McCool Academy Mission Update

August 23, 2020

Week One!

We want to thank you ALL for your patience and grace last week! We had an extremely successful week here at McCool Academy are are ready for another week! This second week we will follow our REGULAR BELL SCHEDULE. Last week we followed our Family Time bell schedule which will now only be on Tuesday's. Please click here for our Bell Schedule. We also appreciate each one one you as all of our learners are doing a FANTASTIC job keeping their masks on the moment they arrive here at McCool Academy to the point they leave the campus! Go Astronauts! We look forward to another safe and successful week here at McCool Academy!

***Please bring a water bottle for the school day. All water fountains will be shut off and covered!***

Grades are In!

McCool Academy will be using a Learning Management System (LMS) entitles ECHO. Rather than using Gradebook, ECHO allows for students and McCool Academy families to have a more in depth understanding of their Astronauts grades that align to our Project-based learning instructional method. With McCool Academy's Grading Guidelines based on five categories: Knowledge and Thinking, Collaboration, Agency, and Oral & Written Communication, McCool Academy facilitators are able to supply high quality feedback to students and families. Echo allows for a more personalized learning. PLEASE CLICK HERE to begin access to your child's ECHO grades. Weekly and daily grades will be posted on ECHO. Progress Report grades will be uploaded to Gradebook as they will be exported directly from Echo. For the most up to date grades, please look on Echo.

*Students in Orchestra and Theatre Arts will have grades within Gradebook due to the instructor serving on two or more campuses.

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McCool Academy Blazers are here!

We have received a few McCool Academy Blazers here at the campus. We will be delivering blazers our to our Astronauts during their last class period on Monday. If you have not yet received you McCool Academy Blazer and you expect it to arrive this week please call Designs In Thread at (806) 794-3875 on Friday. Please be aware if you did not order before July 17th your child's blazer will be arriving at a later time.

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Where Do I drop off my kiddo? And pick up?

As a reminder, all students will be dropped off at the south side entrance of the school. Please be sure to pull over along the curb to drop students off rather than the middle of the street. We want to ensure each student's safety along with respecting the families behind us that are waiting to drop their child as well. After school, as mentioned before, your child will exit out of the nearest exit doors. Please be sure to communicate with your child in regard to where you will pick them up after school.

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Chromebooks - BRING THEM TO SCHOOL

All learners will NEED to bring their Chromebooks FULLY CHARGED to school everyday. If you are a face-to face or virtual student and have not yet received a NEW chromebook or exchange your old one, please schedule an appointment with our Media Specialist Ms. Brinkley at cheryl.brinkley@lubbockisd.org

Join us in our first virtual EDME session!

Early Dedication to Medical Education is hosting the following:

Please join us to learn about Internal Medicine on Monday August 31, 2020 from 6:00 to 7:00 PM.

The meeting will take place in a zoom meeting. Learn more about zoom here.

If you are interested in attending, please register here.

Mrs. Julie Dixon
SOM Lead Advisor
e-mail: somadm@ttuhsc.edu
3601 4th Street | MS 6216 | Lubbock, Texas 79430
806.743.2297

School Map and Schedule

Many families have requested a school map in regard to navigating about the campus. We have uploaded our school map on our McCool Academy Google Site (click here). All of our face-to-face learners will believe a school map on the back of their schedules PRIOR to entering the school.

For our virtual learners we understand you will need a way to connect with your teachers. By clicking on the following link here (or below) you will look for your teacher's name within the spreadsheet on the home page (seen in orange). You will then be directed to the teacher's home page and you will then find their Google Hangout link at the top of the page. Once you are there you are able to connect with the class. Please be sure you are in the correct CLASS PERIOD otherwise you will be marked absent.

https://sites.google.com/lubbockisd.org/mccool-academy-open-house/home

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Proper Technology Usage for ALL Students

Please be aware of your chromebook usage as students are utilizing their chromebooks at home and during the school year. Students will be assigned their chromebooks for the school year and will be bringing their devices back and forth with them. Student history is immediately available to administration and counselors. We are able to view content that students upload or view on their devices and receive alerts when the content is inappropriate - this includes Netflix movies that are not rated for the appropriate age, social media content, and much more. Please be responsible with your technology usage as this could impact your child's ability to remain as a transfer student at McCool Academy. GoGuardian software helps our McCool Academy community navigate through their devices, better understand their students, and keep them safer online.

How do I connect with my teacher I am a virtual learner???

Virtual Learner Parent/Guardian Agreement Expectations

Please be sure to read the virtual learner expectations HERE. There have been many questions from our virtual learner families and we want to ensure our virtual learners are in the most safe and productive learning environment! We want all learners experiencing our STEAM and PBL belief!