Distance Learning Resources and More
Dear Providence District Families,
As the first day of school draws near, I hope this email finds you and your families safe and healthy. Teachers, principals, and other staff have been working hard to create a distance learning experience that is impactful and engaging for students.
This newsletter includes information concerning the following:
- Distance Learning Resources and the Parent Technology Help Desk
- Special Education Resources
- Superintendent’s Virtual Return to School Town Hall
- Technology Council Update
- Metrics for Reopening and Closing Schools
- Critical State School Funding in Jeopardy
- PSAT, SAT, and ACT Testing
- Oakton Senior Wins State “Doodle for Google”
- Upcoming School Board Meetings
Your continued comments, questions, and concerns will be essential to my work on the School Board as we enter distance learning this fall. Only with candid feedback from parents, students, and staff can FCPS build on what is working and fix what is lacking. We are all in this together. As always, thank you for your emails and calls.
 Karl Frisch
Providence District Representative
Fairfax County School Board
P.S. You can connect with me on Twitter and Facebook for important news and updates.
Distance Learning Resources and the Parent Technology Help Desk
To support families working with their children during virtual learning, Fairfax County Public Schools has launched a new Parent Technology Help Desk. The help desk can be reached at 833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS) and will be answered by staff members between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., seven days a week. FCPS has also set up an online portal to allow older students and parents/guardians to directly request technology help.
FCPS is also assembling tip sheets and videos to support families with virtual learning. Specific areas include Blackboard Collaborate Ultra, Google Meet, Blackboard, Parent Vue, SIS Access, Google Classroom, and General Computer Use. These tools are accessible through FCPS and school websites.
Additionally, the Children's Science Center is doing a free parent session to support virtual learning on August 29 and September 1. FCPS has fantastic parent webinars through the Family Resource Center on various topics to include setting up for virtual learning, encouraging positive behavior, and more!
As students prepare for the virtual start to the school year, parents are encouraged to learn some of the technology applications their children and classrooms may be using this fall by viewing videos posted here. This content will be continuously updated.
Special Education Resources
The Special Education Return to School webpage has been updated and includes the latest information for families. Another excellent resource recently suggested from the Office of Special Services is the Family Guide to At-Home Learning. Additional supports for our special education community can be accessed through these resources:
You can also contact the Assistant Ombudsman for Special Education, Dawn Clements, at ombudsman@fcps.edu or the Parent Resource Center at prc@fcps.edu and 703-204-3941.
Also, the Virginia Autism Council (VAC) is offering a free webinar series on supports and services, transportation, trauma and resilience oriented care, communication with first responders, and a review of the 2021 VAC skills competencies. These free seminars are held from noon to 1:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month. The next seminar is scheduled for Wednesday, September 16, 2020- The Spectrum of Transportation with Mary Breister and Anne Brie – register online here.
Superintendent’s Virtual Return to School Town Halls
Superintendent Brabrand is hosting a Return to School Town Hall for the FCPS community on September 2 from 6-7pm. The event will be live-streamed on the FCPS website and televised on FCPS Cable TV Channel 99. Email questions in advance to ReturntoSchool@fcps.edu, or call 1-800-231-6359 during the event to ask questions “on the air.” Video will be posted on the FCPS website after the town hall concludes.
Technology Council Update
Over the past several months, FCPS staff has done a great deal of work to improve online learning platforms and instruction content. Nonetheless, the School Board is closely engaged with the Superintendent and Leadership Team to ensure a smooth rollout of online learning next month and on-going user-friendly experiences for students, families, and staff.
To that end, I want to share some updates related to the Superintendent’s Technology Advisory Council convened in April to gather input and recommendations from local technology and education delivery experts, FCPS staff, students, and families. Since its formation, approximately 200 work sessions were held about different aspects of technology and virtual learning delivery, resulting in 67 recommendations – 17 with the highest priority.
I encourage you to review the Technology Council’s full report (PDF here) and the Superintendent’s response to the Council’s 17 recommendations for immediate action (PDF here). You can also watch the School Board’s work session (video here) on this subject, including questions and answers with the Council’s co-chair and the Superintendent and his team. The presentation discussed during this work session can be found on slides 2-9 (PDF here).
Metrics for Reopening and Closing Schools
On July 21, the School Board directed the Superintendent to draft clear metrics to inform decisions about school openings and closings. The goal was to demystify the process so that parents, students, and staff could better understand how future decisions will be made. The final third of our nearly nine-hour work session on August 18 (video here) concerned the Superintendent's work to establish these metrics. His presentation, which can be found on slides 34-50 (PDF here), centered on three types of metrics:
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Community Transmission and Disease Trends: Defined by Virginia Department of Health (VDH); reviewed weekly with the Fairfax County Health Department (FCHD); used to determine if the level of community transmission will allow for in-person instruction.
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FCPS Operational Metrics: FCPS capacity to support face-to-face instruction across the system; defines the FCPS Operational Level (1-4).
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School Metrics: Determines when individual schools or classrooms shift to distance learning, in the event of confirmed cases of COVID-19.
As you will see in the video and attached presentation, there is currently far more specificity for the school-level metrics than the other categories. The Superintendent and his team are still working to determine the specific numbers for the operational portion (during the meeting, he said this process would take a few more weeks.)
With a lack of clear federal or state metrics, many school systems around the country are in the midst of developing their own approaches. In my view, the community transition and disease trend metrics are still lacking. VDH provided far more specific metrics a few days before our previous work session, but they have not announced specific trigger points or ranges -- something I think the public would benefit from knowing.
PSAT, SAT, and ACT Testing
FCPS will cover the cost of the SAT School Day for any twelfth-grade student who wishes to test on Wednesday, September 23. In this unprecedented time, we are making access to this test a priority and encourage all seniors to take advantage of this opportunity as part of their college and career preparation. Schools will share registration information for the September 23 test date in the coming weeks once finalized.
Additionally, we are moving forward with plans to host the PSAT/NMSQT test for all juniors in October. FCPS will cover the cost for the PSAT/NMSQT for any interested eleventh-grade students. Schools will share additional details about the specific test date and registration process in September. In the spring, we will offer tenth-grade students an opportunity to take the PSAT -- additional information will be shared in the future.
The August 29 SAT will occur at several FCPS high schools. We have worked with College Board to open overflow sites at Centreville and Westfield High Schools to support the large number of registrations for Chantilly High School. Students who were registered to test at Chantilly High School on August 29 will receive confirmation of their testing location directly from College Board. We are aware that there was an unintended cancellation of the SAT at Lewis High School causing students who were registered for the site on August 29 to have to re-register with the College Board. Based on the guidance from the health department, FCPS moved to limit the capacity at the site by requesting College Board close the registration for Lewis. Unfortunately, the request was misinterpreted by the College Board, and they canceled the August 29 test. Test registration was reopened with priority given to those students who were previously cancelled from the August 29 test.
Preparation is underway for weekend testing options for SAT and ACT throughout the 2020-21 school year. Registration for these weekend tests is available directly through ACT and College Board. Changes based on health conditions for future SAT or ACT weekend tests throughout the 2020-21 school year will be communicated directly to registered students by ACT or by the College Board for the SAT.
Free online test preparation is available at the following links: Khan Academy Official SAT Practice and ACT Academy. We encourage rising seniors to carefully review the admissions criterion for the colleges on their lists. Many colleges are adjusting requirements for ACT or SAT. School counselors and career center specialists will be available in mid-August to discuss post-secondary planning with students and their families.
Oakton Senior Wins State “Doodle for Google”
Congratulations to rising Oakton High School senior Sara Naidich for winning this year’s “Doodle for Google” art contest in Virginia. Her doodle, "Reservoir," was chosen from among thousands of entries in Google's competition to spotlight student art. Young artists across the U.S. created Doodles of what they hope for when they grow up. Now Sara’s artwork is up against other student art from across the nation. Finalists will be announced on August 31.
Upcoming School Board Meetings
- TODAY - Thursday, August 27 at 3:00 pm: Special Work Session
- Thursday, September 3 at 7:30pm: Regular Meeting
- Monday, September 14 at 11:00am: Forum and Work Session
- Thursday, September 17 at 7:30pm: Regular Meeting
Meeting agendas and handouts can be found here. Meetings are live-streamed on the FCPS website and televised on FCPS Cable Channel 99. Information about signing up to speak at a regular meeting can be found here.
Office Hours
Since the school closure began in March, I have scheduled nearly 200 hours for one-on-one meetings with Providence District parents, students, teachers, and staff by phone or Zoom video conference. There is still availability in August, with additional options coming soon for September. Click here to schedule a date and time at your convenience.
The views contained within this newsletter reflect the views of the individual School Board member who is the publisher of this newsletter and may not reflect the views of the Fairfax County School Board.
© 2020 Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax County, Virginia
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