September 13, 2020

This information is important for the upcoming week.

Important Upcoming Dates:

Sept 15 - PSAT registration due
Sept 17/18 - Materials Distribution Dates at Freeman (see below)
Sept 22 - Underclassmen Awards Assembly (2019-20)
Sept 24 - Senior Parent Night
Oct 1 - DSF Back to School Night
Oct 14th - Senior Convocation (10 am)
Oct 29th - PSAT Test (for juniors who sign up)

What we learned last week:

Movement and Screen Breaks: We heard from students and families that this is a long day. We are working on our end to make adjustments, including getting non-xcreen materials to student and closely examining and altering some lesson structures. I want to encourage families and students to take advantage of the breaks between classes, lunch, Freeman Focus (attendance at which is now required only on Wednesdays) for students to get away from screens and out of their seats. We've built longer class transitions and staggered our breaks throughout the day for that reason, and we will continue to look for structural ways to help this.
Webcams: Please help us by encouraging your students to have their webcams ON during class time. Our teacher report that this is a significant element to engaging students and reading understandings. If this is an issue, please contact your child's administrator.
MS Teams: We are working through MS Teams issues and have found some fixes to common problems. If you are having difficulties, please email us at DSFDay1@gmail.com and we can troubleshoot to see if you need to come in person to work with our helpdesk.
Webcams and Microphones: At this point, if either of these are not working, we recommend visiting the in-person helpdesk at Freeman (8:30-4:30) to get them fixed. Both are key parts of the class meeting and we can help.

Freeman Focus SEL Lessons

Starting this week, students will only be required to attend Freeman Focus (directed study) on Wednesdays. For the rest of the week, teachers are available, by appointment, for extra help, remediation, small group instruction and meetings. This time will also be used for class meetings, club meetings and for students to complete asynchronous work for other classes.

On Wednesdays, teacher will be working with their Freeman Focus to deliver social and emotional learning (SEL) lessons. students are expected to attend Wednesday class meetings and participate.

Class Materials Distribution Dates at DSF (9/17-9/18)

Many classes require non-computer materials for our students, such as text books and art supplies. With those materials in the hands of our kids, it allows us to reduce the amount of screen time for our students. This necessitates a plan to pick up those materials from school. We will hold these pick up dates THIS WEEK on the DSF bus ramp. Most teachers for which this applies indicated this information to our students last week.

MATERIALS DISTRIBUTION CLASSES

DSF will hold a distribution of materials on Thursday, 9/17/20 (1:00 – 6:30 pm) and Friday, 9/18/20 (8:00 am – noon). You will need to sign up (see link below) for a time to come to our school’s bus ramp if your child is enrolled in one of the following courses:

Fine Arts Dept:

Blankenship (Periods 3,4,5)
Todd (Show Choir)
ALL ART STUDENTS
ALL CERAMICS STUDENTS

English Dept:

Durrett (Intro to Humanities)
George (English 10 Honors)
Hunnicutt (English 10 Leadership)
McGehee (Reading)
Metz (English 11 Honors)
Spears (English 12 College Prep)

Math:

Nachman (Algebra I, Part 1)

Social Studies:

Divina (AP US History)
Striker (AP US History)

Science:

Booher (Physics)
Vest (AP Chem)

Drivers Ed

Davidson (All Drivers Ed students)

If you are uncertain about your need to participation in this distribution, check your teachers’ course Schoology courses next week or ask you teacher

To sign up for a 15-minute time slot, please use this link:

https://calendly.com/lmhollowell/materialsdistr?month=2020-09&date=2020-09-18

2020 PSAT: Juniors only and Optional and Payment due 9/15!

The optional PSAT/NMSQT will be offered in person for Juniors ONLY on October 29^th, 2020. The cost is $17.00. Please see the PSAT 2020 letter for more information, including COVID-19 safety protocols. Sign up at http://tinyurl.com/HCPSjuniorPSAT. Payments can be made on the Online School Payments system located at www.atdsf.com, under Parent Links. Payment and sign up due by September 15th. Any questions, email the testing coordinator, Mrs. Reilly at csreilly@henrico.k12.va.us.

New Information:

This information has not been shared in a Sunday message yet, so it is listed here for the first time. Consider this the "breaking news" for this week.

Freeman Mascot/Nickname Survey

We are asking the entire Freeman community to take a few minutes over the next two weeks to complete this short series of questions (It’s a 6-question form) about who we are as a Freeman Family. The survey asks you for your views of who we are as a community, what we care most about in a new mascot/nickname, and nickname suggestions. Please include your reasoning with those suggestions.

Freeman Mascot/Nickname Survey (1)

Senior Parent Info Night

Join us for our virtual Senior Parent Night on September 24th at 6:00 PM. School counseling and school administration will provide information to senior parents to help them navigate the year ahead. Topics include senior events, college applications, and financial aid.

Virtual College Tours

The Virginia Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Counselors (VACRAO) is proud to present a Virtual College Exploration program, for all Virginia students, September 14-November 5.

The eight-week program consists of hundreds of opportunities for students to learn about the college search process and about many different colleges through panel presentations and weekly Virtual College Fairs. To learn more, visit https://www.strivescan.com/virginia/

GRASP

Our school has an Advisor from GRASP to support students and families through the college financial aid process, including the FAFSA and searching for scholarships. Our GRASP Advisor is Janet Andrews. You can reach Janet by calling or texting 804 233 0854 or via freeman@grasp4va.org. Virtual appointments are available!

Senior Counseling Lessons

School counselors will be delivering classroom lessons to seniors through their government classes on September 15th and 16th. Counseling will cover all of the information seniors need to prepare to become enrolled, enlisted, or employed after high school! Presentations will be available for reference on the school counseling website. Individual senior meetings will begin the week of September 21st. Each senior will have a one-on-one meeting with their school counselor.

New Information From HCPS:

This section is for information shared from the district level to pass along to families

Microsoft Teams Backgrounds

As Henrico County Public Schools have opened in a predominantly virtual environment, some adjustments are necessary for our students. How students participate in the class meetings will influence the level of success experienced during each session. Students are required to use a generic virtual background, found within Microsoft Teams, or school issued backgrounds. Students are not permitted to create their own virtual backgrounds.

Video Recording Lessons

Please see this statement from HCPS regarding students and families video recording classes or lessons from home.

Information We've Previously Posted:

The information below had been posted in weeks prior, but is still relevant and important. Click the topic to read the collapsed text below it.

Daily Schedule

Freeman has developed its virtual learning bell schedule based on the sample schedules developed by HCPS. Please click below to see our daily schedule with sample lesson plans demonstrating what form many classes will take.

Freeman Virtual Learning Bell Schedule

Students are expected to attend each class and attendance will be taken at those synchronous class meetings.

Virtual Attendance

Students are expected to attend aevery class everyday, and teachers will be taking attendance. If your student is unable attend a specific class or needs to be absent for the day, please call the attendance office and notify the teacher(s) for how the student can complete assignments to stay on track.

Please see these Frequently Asked Questions about attendance:

What are the attendance policies for virtual learning?

There is information in HCPS Handbook for Students and Parents. Students should attend all of the virtual class meetings each day. If students have extenuating circumstances, there will be flexibility and ways that students can engage in instruction asynchronously, but students are expected to be in online classes. As those situations arise, please contact the school.

Will the teachers sessions for the online classroom be recorded and the kids to access later?

Yes. Beginning on September 21st.

What if the internet at home is not working; will a student be penalized for not attending the online class?

No.

What if a student has an appointment and needs an early dismissal?

The student will communicate this information with their teacher ahead of time. There is no other reporting procedure for early dismissals.

Meals Services at Freeman

Distribution of free meals will take place at Freeman starting on Tuesday, September 8, 2020 on the bus ramp side of the building.

Monday through Thursday (Friday meals are distributed on Thursdays.)
7-9 a.m.: Hot breakfasts (when available) and cold lunches.
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.: Hot lunches as well as cold breakfasts for the next day.

UnderClassmen Awards

The Underclass Awards Ceremony for the 2019-2020 school year will be held after long delay on Tuesday, September 22^nd at 6:00 PM via a Facebook Live stream. This event will give us an opportunity to recognize and celebrate impressive accomplishments and contributions to the Freeman community by our students who were in grades 9-11 last year. You’ll have the chance to celebrate and cheer recipients and honorees in this virtual setting.
We hope to see everyone online that evening to celebrate together as best we can.

Fee Payment

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, HCPS is waiving the laptop fee ($25), the science fee ($5) and the P.E. fee ($4). Some other classes (such as some of our Career and Technical Education options for limited in-person learning) may still require a fee.

- Online School Payments
  - If you haven’t used Online School Payments before, you’ll need to set up an account.
  - There is a 4% fee to pay with a credit card, which pays for the vendor’s costs. If you prefer to pay by check, please mail a check to your school with a copy of the obligation list from the online payment system highlighting the fees being paid.
  - Here is a video about online school payments.
- If you do not want to pay online, you will need to mail a check to

Freeman High School

8701 Three Chopt Rd

Henrico, VA 23229

Completing Back to School Forms

RYCOR Online Forms lets you do back-to-school paperwork from home. RYCOR Online Forms, which can only be accessed via the PowerSchool Parent Portal.

Here is a video about Rycor forms.

Choral Boosters Mums Fundraiser

Announcing Freeman High School Show Choir Fall Mums Sale. See this Flyer to learn more!

Evening School/Fall Online PE

Registration for the Evening School of Excellence fall term is now open. All applications and payment must be received no later than September 21st. For more information, please click here

Little Known Secrets about Paying for College

(A program from School Counseling)

Each year our College Funding Coach Team partners with Freeman’s PTSA to teach our free workshop called “Little-Known Secrets of Paying for College”. Parents who have attended our workshop in the past have expressed how useful and invaluable the information we share is, so we’ve always made sure to include Freeman on our list of schools we visit.

Due to COVID, we have been teaching this workshop via ZOOM since March! On Tuesday, October 20^th at 6:30pm we will be streaming our free workshop as a webinar. The webinar will run approximately 1 hour. In order to attend the workshop all you need to do is register using this link!

Key Resource: All Things DSF

I want to encourage you to check out our schools virtual hub, All things DSF, which you can find at www.atdsf.com

This site, formerly called the Rebel Hub, is home to quick links, resources, and will be the landing page for any time-sensitive links on the banner at the top, such as our "Information Center" staffed live on the first day of school. (see below). This is a great site to bookmark for future reference and quick access.

Sign-Up for Parent Accounts:

Now more than ever, staying connected with the school and your child’s teachers is important to your child’s success in school. Henrico parents can create accounts to view grades and attendance information through PowerSchool, access assignment information through Schoology, and receive communications through the SchoolMessenger App. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to set up your access to these tools. If you need assistance, please reach out to our Innovative Learning Coach, Jessica Ciokan (jkciokan@henrico.k12.va.us).

PowerSchool Parent Portal - click here then choose “Create Account” tab
Schoology - click here for directions
SchoolMessenger App - click here to sign up to receive school and teacher communications in one place. (click here to learn more)

DONATE to the Freeman Fund (Our only academic fundraiser)

Each year, Freeman’s PTSA relies on the Freeman Fund to pay for programs, teacher supplies and other activities that benefit each child and build a strong Freeman community. In previous years, the fund has provided items like classroom sets of books, microphones, microscopes and other teacher needs that extend beyond their budgets; events like We the People and All-Star Prom; and programs like Teacher Appreciation as well as the Angel Fund, which helps students and families in need. As we start the school year virtually, we anticipate the fund will help with unexpected expenses that arise from virtual learning. Even now, teachers are thinking about and anticipating needs for supplies and support that students may not have access to at home. We hope the Freeman Fund will be able to help with those efforts right out of the gate.

These funds are provided solely through the generosity of donations from the Freeman community. Please visit freemanptsa.org and click on “Donate to the Freeman Fund” to learn more. On behalf of the DSF PTSA, thank you!

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