Home

May 20, 2020

We hope everyone is having a great week. As a reminder, this coming Monday, May 25th is Memorial Day and a holiday for students and staff. We will not have remote learning assignments on Monday, but we ask that families take time to reflect on the importance of this national holiday. On Memorial Day we honor the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the U.S. military. This is a sacrifice they made for us. And their families deserve honor right along with those who served. In Davie County, we are proud of our patriotic spirit. Times like we are in now have forced us to put things into perspective and to recognize the people, places and things that we may have previously taken for granted. On behalf of Davie County Schools, join us as we take time to respectfully show honor on Monday.

April 27, 2020

With the recent closure for the remainder of the school year, the SBE has updated the remote learning grading policies. Please see the updated DCS Grading Procedures per SBE Policy (4/23/20) below:

• Grades 9-11

• Grades 6-8

• Grades 3-5

• Grades K-2

There will be Google Hangouts to help answer questions you may have or provide clarification. These will be at the following times on Wednesday, April 29th:

1:00 - Grades 9-11

• Meeting ID: meet.google.com/bae-ivru-ioa

• Phone Numbers

  • (‪US‬)‪+1 860-407-2126‬

  • PIN: ‪723 524 153#‬

2:00 - Grades 6-8

• Meeting ID: meet.google.com/xon-ebnk-koi

• Phone Numbers

  • (‪US‬)‪+1 385-393-5203‬

  • PIN: ‪852 385 675#‬

3:00 - Grades K-5

• Meeting ID: meet.google.com/zef-bwox-dop

• Phone Numbers

  • (‪US‬)‪+1 405-796-8370‬

  • PIN: ‪202 129 608#‬

We will communicate these changes to students/parents later this week (possibly Thursday). We will also work with school administrators and instructional support staff at each level to create the forms/documents needed for final grading/end-of-year.

April 24, 2020

Governor Cooper Announces Schools to Remain Closed

Today the NC Governor announced that school buildings will remain closed for students for the remainder of the school year. Your team at Davie County Schools has been very strategic about focusing on the near future and what it is in the best interests of students, while also preparing for an extended closure, in case this happened. Students and teachers are both finding a rhythm with remote learning, and the day-to-day will not change. Our remote learning plan is designed to meet the needs of every student and keep them engaged and active, which is a commitment we will continue. Parents and students should both be commended and it is important that everyone be focused in the coming weeks, through the end of the year. Food service will also continue during this time at the current locations, listed on our website and social media outlets.

We don’t know what this means for special events and in particular, graduation plans. What we do know is that this recognition is vital. We are doing everything we can. Please know that we have a Senior Task Force in place, working together to make sure we are supporting our seniors every step of the way during their last days as high school students. We are dedicated to making sure support is a priority for our seniors.

We will continue to provide our DCS families with routine updates regarding the remainder of the school year. We appreciate your patience and support as these important decisions are being made. We will continue to pray for our DCS family and we thank you and our entire community for keeping us all DCS strong.

April 22, 2020

We hope you are having a great week and everyone is continuing to adjust well to remote learning. We have had the opportunity to join a few Google Hangouts classes and remain impressed with the interaction and engagement of our students and teachers.

Resources are being added daily to the Remote Learning Resources page on our district website. We want to bring your attention to a Parents and Student Grading FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) that was added today.

This FAQ is designed to provide additional guidance in answering questions you may have on grading. As always, please continue to reach out directly to your teachers with other questions on grading that may have not been addressed, or with questions and feedback on assignments.

April 17, 2020

Instructional Design Principles for Remote Teaching and Learning:

To provide further support to school leaders and teachers, the Department of Public Instruction partnered with the Friday Institute to develop two guiding documents, with each document having an corresponding one-pager to summarize.

Recommendations for Instructional Leaders and Instructional Design Principles for Remote Teaching and Learning are:

• Instructional Design Principles NC Remote Learning One Pager.pdf

• Instructional Design Principles NC Remote Learning Full.pdf

• Recommendations for Instructional Leaders One Pager 4.8.20b.pdf

• Recommendations for Instructional Leaders Full Paper 4.8.20b.pdf

April 15, 2020

Below is the link to an FAQ document that will, hopefully, provide more clarity around grading procedures during Remote Learning. The document also contains a link to a Google Form to submit other questions you may have.

Google Meets are also scheduled for anyone who still needs clarification after reading the FAQs. We will try to answer as many questions as possible during these Meets but may not get to all of them or have immediate answers. Therefore, we will continue to add to the FAQ document over the upcoming days/weeks, as well as, email individuals or groups of teachers as needed. If your questions are not answered on the FAQ, be sure to add them to the Google Form mentioned above.

Remote Learning FAQs (As before, this is a document for teachers only, not parents or students.)

Google Meet Schedule for Teacher Discussions (Grading)

Please enter Google Meet with your microphone muted. You can enter questions using the Google Form for Question Submission or the chat box in the Google Meet

Thursday (4/16)

9:00: Grades 9-12 -

• Join Hangouts Meet - meet.google.com/bsr-yekb-jap

• Join by phone +1 513-909-3824‬ PIN: ‪444 131 419‬#

11:00: Grades 6-8 -

• Join Hangouts Meet - meet.google.com/nzh-kyba-gsw

• Join by phone ‪+1 530-564-6828‬ PIN: ‪783 396 081‬#

1:00: Grades 9-12 -

• Join Hangouts Meet - meet.google.com/qbb-fhzr-hte

• Join by phone ‪+1 662-608-3303‬ PIN: ‪411 929 845‬#

3:00: Grades 6-8

• Join Hangouts Meet - meet.google.com/ryv-qtqb-jcq

• Join by phone ‪+1 601-640-1009‬ PIN: ‪863 277 955‬#

Friday (4/17)

9:00: Grades K-2

• Join Hangouts Meet - meet.google.com/fya-jndr-ncx

• Join by phone +1 510-766-1940‬ PIN: ‪466 258 542‬#

11:00: Grades 3-5

• Join Hangouts Meet - meet.google.com/hbk-auzh-eqg

• Join by phone +1 413-679-2510‬ PIN: ‪642 043 473‬#

1:00: Grades K-2

• Join Hangouts Meet - meet.google.com/spu-rngq-rmd

• Join by phone ‪+1 929-324-9810‬ PIN: ‪352 497 546‬#

3:00: Grades 3-5

• Join Hangouts Meet - meet.google.com/bip-chyx-iqy

• Join by phone ‪+1 414-909-6325‬ PIN: ‪495 308 654‬#

April 13, 2020

We want you to know that we have heard your concerns, specifically at the secondary level, about the quick turnaround along with some technical issues to have grades prior to March 13 finalized in Powerschool by last Wednesday. Therefore, the deadline to store these grades in Powerschool has been extended to this Friday, April 17.

We understand that you needed some time to communicate with your students about missing assignments prior to March 13. If students do not have the opportunity to make up these assignments, please use the "exempt" flag in Powerschool. Possible reasons for this may be that a student does not have access to complete the missing assignment during remote learning or too much time has passed since the instruction was provided to be able to complete the assignment. If students had the opportunity to complete the assignment but chose not to, follow your normal grading procedures prior to March 13. Parents and students will see grade changes as they are adjusted and updated. Once you have completed the “clean-up” of all grades prior to March 13, you MUST choose “Recalculate Final Grades” in settings (gear).

All Core 3-5 and All 6-12 Teachers MUST choose “Recalculate Final Grades” in settings (gear) prior to April 17 to establish a baseline for grading procedures during remote learning.

Please ask the data manager at your school for technical assistance. If your data manager is unable to answer your question(s), enter them into the work order system and either Erin Foil or Karen Jimeson will assist you.

April 8, 2020

The State Board of Education asked that districts evaluate their ability to meet several critical factors for remote learning when determining grading practices. After reviewing these factors, we can feel confident that Davie County Schools is providing remote learning to the best of our ability to all grades K-12. However, we cannot ensure that the remote learning we are providing is accessible to ALL students in our district. Therefore, all Davie County Schools teachers are to follow the following grading procedures: (See the links below)

Davie County Schools Grading Procedures During Remote Learning

• Elementary School (K-2 and 3-5)

• Middle School (6-8)

• High School (9-11 and Seniors)

IMPORTANT: We will be sharing a general message and no new specific information with parents and families next week. This message will focus primarily on continued engagement during remote learning and expectations for continued student growth. The documents shared above are for teachers, not students/parents. Seniors will receive specific information per State Board of Education guidelines.

Over the next few weeks, there will be a focus on supporting you to identify priority standards for grade-level subject areas. The Curriculum Department will support school-level administrators, instructional coaches, and literacy coaches as they provide you support through vertical planning to select these priority standards and facilitate student growth through effective feedback. We are in the process now of considering options on how to address academic gaps as a result of this time of remote learning. We will collaborate with schools and communicate more on this in the coming weeks and months.

April 7, 2020

NCVPS Talks Speaker Series

NCVPS Talks is an online speaker series that facilitates a broad range of conversations about current and future topics of online and digital learning. View the list of webinars at https://ncvps.org/ncvps-talks/

April 9th - REGISTER NOW!

Google Classroom: Tips for Making Your Classroom a Digital Learning Hub Webinar

• • Beginner to Intermediate: Register to Attend, Thursday, April 9, 6PM

  • Intermediate to Advanced: Register to Attend, Thursday, April 9, 7PM

Safety features added to Google Meets

Google Meet has been turned off for all students to create their own session.

A new feature from Google: Students will not be able to get back into a Google Meet if teachers follow Pam Cook's instructions on the video.

Secure Your Hangout Meet After It's Over: DCS Pam Cook (3:09)

This is only for Google Meets created in this way moving forward. Previously created Google Meets links may still be live.

March 30, 2020

We hope remote learning has gone well today! It's been wonderful seeing some awesome posts on social media from families about their day and interactions with so many of you!

Remember that the focus of this week is to get as many students “active” online as possible. Continue to work with your school counselors and school administrators to resolve concerns with “inactive” students. We will be gathering some information from principals to get an approximate percentage of “active” students from today and tomorrow across the district.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Devices and Internet Access: The device distribution Friday and Saturday was definitely successful, and the hard work of the technology department and all the staff who made this happen is extremely appreciated. However, not all parents who received the call came to pick up a device, and we are receiving requests for more devices based on the number of students in a household sharing them. Therefore, a plan is being created for the second wave of distribution based on needs. Please keep in mind that this still will not be a one-to-one situation and multiple students may still be sharing one device. We are working with Yadtel and Spectrum to get everyone internet access, but this can be a slow process.

• Grading: The State Board of Education met last Friday, March 27 and provided some guidance on grading. Although the SBE did provide guidance, more clarification is still needed from NCDPI. District leaders will continue to meet this week and talk with our state leaders on how to best make a plan for grading. Please keep the focus for now on being flexible and giving frequent reminders about assignments and deadlines. If you provide grades for assignments, use the “missing” or “late” flag in Powerschool when you don’t receive assignments from students rather than using a “0” as a placeholder. (DCS Using the Score Inspector and Flags) The consistent message from the SBE is to provide meaningful feedback during remote learning that promotes students’ growth. We’ll communicate more soon.

• Work Order System: Remember to use the SherpaDesk Work Order System to indicate any issues that students/parents are having during remote learning. There are more specific directions for this located on the Updates page on the Remote Learning Website for Staff. Our technology department, curriculum department, media coordinators, tech facilitators, and instructional/literacy coaches will be working to resolve these issues. As expected, there’s a high volume of work orders today, and this will probably continue to be high throughout the week. The following is a list of “first steps” for students and parents when troubleshooting issues at home:

1. Is the student logged into their @dcsstudents.net Google account?

2. Are they connected to their Internet at home?

3. Have they entered their @dcsstudents.net Google account as the username for the zscaler pop-up?

4. If something is being blocked due to zscaler, can they send you the link address (URL) that is being blocked? Enter a work order with the link (ie. Please whitelist puzzle.imgix.net)

March 28, 2020

School Messenger sent...

Good evening Parents/Guardians,

We have been working hard to prepare for remote learning for all students. This means that as of this Monday, March 30, all students’ instruction, activities, and assignments will be provided online. Please be sure to check your teachers’ websites for important information and respond to their emails. If you are unsure where to locate your child’s work, please email your child’s teachers. Keep in mind that this is new to everyone. We will be patient with students and appreciate your patience as we get started.

Through this remote learning process, our goal is to keep students engaged and learning without stress or worry. We are sensitive to the fact that these are challenging times, as we are living this together alongside your family. That being said, we are excited about the new opportunities that remote learning can provide. We will certainly miss seeing students at school, but please know that we are still here for them and your family. Be sure to reach out to your child’s teachers with any questions that you may have. We will also provide additional resources and information on our district website on the Remote Learning Resources page.

Stay healthy, and thank you for your continued support!

March, 2020

As the Curriculum Department visited schools yesterday, it was great for us to see or hear from so many of you, both virtually and in-person! You are learning new ways to provide instruction during remote learning, and we know you are working extremely hard. Through conversations, we heard similar questions at each school site and wanted to provide some information.

• Communication for Parents and Students: We will send a SchoolMessenger to all families before Monday providing any updates about the next phase of remote learning that will begin on March 30.

• Daily Time for Remote Learning and Next Week: As part of the Remote Learning Expectations FAQ for Teachers, we provided approximate times for each level for daily remote learning. Keep in mind that this first week you will want to not provide too much, too soon. Instead, focus on building an “online culture” where you make connections with students much like you do at the beginning of the school year. They will be happy just to hear from you, hear your voice, and connect with others in your class(es). To keep parents and students from becoming overwhelmed, make this next week fun, engaging, and all about getting everyone active online. Your assignments should be clear and students need to understand your expectations. A “week at a glance” would help students and parents know how to get started and how to allocate their time throughout the week.

• Distribution of Devices: This distribution is based on the technology survey that went out to families. Many staff members have been working diligently to get these surveys completed. Devices will be distributed today and tomorrow (March 27-28) to families based on their responses. This will not be a “one-to-one” situation, and we still have not reached all families. Please keep this in mind as you provide remote learning. Many households will still have students sharing devices. We will follow up with additional technology needs after this first distribution.

• “Inactive” Students: District leaders will meet next week to discuss a process for “inactive” students during remote learning. As of now, continue to reach out to your students and their families when they are “inactive”. If you are not successful, work with your school counselors to reach out to them.

• Attendance: Please do not take attendance in Powerschool from March 30th - May 15th. Instead, focus on “inactive” students becoming “active” online during remote learning.

• Grading: The SBE will meet today at 11am with this topic on their agenda. We will wait for their decision/directive to provide updates. Please keep in mind that our district leaders will need to meet next week to make a plan based on the SBE’s guidance. As for now, we continue to ask that you be flexible and give frequent reminders about assignments and deadlines. Keep in mind that the focus for next week needs to be on getting all students active online and making positive connections rather than on grading. Use the “missing” or “late” flag in Powerschool when you don’t receive assignments from students rather than using a “0” as a placeholder. We’ll communicate more later. (DCS Using the Score Inspector and Flags)

• Testing: We have received a waiver for all federal tests, this includes all EOGs and all EOCs, as well as all alternative assessments (NCExtend1). NCFEs are required by state law, and we expect more guidance soon from our General Assembly on these exams. We are also waiting for more guidance on CTE exams. There will be a makeup for any students that did not take the ACT this year next Fall. We have not received directives about Read to Achieve yet, but we do expect guidance on this soon.

• Remote Learning Website: The Curriculum Department will continue to update the website with communications and resources. Check this frequently.

Remember to give yourself, students, and parents plenty of grace during this time. Everyone will be adjusting to something new during remote learning. Be patient, flexible, and understanding as everyone adapts to this unique situation.

Reach out to us for support!!!

March 25, 2020

Google Suite and Video Conferencing

Beginning Monday, March 30, teachers will be able to utilize Google Apps for Education and Video Conferencing Platforms for delivering resources and content to students. We have made the decision to communicate the following statement rather than require parent consent. This will be shared via school messenger and posted on the Davie County Schools website.

As you know, technology is an integral part of how Davie County Schools will continue to provide remote teaching and learning for all students. Davie County Schools’ teachers use platforms such as Google Apps for Education and Canvas to allow students to collaborate on school projects, communicate with their teachers and one another, and continue learning regardless of their location. These platforms allow the teacher to deliver resources and lessons to students individually, in small groups or as a whole class. This may include video conferencing between your child, their teacher, and possibly other students in their classroom. Your student should participate in the video conferencing as if they are in school (in appropriate clothing, in an appropriate location, etc). Please feel free to contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions.

In order to make this possible, we have removed two applications from the student Google Suite of additional services:

• YouTube: allows students to like videos and create playlists

• Maps: allows students to create in Google Maps

Students still have access to these services but will be unable to log-in to them with their @dcsstudents.net account.

Remote Learning Platform Checklist

Please make sure you have created your Google Classroom, Canvas, or other approved Learning Management System and enrolled all of your students. Be sure to complete the following checklist:

• Add Principal, AP, and Instructional Coach/Literacy Coach to your Learning Management System

• Include Class Name, Teacher Name, and Office hours of at least 2 hours per day to your Learning Management System

• Establish expectations for students while learning at home. Think of next week as the first week of school. *(Examples- check into Google Classroom daily, participate in posted activities, ask questions, complete work, set up a learning schedule). Include the district expectations for students and parents which can be found on the Expectations Page at https://sites.google.com/davie.k12.nc.us/dcs-updates-resources/expectations.

• Start planning lessons for your classes based on the expectations that have been set by the school and district. Remember to set flexible due dates for all assignments.

• Focus on creating a short video for each lesson you plan. Consider organizing each lesson in Google Slides to reduce the number of posts to your Google Classrooms.

• Contact students and/or parents with the support of school counselors, if they are inactive for multiple days.

• Keep collaborating!! We are in this together!!

• Give yourself (and your students) GRACE!

SherpaDesk Work Order System for Remote Learning

Make sure you can access the work order system. You can access the work order system through the Portal on the Davie County Schools Website. Your username is your full Davie County Schools email address and the password should be davie or davie! Davie County Schools Staff are the ONLY ones who should enter work orders. If neither of these passwords work, please click “Forget”. If you are still having difficulties gaining access to the work order system, please contact John Marshall at marshallj@davie.k12.nc.us.

Use the following steps for entering work orders:

1. Teachers will support students and parents with both remote learning and technical issues to the best of their abilities.

2. If teachers are unable to resolve the issue, a work order will need to be entered into the SherpaDesk Work Order System. Select one of the following classes:

   1. Internet Support: for home Internet problems. This makes us aware of wide-spread issues with home internet.

   2. Remote Learning Support: for questions regarding Google, curriculum websites, software programs, and any other items deemed as remote learning issues for teachers and students.

   3. Technical Support: pertaining to hardware and typical work orders.

3. A Team of “Remote Learning Help Desk” staff will pick up the work order and will support the teacher in solving problems.

March 24, 2020

Greetings Certified Staff!

We hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy! We can’t say enough how much we appreciate ALL of the work that has already been done to take care of our Davie County Schools community. It’s absolutely amazing how much has been accomplished in such a short period of time.

As of now, we know that state officials have implied that schools will be closed beyond the 2-week Executive Order. This means that we will move into the next phase of remote learning. We want to provide you with lots of support and resources as we move into this phase. As you know, Thursday, March 26 and Friday, March 27 are required professional days. We have plans to provide professional development through video tutorials, webinars, and face-to-face sessions that will support this transition to online teaching and learning. To view the schedule visit Plan for March 26th and 27th. Please attend the sessions (remotely via videos/webinars/Google hangout or in-person) that you need to provide quality remote learning for your students. The time you are not attending sessions (remotely via videos/webinars/Google hangout or in-person) can be used to plan lessons and/or collaborate with your grade level/department. Please keep in mind that you must have a teleworking agreement signed by you and authorized by your principal to work remotely.

We have created a website at https://bit.ly/DCSRLResource that will be the “hub” for all updates and resources for Davie County Schools staff. This site will be updated frequently. On this website, you will find:

• Updates about remote learning

• Training videos and webinars

• New software being made available

• Content resources for teachers

• List of remote learning expectations for teachers, students, and parents

We will also provide expectations during remote learning for counselors, media coordinators, reading teachers, instructional coaches, and literacy coaches later this week. District Directors/Coordinators will communicate with EC, ESL, and AIG Teachers. Also, the point person at each school site will continue to work with Teacher Assistants/Classified Staff to communicate and coordinate on-site responsibilities.

We know there are lots of unanswered questions right now about grading, testing, events, the time period we will be out and how this affects the calendar, etc. We are having conversations at the district level and waiting for more direction from state officials and NCDPI. We will keep you updated as we learn more.

We ask that you give yourself, students, and parents plenty of grace during this time. This is an adjustment for everyone, and we all want to be patient as we navigate this unique situation. Be flexible with deadlines, especially as we get started, and everyone adjusts to remote learning. Please be cautious of not overwhelming students and parents with too much too soon. Also, build a positive “online culture” with your students to show them you understand the concerns they may be feeling during these uncertain times. This can be done through:

• videoing/recording a message to your students.

• a read-aloud from a book with an uplifting message.

• posting encouraging messages on your platform.

• adding your personal touch on your assignments through bright colors/graphics.

• making personal phone calls to students/families to check-in.

• any other ways you can help ease students’ minds during this time.

Thank you for all you have done and will continue to do for our students and their families!

March 23, 2020

In an effort to support teachers, students and families with remote learning, we have made the decision to open up a number of Google Suite tools that were not previously available for students. The following is a list of added features:

1. Google Mail for all students PreK-12th Grade. PreK through 8th grade may only email within the Google domain (@dcsstudents.net and @davie.k12.nc.us). This means they will only receive or send emails to students and teachers within Davie County Schools.

2. Google Calendar is now available for all PreK-12th Grade students

3. Google Hangouts has been turned on for all PreK-12th Grade students. We will need to create a consent form for Google Hangouts before we use this technology as a teaching tool. We want to make sure that all students and teachers remain safe with video conferencing. Do not use this tool until you receive further instruction.

You will need to communicate with your students that they can now access their email and calendar through their Google account.

IMPORTANT: Internet Filtering

We have turned on ZScaler Internet Filtering for all DCS devices or a personally owned Chromebook logged into @dcsstudents.net or @davie.k12.nc.us. Users will need to enter their Google account address (@dcsstudents.net or @davie.k12.nc.us) to activate the filter.