Welcome to the New School Year

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Important Information About Schedules and Schoology Access

The 2020-2021 school year is almost here and we are excited to begin our virtual learning journey!  This week schools who have not already mailed the following items will be sending important information that includes:

• Your child's schedule
• Your school's virtual schedule
• Letter with important technology information including*:
  • Parent Access Code for Schoology: Many parents/guardians have already connected to their child(ren)'s Schoology account using their Parent Access Code. If you have not created a parent account in Schoology, use this Parent Access Code to create your account and connect with your child(ren) accounts. 
  • Your student's NEW FCPS credentials to access all FCPS technology.  All student username/password credentials will be reset on August 26 at midnight.  After the reset, your child should use these new credentials to access Schoology and other digital tools. 

You will also receive an email that will include the Schoology Parent Access Code information as referenced above. This is the same code as the one you will receive in the letter mentioned above. This email will also contain links to videos to help parents/guardians understand Schoology.  

Courses and course materials will be visible to students and parents/guardians in Schoology on Thursday, August 27th. 

Note: The week of August 24th is the teacher training and preparation week.  Courses may appear empty or have limited resources because teachers work in an "unpublished mode" before finalizing their course.  Course materials will be available once classes begin.

To learn more about student navigation and parent account setup in Schoology, please visit www.fcps.org/schoology. 

Please contact your child's school if you have any questions. 

*Your elementary school may provide you the important technology letter during the scheduled material distribution time next week.

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

FCPS welcomes you to the 2020-2021 school year.

The Board of Education decided to open the 2020-2021 school year in a virtual only model.  A number of developments have occurred over the summer that we want to make you aware of to better prepare you for the start of the school year. 

Virtual learning enhancements include:

• Increase in Live Face-to-Face Instruction
• Record and Share Google Meet Sessions
• Small Group In-school Face-to-Face Instruction
• Schoology Designated as the Course Management Platform
• More Digital Resources, Activities and Assignments in Schoology
• More Professional Learning for Teachers
• Return to Normal Grading Practices
• Weekly Instructional Planning

After questions and feedback from students, parents and teachers about expectations for the instructional model, we have developed important components that will be part of the instructional model moving forward.

Increase in Live Face-to-Face Instruction

The first component will be an increase in live, face-to-face instruction during each week. Students will have scheduled times to receive instruction from their teachers via Google Meet. Although many teachers used Google Meet to provide instruction during  Continuity of Learning, all teachers will provide synchronous instruction in the Virtual Learning model. It is important that students join these instructional sessions. 

Record and Share Google Meet Sessions

We received many requests from families to record Google Meet sessions so they can be viewed at a later time. Many felt the recordings would allow students to review the instruction when they're working on assignments and help parents understand what was expected of their child. We are pleased to announce that Google Meet sessions can be recorded and will be in most cases. These recordings will then be available for review by students and families. 

Small Group In-school Face-to-Face Instruction

The Board of Education authorized small groups of students to participate in in-school face-to-face instruction. School teams will be working to identify those students needing additional face-to-face time beyond virtual learning. School staff will contact you if your child is identified for in-school, face-to-face small group instruction.

Schoology Designated as the Course Management Platform

Another improvement for this year will be the use of Schoology as the only platform for course management. Parents were overwhelmingly in favor of moving all classes into a single platform as it was challenging for parents to access, understand and manage multiple platforms. We believe teachers, parents and students will see the real value of a single learning platform for course management, gradebook and communication. Day to day communications regarding course activities and assignments will occur through Schoology. Specific directions on how you can connect to Schoology will be provided in the near future. Of course, teachers will still contact parents via phone and email when that's the most appropriate form of communication.

We know that Schoology had some bumps when the entire country moved to online learning in March, as did the other major learning management systems like Blackboard, Canvas and Its Learning. In working with the company this summer, we believe there should be limited interruptions to the Schoology platform. However, we ask families to remain patient if glitches occur during the first week of school as many districts across the country will be coming online around the same time. 

More Digital Resources, Activities and Assignments in Schoology

FCPS staff worked tirelessly with teachers over the summer to create digital resources, activities, assignments and more in Schoology to support teachers in virtual learning. Having these ready-made resources available will allow teachers to spend less time developing assignments, assessments, videos and activities and more time engaging with students, providing direct instruction, giving feedback on student work, and holding small group instruction. 

More Professional Learning for Teachers

In addition to digital resources being readily available for teachers, significant professional learning occurred in the spring and many teachers continued learning into the summer. FCPS will continue to provide professional learning opportunities to build teacher confidence in virtual learning. 

FCPS has added new digital tools and upgraded others to improve the online learning experience for students. We are committed to successfully connecting all students virtually. If you are unable to access a device for your child or if internet connectivity is a challenge, please reach out to your child's school. We'll work to get your child connected. 

Return to Normal Grading Practices

Another upgrade in the virtual model will be the return to normal grading practices according to  the FCPS grading regulations. This change was guided by feedback we received from teachers, parents and students. Schoology will now be the required gradebook for all teachers, regardless of grade level. Families will now be able to check the grades of their children in Schoology at the elementary, middle and high school levels. 

Weekly Instructional Planning

We know some students will have difficulty participating in a virtual learning environment depending on the day. As a result, teachers will be engaging in weekly instructional planning whereby students have flexibility to complete assignments over a period of time with dates considerate of individual situations with students and families.

Sample student schedules by school level can be found here.