Calendar & Schedules

The school year will start with Grades 9 and 12 in Trade, and Grades 10 and 11 in Academics. The school year starts on September 2nd for Grade 9, and September 3rd for Grades 10-12.

• Grade 9: Students will start in the Exploratory Program. The first day will be an introduction to Vinal and shop safety. The next 13 days will be spent in each of our trades for one day each; this is Exploratory Phase 1.

• Grade 10/11: Grades 10/11 will start the year in Academics. Students will be placed into two groups (Group "A" and "B"), and these groups will determine whether their instruction will be in-person or virtual. The message provides more information about cohort grouping.

• Grade 12: Grade 12 will start in Trade virtually. This is to ensure that there is enough space in trades for Grade 9 to attend Exploratory. Once the 2 cycles for Exploratory are over (mid-October), Seniors will again be physically in trade.

Vinal is instituting a cohort model within the trades and academic classes to support the safety of students and staff. The cohort strategy promotes smaller class sizes for academic and trade classes. Students will receive a cohort letter designation of an “A” or “B” in academics and a separate letter cohort designation of a “V” or “T” for trade. For example, a student could be assigned to the “A” cohort for academics and possibly assigned to a “T” cohort for trade.

Cohorting letter designations for academic classes are assigned alphabetically by last name. Students with a last name with letters A-L are designated as an “A” and students with a last name starting with M-Z are designated with a “B” for academics. When in trade, students will have a “V” or “T” designation for Cohorting purposes, NOT following the same designations as Academic cohorts. Given the unique design of our shops, floorplans, and enrollment numbers, designations are unique to each trade. There will be trades that may be exempt from the rotation schedule and students may be scheduled for five days a week for in person learning during the trade cycle. If this affects your child’s trade rotation schedule, you will receive further communication. Cohorting designations will be finalized and in PowerSchool by Aug 27 and additional communication will be forthcoming by the administrative team.

Our traditional school calendar is unique as it integrates a rotation of an A and B academic/trade cycle. Our hybrid schedule adds an additional level of rotation, as we will concurrently rotate the A/B and V/T groupings for in-person learning within our current schedule. Vinal administration and teachers will continue to send updated messages prior to cycle rotations and the daily rotational schedule will be loaded into the “Event Calendar” on ParentSquare.

Parents/Students can access students’ schedules in PowerSchool:

• • • http://www.cttech.org/parents-students/powerschool.html

    • If you have forgotten your login credentials please email: Lisa.Carr@ct.gov

    • Incoming 9th grade students will receive a separate email regarding log-in credentials by Wednesday August 27