Virtual Learning Expectations






Whitehorse Middle School - Attendance Counts! :)

We know that when students attend synchronous (live) sessions, high quality learning occurs. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, students at Whitehorse Middle School all have

  • a 60 minute synchronous math & English Language Arts
  • a 60 minute synchronous social studies or science (alternating days)
  • a 60 minute synchronous Unified Arts class (if a student has 4 different UA classes, each course meets once per week).
  • a 27 minute Advisory (commonly called Homeroom) class

Teachers will be taking attendance for each of these classes based on one of the following criteria

  • attending the synchronous instruction time (in Zoom)
  • completing and submitting an asynchronous task (assigned by the teacher in Google Classroom that day between 12am-11:59pm
  • engage in two way communication (phone call, email exchange, or office hours virtual visit).

On Wednesdays

No students and staff are meeting synchronously on Wednesdays. MMSD Staff will be engaged in district/school led professional development during these days. You will notice when you look at your student's schedule on Wednesday, they have every class listed. On Wednesdays, students need to log into each of their Google Classrooms for their courses and complete a short piece of classwork that ties directly to the current curriculum.

Reporting Excused Absences

In order to ensure excused absences are properly recorded, please use this link to enter absence information or call the office at 608-204-4481 to report the absence on the attendance line. For Spanish call 608-204-4496

Whitehorse Student Weekly Schedule

Please use the document to the right in conjunction with your student's schedule (which can be viewed on Infinite Campus) to determine when his/her classes meet virtually. For an explanation on how best use the two schedules together please utilize the video link provided below.

Whitehorse Student Grading

You should notice two grading entries for each of a student's course per week. MMSD middle schools have used standards based grading policies for over a decade which assumes that a student's grade at the end of a term should be a result of the student's ability to demonstrate skill and learning and not behavior and participation. Please contact your students course teacher for specific grading concerns.

Creating a Positive Virtual Setting

We are in this together. We also know virtual learning will likely be new for many of our families. For this reason, we have provided some basic information about virtual learning for families on the Instructional Playground website (insert link when available). Families can find resources for talking to students about the pandemic, this school year, current school closure, tips for navigating virtual learning, sample student schedules, and more. Below are tips for families (provided by MMSD Central Office) to make virtual learning as positive as can be.

  • Please remind your child to check in with teachers.

  • Please communicate with teachers if your child becomes sick or ill and cannot participate in assignments.

  • Please email the teacher with questions or issues with access to learning materials.

  • If possible, please monitor your student’s engagement in virtual learning on a regular basis. We recognize that not all parents are able to stay home most of the day; however, daily or weekly monitoring should be a priority.

  • Learn about the virtual platforms that your student will be using. Visit the MMSD Instructional Playground (add link) for more information on how to access the virtual platform that your student is using, or contact your Principal for support.

  • Check the number of assignments that are getting completed and check with your student for understanding.

  • Be a positive encourager. Praise your child’s successes.

  • Communicate with your student’s teacher and other support staff and let them know the best ways to reach you and what supports your family needs regularly.

  • Know the expectations from the teacher for your student to be successful. You can write down your questions and ask your child's teacher when they reach out to you or when you reach out to them.

  • If possible, set up a space for your child in an area that will support their learning. At times students will be learning with their classmates (synchronous learning) and at times they will need to work independently (asynchronous learning).