Innovative Online, Blended and Real-World Learning

Dear eCampus Families!

We are extremely excited to work with you to ensure new and continued success in eCampus Academy. As you will see in this back-to-school newsletter, our staff has been very busy preparing for the upcoming year and will be offering many new options and resources as we grow as a school. We continue to prioritize strong relationships with our students and families and our doors are always open as we seek to serve and support our students to the highest degree. Our student body consists of students ranging from pre-kindergarten all the way through high school and each student comes to us for unique reasons and our dedicated and highly-qualified staff is very experienced in working with diverse students in a variety of settings. We are eager to get started on September 1st and look forward to great success in the coming year and beyond! Please reach out to me at anytime.

Sincerely,

Dave Vitale

eCampus Administrator

eCampus now has a Facebook page! Be sure check out our page and like us to keep up to date on the latest happenings in our school. Got something to share? Please contact Lynn Linskens.

eCampus Facebook Page

Last spring we reported in this space that eCampus is broadening its reach by enrolling international students seeking an American diploma. We are pleased to announce that currently we are serving around 20 students in countries such as Portugal, Ukraine and Poland and our numbers are growing. Please check out future newsletters and our new Facebook page for updates and information about the great things our students in Wisconsin and around the world are doing!

See our story: eCampus in the News

Please join us in welcoming our new staff to eCampus Academy for the 2022-23 school year. They are Alexis Ofe and Julie Pasbrig. Alexis will be teaching English at our secondary level. She is beginning her teaching career with eCampus Academy. Julie will be teaching our Students with Disabilities for grades 6-12. She comes to us from Watertown High School and has been with the district for 18 years.

Where are you from and where did you grow up?
I’m from the South and was raised in Montgomery, Alabama.

When did you realize you wanted to become a teacher?
I used to teach youth in camp settings and adults in prison settings, and somewhere along the way, I realized that teaching switched on a bright light inside me. It’s always my goal to find my students’ bright lights, too.

What do you find most rewarding about your job?
I love getting to know what my students care about and making their learning fit their big questions and needs.

What is the last book you read?
Stephanie Foo’s memoir What My Bones Know. Phenomenal!

What is your favorite thing to do?
That depends on the time of year. During the summer, all I want to do is get outside, go to farmers markets, and eat peaches and tomatoes. The rest of the year, you can find me buried in stacks of books or working on a puzzle.

Describe yourself in 3 words

Inquisitive, empathetic, bookworm!

Where are you from and where did you grow up?

I grew up in Mayville and often go home to visit my family members who still live in the area.

When did you realize you wanted to become a teacher?

In high school, I volunteered as a mentor in a Special Education classroom. This experience led to me entering the field of education in the area of Social Studies. Shortly after, I went back to school to obtain my Special Education licensure where I have been working ever since.

What do you find most rewarding about your job?

I love working with students and seeing them grow and mature as individuals over time.

What is the last book you read?

My reading tends to center around what texts students are reading in the classroom. Most recently, I read The Rent Collector and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

What is your favorite thing to do?

I like to participate in classes (gardening, stained glass, baking, etc.) to explore a variety of activities. When I’m not doing that, I like to use my Cricut to create projects.

Describe yourself in 3 words.

Three words that describe me are creative, caring, and detailed. I have found that a combination of these traits has helped me become the teacher and person I am today.

Attention all budding entrepreneurs! This fall, eCampus Academy is offering a real-life, authentic learning opportunity for students in grades 6-12: an online, project-based entrepreneurial course where you will actually start your own business with the potential of earning real money before the course is complete. You will learn what makes the most prominent entrepreneurs, like Elon Musk successful, come up with your own business plan and execute that plan. You will even be able to Zoom with the course creators–two very successful entrepreneurs–at the conclusion of the course. This course will be instructor led virtually via our new Class App and will meet twice a week for grades 9-12 and three times a week for 6-8. Please check out the video below. We will also be talking about this opportunity at our Back to School Welcome orientation, which will be held on September 1st.

Calling all students and families in grades 6-12! eCampus academy will be holding a back to school orientation for grades 6-12 on September 1st for both new and returning students. We have some exciting new opportunities that we would like to tell you about. This is also a great opportunity to meet your teachers and ask the questions that you have. We will have two sessions, so choose the one that works best for you. The first 60-minute session will be held at 10:00 AM and the second session will be held at 6:00 PM on Thursday, September 1st. We are looking forward to seeing you all soon!

When: Thursday, September 1, 2022

Time: Session 1: 10:00 a.m. or Session 2: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom Link

Mrs. Hail and Mrs. Retzlaff will be hosting group Welcome Sessions for our elementary level students on September 1st and 2nd. During these sessions, the attendance policy, work submission expectations, optional opportunities, and eCampus curriculum will be among the topics they will discuss. Elementary families should have received an email from Mrs. Hail and Mrs. Retzlaff with session information.

PLP Students & Families

Thursday September 1st at 9am link here

Timberdoodle Students & Families

Thursday September 1st at 10am link here

Friday September 2nd at 3pm link here

We are delighted to announce that eCampus Academy is adopting Class as our virtual learning platform this year. Class is a virtual classroom which brings the best parts of in-person learning online, making it easy to engage with other students, access materials and stay connected with teachers.

Class is built on top of Zoom and will look and feel very familiar. If you have a school issued Chromebook, you will already have the Class App installed and updated. If you are using your own personal device, you will need to install the Class application on your device (more information below) as we will be using it for test proctoring, an option for synchronous learning opportunities (new this year), teacher office hours, etc. This year at eCampus, we would like to have more opportunities for collaboration and Class will particularly help us with this.

You can learn more about Class by accessing our learner guides here.

Please reach out with any questions or concerns. We’re working hard to make this a smooth transition for everyone and are so excited to start the new year in Class! We will also be discussing this tool at our Back to School orientation sessions on September 1st.

Online Registration gives district families the opportunity to update their child(ren)'s information, fill out annual forms and pay school fees through Skyward Family Access. Online Registration needs to be completed by all families, new and returning. If you do not remember what your Skyward password is, click the "Forgot Password" link on the Skyward Family Access login page to reset your password. Or, for other Skyward support, contact Lynn Linskens at (920) 262-1420 or via email at mailto:linskensl@watertown.k12.wi.us.

More information regarding registration can be found on our 2022-23 Online Registration website.

eCampus students in Grades 9-12 who attend WHS for any face to face classes or go to the digital learning classroom will need a parking pass. All parking information is collected online via the Skyward Registration Process. After online registration closes, WHS Parking Permit forms can be found in the Online Forms link in Skyward Family Access.

The following information is requested in the online form: student driver’s license number, car make, model, year, color, current insurance vendor, and policy number. Parents will need to add the parking fee of $50 (which is specific to eCampus students) to the checkout process when completing the registration. The parking fee must be paid in full. After the parking permit form is submitted and paid for, tags can be picked up at the WHS bookkeeper's office.

2022-2023 yearbooks for grades 9-12 can be purchased online through the Herff-Jones website at http://bit.ly/2WFzrGD or by finding the link located on the WHS webpage. The WHS order number is 3818 (if needed). This year, the yearbook fee will be $50. This is the only way to purchase a yearbook for this school year. Please plan accordingly as no extra yearbooks will be ordered.

Senior yearbook photos will need to be uploaded directly to the Herff-Jones website: www.hjeshare.com. The school code is 825. Senior photos should be a headshot with no hands in the photo. The deadline to upload your senior picture is Friday, November 4, 2022. Hard copy photos and emailed senior photos will not be accepted.

Parents are reminded to double check their senior’s name in Skyward, as that name will be used for the

yearbook and their diploma. If you want a middle name on your student’s diploma, please make sure it is updated in Skyward before the school year begins.

In our ongoing effort to assess our efforts as a school, we're offering our families an opportunity to share their feedback so that we may reflect on what's working and on those areas where we can grow and learn in eCampus. If you would, please take a moment to complete the brief feedback questionnaire that's linked below. We definitely value your input as partners in the teaching and learning of our eCampus students! Thank you!

eCampus Academy - Feedback Questionnaire

Because we continue to have new families each month, we'll continue to share videos and information that might be useful at anytime throughout the year. Returning students are familiar with the SchoolsPLP learning platform, but we encourage everyone to watch these short videos created by our own lead teacher, Tracy Poches, as a refresher. Who knows, you might learn something new.

Welcome to eCampus

Logging in to SchoolsPLP

Understanding SchoolsPLP Overview

Navigating an online course in SchoolsPLP

Parents are able to login to SchoolsPLP to check grades and see if their student is on pace. The short video below will show you how to do this. You will need your student's ID and school password to login. If you need login information, please call or email Keisha Logan.

Parent Log-in

Attention high school-aged eCampus students and families! Did you know that eCampus Academy offers a Career and Accelerated Degree Pathways Program? Students in Grades 10-12 can pursue a Technical Diploma or Associate Degree while enrolled in high school in one of 10 high-demand career areas. These online courses, in cooperation with Wisconsin technical colleges, will also count as high school credit in eCampus. Students in Grades 9-12 who plan to attend a four-year institution may complete up to 30 transferable college credits, putting them on a path to potentially graduate with a Bachelor's degree in three years from a University of Wisconsin System School.

The eCampus Academy Pathways Program saves students time and money while accessing high quality, future-ready learning experiences and professional programs. We're really excited about this opportunity for students. Contact Dave Vitale with questions and/or visit our pathways page.

Email: info@ecampusacademy.org
Website: ecampusacademy.org
Location: 111 Dodge Street, Watertown, WI, USA
Phone: (920) 262-1420

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