Sunday Howl 10.4.20
Hybrid model update- At this time, Explore Academy does not yet have a start date for the hybrid learning model. We continue to wait for permission from the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) and our Governor to provide us with a date where we can begin to bring students on campus. We will keep parents and students updated as we get information.
Interim Assessments - For grades 6-8, PED released interim assessments that are given three times a year and align with the state ELA and math tests. There are three tests (reading, writing, and math).
Students in grades 6-7 will take these tests on October 12. Students will log into their first period (class or flex) and take the three tests with that teacher or flex staff member. There will be a break between each test.
Students in grade 8 will take these tests, one test per day, on October 13, 14, and 15 during their flex periods for those three days.
We will send directions and log in information to students this week.
Clubs- Students will be signing up for clubs again the first week of October 12. It is important that students understand that they need to resign up for the club of their choice. It is not automatic that they have the same club they have had. All clubs will be starting with a new roster for term 3 with new class/ club codes.
Upcoming PTO meeting: Tuesday, October 6th at 6:30 pm
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84239622629?pwd=SE1Rc1JqNXRqdUZKTkp6ZlBYU0IvUT09
Meeting ID: 842 3962 2629 Passcode: 3EveGi
Attention parents and guardians of Juniors and Seniors! - Did you know that your students have been invited to join a College and Career Google Classroom (code: xxbaszi), specifically for sharing important information about upcoming events, opportunities, announcements and deadlines all pertinent to college and career planning? If they haven’t already, please encourage them to join and take a look yourselves at upcoming events and important information:
CNM informational meeting: Tuesday, October 13th at 6:30pm
FAFSA informational video and Money Mondays Oct - June from 3:00-5:00pm
Art - Remote learning hasn't stopped the Wolf Pack from making art! High school students were busy drawing in graphite and charcoal, painting, making mixed media art to share, and creating digital work and even a film. Click here for a tour of artwork made by students during term 1 in Fundamentals of Drawing, Mail Art, and the Portfolio major class. Great job, artists!
School Lunches:
The National School Lunch Program is being extended into the fall for all public schools. This means that school lunches are free at this time. Check the Howl each week for the link that provides the weekly lunch menu. These menus are posted a week in advance.
Place your order by Thursday of each week for the following week using this link: https://forms.gle/Kmxttpk15Dye5edGA
Pick up weekly lunch order on Monday’s at the Explore Academy Masthead location.
If you live too far from Explore we are told that APS and RRPS are also offering seamless meals as long as your child is between 1 and 18 years of age. Parents / guardians can contact the school closest to them.
Click here for the School lunch link: https://forms.gle/Kmxttpk15Dye5edGA
Exit Exams - Exit Exams will be held on October 6 and 7. All students will have exams in all their core classes and in some of the electives. It is very important that your student(s) attend classes on these days. Please notify the school as soon as possible if you know that your student will be absent. In this way we can work with the teachers to provide make-up times for the exams.
Passing Grades - We want to remind parents that in order to pass a seminar (class), students must pass all standards for each class with a 70% or better for middle school and a 80% or better for 8th - 12th grades. It is possible that a student will not pass a seminar if they have one failing grade for one standard, but have a passing grade for all other standards.
Hapara - Explore Academy has reinstated Hapara, its student monitoring software. Teachers can use it to monitor student activity when logged onto their Explore Academy account. Specifically, teachers can see what tabs are open, send messages, create guided browsing sessions, and more, for the purpose of motivating focus on tasks and improving test security. The software only works during school hours.
Chromebooks -students must use their chromebooks for Exit Exams on October 6 and 7. We understand that there have been some issues with using chromebooks during regular online classes, but it is essential that all students use their chromebooks for exit exams.
In order to reduce difficulties with the internet, students should only have two tabs open during the exit exam (unless otherwise directed by the teacher). One tab for their exam and the other for the google meet. Hapara will be used to make sure students are only using the appropriate sites / tabs. Technical problems should be reported to Newell Ramsey, IT@exploreacademy.org
Chromebooks (suggested change) - Teachers are voicing concerns that some students are not using Chromebooks in class. While differing platforms (ie Mac, PCs, iPad, etc) do support the Google Chrome browser, Google Apps looks and behaves differently for those systems and confuses the person trying to learn them (and frustrates the teacher trying to support them). Additionally, our monitoring software “Hapara”, is easily circumvented on Macs and PCs which degrades our teacher’s abilities to supervise students. In short, Chromebooks are a “must have” for our students.
Having technical problems with your Chromebook? - Email N. Ramsey, IT Director, at ramsey@exploreacademy.org