Hello!

Your child's first day is quickly approaching. Lakeland Online Academy (LOA) staff hope your family is getting excited! We know we are! Thank you for choosing Lakeland Online Academy (LOA) for your child. We are so blessed to be able to create some consistency for our students this year.

Know that the first two weeks will be focused on getting to know each other and learning how to use technology and be safe online as well as addressing our educational standards. Students will be learning a lot, but it will look different than "normal" and they may not even realize they are learning new things. Our schedule is also going to be a little different this first week, because many of us are covering extra classes as we hire more staff.

Mrs. Hutson will be working with your class this week. Please read Getting to Know Mrs. Hutson and watch her introduction video if you haven't already! If you have time, please fill out this survey to help us get to know your child: Parent/Guardian Getting to Know You.

A few things to consider as you get ready for the first day of school:

• Set up a learning place for your child that is free from distractions.

  • • Do they need a door to close?

    • Will pets or siblings be a distraction?

    • Are there sounds that will be distracting?

    • Is there good lighting? (Not too dark or too bright.)

    • Do they have comfortable seating?

  • How will your child keep their supplies organized?

    • Desk with storage?

    • Bookshelf?

    • Basket?

    • Tub?

    • Box?

    • Backpack?

• Chromebook/Charger

  • Is there a designated place to store their chromebook and charger?

    • Did you get the $25 insurance for the borrowed chromebook if you wanted that? (If you did last year, it will carry over for this year.)

  • Please remind your child to charge the chromebook each night.

• Supplies

  • Does your child have headphones?

    • Please test with the chromebook for sound out and the headphone mic or internal chromebook mic in.

  • Does your child like to use a wired or wireless mouse (optional)

  • Does your child have a writing utensil and scratch paper?

Communication is very important to me. I know you will probably have a lot of questions. I will reply through email, set up a Google Meeting, or give you a call as quickly as I am able. Thank you for understanding that will have more students than a traditional brick and mortar class. Please be patient with me if I am not immediately available. I know that it can be frustrating when you need answers and have to wait a little while. I know that sometimes you can't proceed until you have clarification. I know that with Online learning, it can be easy to get confused and get off schedule. Please reach out before it gets overwhelming to catch up. Together we can do amazing things!

All tasks and assignments are scheduled to be due on the following Sunday, to allow for flexibility. Students should attend any live Classroom Meetings and learning sessions whenever possible, but I know that they may not always be able to. I will record these and post those to google classroom.

Drop In office hours are optional and as needed. I will just make myself available and anyone can join those Google Meets. So I ask that we do not discuss anything confidential during that time. I will also set aside some time for scheduled parent meetings or individual/small group assistance. I will only invite those involved to those Google Meets.

I look forward working together this week. Please contact me any time. Email is the best way to reach me: lhutson@lakeland272.org.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Lindsay Hutson