MUSD EducatEverywhere 4.0

Providing parents/guardians resources & support to implement EducatEverywhere Flexible Learning


Virtual Pathway 2021-2022 School Year

Thank you for your patience while we navigate enrollment and the days leading to the beginning of the 21-22 school year. If you are inquiring about the Virtual Pathways program, please see some information below:

  • All students will need to be registered at their homeschool site.

  • If choosing the virtual pathway program you will need to have completed the commitment form and indicating yes to the commitment. All Secondary 7-12th graders, please email the homeschool counselor so they may begin the program referral process. Please only fill the form out once.

  • All students on IEPs will need to request a meeting through your homeschool IEP team.

  • If you select the virtual pathways program and request a mid-year transition to in person learning, you are not guaranteed a spot at your homeschool for the 21-22 school year. We will do our best to return student to their homeschool but it is based upon space. We will however place your student at an MUSD school site with space if the homeschool is not available. For the 22-23 school year, you may return to the homeschool for in person learning.

  • If you have not filled out the commitment form, please indicate this in your email so that I may send the informational and commitment form links to you.


Safety Measures for In-Person Learning

As we prepare our campuses for the new school year, we recognize that many families are excited and ready for the full-time return to in-person learning while others are uncertain; we assure you all safety protocols are in place. We remain committed to the health and wellness of our students, staff, and families. With your support, patience, and understanding, we will have the safest possible learning environment for our learners amid this ongoing pandemic.

It is paramount that we remain vigilant in our safeguards against the spread of COVID-19 and its variants. The CA Public Health Department (CPHD) and US Centers for Disease Control guidance for universal masking eliminates the physical distancing requirements. However, all school districts must follow the guidelines set forth by the CDPH and the State Department of Education (CDE).

Across all of our MUSD schools, we must follow these Safety First guidelines:

Masks Required

Masks are required for all students and staff when indoors, including on school buses; Face shields with neck drapes will be used for those who need face covering accommodations per medical directives.

Wellness Self-Check Daily

An at-home Wellness self-check is to be done daily for all students and staff before coming on campus. If your child is feeling ill, please keep them at home, call the school office to report the absence and our staff will let you know next steps.

Weekly COVID Testing

All unvaccinated students and staff will be tested weekly using school-provided, at-home test kits that must be returned to an on-campus dropbox each week within 48 hours of being administered; Vaccinated individuals who are symptomatic will be tested as well.

Wait at the Gate

All parents/caregivers who walk their child to school must wait outside the main gate before and after school, and those in vehicles must adhere to pickup/dropoff rules. We are limiting campus visitors who, if allowed entry, must perform a Wellness self-check.

In addition to these safety measures, we are ensuring air quality ventilation in all classrooms and office spaces; restrooms and common areas will be cleaned at least twice daily by custodial personnel; promoting frequent hand washing and/or hand sanitizing; following case reporting through the county’s Education portal, contact tracing, and modified quarantine parameters; posting Safety First reminders throughout our campus; and implementing all current CDPH directives and local County Public Health guidance for schools.

We encourage anyone eligible (ages 12+) to consider the vaccination, available at free sites throughout the Bay Area. Those who are not vaccinated have a 600% greater chance of infection than those who are. Vaccination is the most effective means to deter all COVID cases including the variants. Unvaccinated students and staff must self-quarantine for 7 days upon return from domestic or international travel before coming to school. Proof of return from travel and/or quarantine dates are required to hold your child’s seat on the first day of school in order to avoid being transferred to a neighboring school where there is capacity for additional students.

If you have any additional questions about this upcoming school year, please contact your school office.


Student Information


Bell Schedule Start/End Times for MUSD Schools


During the period of flexible learning, students will be able to access any MUSD schools for meals. Our goal is to ensure all youth in our community have access to food and good nutrition. These meals can be taken off-site and consumed elsewhere to allow social distancing.

If you have any questions about the meal service, please contact Student Nutrition Services at 408-635-2894.

Assembly Bill 104 Information (AB 104): Change Grades, Repeat Grade, Graduation Requirements Exemption

The state of California recently enacted a new law – Assembly Bill (AB) 104 – that will expand learning and credit recovery options for students who may have struggled academically during the pandemic-impacted 2020-2021 school year. These include:

  • A process for high school students to change eligible grades to Pass/No Pass

  • A process for students who were enrolled in grades K-11 for the 2020-2021 year to request to repeat the last grade

  • Exemption from district graduation requirements for students in grades 11 or 12 who were not on track to graduate

Grade Changes

Letter from Superintendent Jordan | Spanish | Vietnamese

Grading Policies Change from Letter Grade to Pass/No Pass

Recently the California State Assembly passed a bill that includes provisions for students in TK-12 schools. On Thursday, July 1, 2021, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 104 into law, and we’d like to provide you with important information on how this legislation may apply to your student, specifically around “Grading Policies” with regard to grade changes from a letter grade to Pass/No Pass. ​

Grading

  • AB 104 permits parents of students who were in high school in 2020-21 (or the student, if they are 18) to request letter grades for the 2020-2021 academic year be changed to Pass/No Pass on transcripts.

  • The new law requires CSU and encourages UC, and private postsecondary institutions to accept those grade designations without prejudice. You can review the list of colleges and universities who will accept, for admission purposes, a transcript with a Pass/No Pass grade instead of a letter grade. Colleges and universities not listed, including those in other states, may not accept a Pass/No Pass grade for admissions.

  • We recommend you reach out to the specific college or university your student is interested in if you do not see the college or university listed in the list provided before applying for a grade change.

  • Parents/guardians of students or students who are 18 or over, must submit an application for a grade change to your student’s school within 15 calendar days of this notice (August 1, 2021). Your request will be evaluated and updated grade information will be communicated within 15 calendar days after receiving your request. Absent of a grade change request form submission by Sunday, August 15, 2021, will result in a letter grade in the student’s transcripts. ​

Grade Point Average and Transcripts

Courses with a pass/no pass grade are not used in the grade point average calculation. The following general guidelines can be used to determine whether a change to a pass/no pass may benefit your student:

  • A change from an F to no pass will benefit a student’s overall transcript

  • A change from a D to pass will benefit a student’s overall transcript

  • Other changes are unlikely to benefit a student’s overall transcript

​How to Request A Grade Change

If you would like to request a grade change, please follow these steps:

  • Contact the student's counselor, who will ask you to fill out, sign, and date a grade change form. Before requesting a change of grades, we highly recommend you consult with the counselor or principal to discuss your student's specific circumstances.

  • Your request will be evaluated and updated grade information will be communicated within 15 calendar days after submitting your request.

Please contact your school's principal or District Director, Chin Song (csong@musd.org), if you should have further questions or need assistance.

Repeat Grade

Process for K-11 Students to Request to Repeat the 2020-2021 Grade

This law provides a process for parents and guardians to request that their student repeat the grade they were enrolled in during the 2020-2021 school year. Parents and guardians of students who were in grades Kindergarten – 11 in the last school year would be eligible to make this request if their student received a D, F, or No Pass grade for at least one-half of their coursework in the 2020-2021 school year. This request would trigger a personalized consultation with representatives of the district to review and discuss all learning recovery options and supports that the student could access.

​How to Apply

Parents/Guardians may submit a written request through the Milpitas Unified School District Learning and Development Office by completing this form (Español / Tiếng Việt). The district will schedule a consultation within 30 days of submitting the form. For more information, please go to the Milpitas High School website.

Graduation Requirements Exemption

Exemption for 2020-2021 Juniors and Seniors of District Graduation Requirements

The law requires that high school students who were in their third or fourth year of high school during the 2020-2021 school year, and who were not on track to graduate in four years, may be exempt from our district’s graduation requirements that exceed statewide requirements. It also requires high schools to provide credit recovery support for these students, including the option to retake courses, or to enroll in a fifth year of high school, to complete state graduation requirements.

Eligibility

Milpitas Unified School District will contact students eligible for this exemption.



Parent Responsibility for Meaningful Engagement through Virtual Means

California's Compulsory Education Laws


California's compulsory education laws require children between six and eighteen years of age to attend school, with a limited number of specified exceptions. Under state law, a pupil who, without a valid excuse, is absent from school for three full days in one school year, or is tardy or absent for more than 30 minutes during the school day on three occasions in one school year, is considered truant. Once a student is designated a truant, state law requires schools, districts, counties, and courts to intervene to ensure that parents and pupils receive certain services to assist them in complying with attendance laws. When these various interventions fail—meaning parents or guardians still do not send a child to school or a student misses an unlawful amount of school—the matter is referred to the courts. Courts can then use penalties or other measures to seek compliance. Essentially, these various interventions exist to ensure that pupils remain in school and that a pattern is not established that could lead to their dropping out of school later in their educational career.

Milpitas Unified School District parents and caregivers understand this responsibility and support regular attendance. The commitment of MUSD's parents and caregivers to the education of their children and youth is exceptional and appreciated.

When lessons are scheduled to be delivered through virtual means (in the cloud), attendance is still required. Teachers track virtual attendance in a variety of ways, and technology tools facilitate the confirmation of a student's participation in virtual learning. It is possible for teachers to identify who is in attendance during a live video session, whether a student has signed into their District Google folder and completed assignments, who has sent or received an email, which students participated in an online chat, or who has uploaded an image or video documenting a student's learning activity. When learning occurs in the cloud, educators will clearly identify the method they will use to verify attendance so this can be inputted into MUSD's Aeries data management system. The role of parents and guardians when learning occurs through flexible online learning is to ensure they and their student(s) are aware of the way in which attendance will be noted on any given day and for any given class.

Flexible online learning requires that parents and caregivers also consider other factors. Specifically, parents and guardians have the responsibility to support their student's meaningful engagement in learning through virtual means. The tips and tools offered here identify specific actions that can be taken in support of the endeavor to promote continuous learning outside the four walls of a classroom.

Monitoring Progress

Meaningful learning engagement during flexible learning will not require a big shift in the ways teachers share student progress or in the ways parents and caregivers can check on their child's progress. Email, information shared via ParentSquare, assignments and grades posted in Aeries Portal, Google Classroom Guardian Summaries, or other practices already used by teachers and parents will remain available.

Monitoring Learning


Meaningful learning engagement in the cloud will not require a big shift in the ways teachers share student progress or in the ways parents and caregivers can check on their child's progress.

  • Email, information shared via ParentSquare, Google Suite or assignments and grades posted in Aeries or other practices already used by teachers and parents will remain available.

  • If your student's teacher(s) use Google Classroom, you can ask your child to log in and review with you what they are working on. Your child's teachers may also set up parent/guardian email summaries in Google Classroom; check with your child's teacher(s).

  • iReady - If your student is using iReady, you can monitor his/her progress. Here is a Quick Guide to Monitoring Your Child's Progress in iReady with easy to follow screenshots.

Learning Space, Materials and Tools


Sustained periods of virtual education are successful when students have a routine to follow and a space in which to work and learn. As you consider how to support your child's online learning, be clear about the time of day any online video sessions will be held as well as the extent of the assignments your student will be asked to complete. If you're not sure, ask your child's teacher(s). Once you have an idea about daily time commitments, plan a schedule for your child to follow. Stick to as predictable a daily routine as possible. Don't forget to include times for breaks and lunch. In addition developing a daily learning schedule, it is important to identify an at-home learning space. Ideally, this space should have:

  • A computer, iPad, Chromebook or other device

  • Good lighting

  • Ready access to learning materials and tools

A dedicated learning space for virtual learning should ideally be located in a shared area of your home such as at the kitchen table, a large kitchen counter, or a desk in a living room or family room. When your student's learning space is separate from their bedroom and distanced from the television, it sets the expectation and tone that the space is for work and not play. Additionally, an online learning space in a shared area allows parents and guardians to readily support learning while also monitoring online activity.

Sharing Learning with Teachers


All MUSD students have District Gmail accounts. Students should check these accounts every day for messages from their teacher(s) about the daily learning expectations. Elementary aged students may need help in checking the Gmail account for messages. Educators will also communicate with students about how to share the learning. Students may be asked to:

  • Complete a Google Quiz;

  • Submit a document to their personal Google folder;

  • Take a picture of their work and upload it into a Google folder or email it to their teacher;

  • Record a video that shows how they are able to do something; email a message summarizing their learning;

  • Engage in a Chat session; or

  • Engage in an online video "Office Hour".

  • Many teachers have set up Google Classrooms, a virtual classroom environment, to facilitate teaching and learning and communication. Teachers can create posts to communicate with students, give assignments, embed presentations, links, and videos, and give quizzes. Many of the above listed activities and tasks for students to share their learning can also be done through Google Classroom. Teachers will inform students and parents if this interface will be used.

There are are many possibilities for how teachers might invite students to share their learning. Parents and caregivers should be sure they know what their children's teacher(s) expect and then support their student as needed.



Additional Resources to Support & Supplement Learning at Home