MUSD EducatEverywhere 4.0

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.