. Due to the many constraints in staffing and scheduling the Hybrid and Distance Choice models, the middle schools have needed every bit of time to focus their time and energy in re-scheduling all students and creating the best and safest possible learning experiences. Our middle school teachers are exceptional at helping students become comfortable with our routines and procedures as well as quickly building authentic relationships and realize this will be even more important this year.
Wayzata Learns and Staying Safe at School
For more information, please check out the Wayzata Learns webpage.