News and events, September 2022

We want to welcome you to the Virtual Open House! This is a great opportunity to meet your

students’ teachers, learn about what to expect in the classes, and ask questions. This event will be held on Tuesday, August 30th from 4:00 - 6:00 pm.

Details: Beginning at 4:00pm, log into our website: www.ahschools.us/virtualacademy. A popup window will appear with links to individual teachers’ meeting codes. This is an open event, so you can come and go whenever it is convenient for you. Please note - some elective teachers will not be available due to the timing of the STEP Open House that is being held in-person at the same time.

We ask that at least one parent/guardian attend our orientation session, even if you have had a student enrolled in our Virtual Academy in the past. There are important updates and mandates regarding attendance that parents/guardians need to know. We will keep these sessions brief but it’s critical that you are aware of our attendance updates.

For those of you that have had students attend our school in the past, you know we have typically included students in these sessions. While students are welcome to attend, this session is intended toward parents/guardians. Students are required to attend the orientation session on the first day of school (see previous section).

You will have three different opportunities to attend orientation. Please choose ONE of the options below to attend:

Session 1: Virtual Orientation
Date: Tuesday, August 30th
Time: 10:00am
To attend: Click on this link at 10am to attend this session: 10am Orientation

Session 2: Virtual Orientation
Date: Tuesday, August 30th
Time: 3:00pm
To attend: Click on this link at 3pm to attend this session: 3pm Orientation

Session 3: Virtual Orientation
Date: Tuesday, August 30th
Time: 5:00pm
To attend: Click on this link at 5pm to attend this session: 5pm Orientation

We will be emailing a handbook to families in the next couple of weeks. This will have information about our school, expectations, new attendance rules, and new requirements regarding cameras/microphones for students. We ask that you please review this information with your student and become familiar with it and let us know if you have any questions.

You have likely heard that the first day of school, Tuesday, September 6th, is a Freshman Only transition day and that other students in grades 10-12 are attending classes asynchronously that day. PLEASE NOTE: All students attending the Virtual Academy in all grades will be attending a required synchronous orientation that day and will attend a shortened schedule to meet their teachers, go over the syllabus, and learn about attendance and other expectations for each of their classes. More information will be sent to students about this day.

Phone Numbers

Main Line: 763-433-4040

Attendance: 763-433-4040

Counselors: Melanie Hankins (Anoka, Champlin Park & Coon Rapids) 763-433-4036

Alyssa Zemple (Andover & Blaine) 763-433-4031

Special Education: 763-433-4081

Email Addresses

General Info: virtualschool@ahschools.us

Attendance: michelled.mitchell@ahschools.us

Counselors: Anoka, Champlin Park & Coon Rapids: melanie.hankins@ahschools.us

Andover & Blaine: alyssa.zemple@ahschools.us

Special Education: barbara.diemer@ahschools.us

Trimester Dates:

Trimester 1: September 6, 2022 - December 1, 2022

Trimester 2: December 6, 2022 - March 9, 2023

Trimester 3: March 21, 2023 - June 8, 2023

Parent/Teacher Conferences:

October 10, 2022: 3:00pm - 6:00pm

January 11, 2023: 3:00pm - 6:00pm

April 24, 2023: 3:00pm - 6:00pm

Office Hours: Log in to www.myconferencetime.com to find other times that teachers are available for conferencing

Other Dates:

Please note, we follow the same school calendar as the other Anoka-Hennepin High Schools.

Students will be expected to attend their Google Meet classes each day and time they have a live “synchronous” class. Some classes will meet synchronously three times a week and others will meet two times per week.

Attendance is required for all SYNCHRONOUS sessions and will be taken at the start of the hour. On ASYNCHRONOUS days, attendance is taken by the student logging in and completing an attendance prompt for all classes by 2:05pm. If your student is going to be absent on either synchronous or asynchronous days, please contact us and let us know.

Synchronous learning refers to when students are in a live Google Meet class with
their teacher. In a Google Meet class, students may be expected to turn on their
camera when required by a teacher for a particular activity, lesson or so that students
are actively engaged. Students are encouraged to use a Google Meet background
when they are required to have their camera on. Students can choose a background
by clicking on the three dot button next to the leave call red hangup button. Then
select “apply visual effects”. Students will be expected to manage their microphone
and appropriately mute themself during the class until they are expected to partici-
pate verbally.

Your students’ schedule will be accessible for viewing later in August. We are finalizing courses

right now and will email families when they are ready to be viewed in ParentVue. Thank you for

your patience.

We have students that have enrolled with us both part-time as well as full-time. Therefore, we have a student schedule that aligns with the home high schools so that the students can attend both schools successfully. Our schedule is as follows:

Period 1: 7:55am - 8:45am

Period 2: 8:55am - 9:45am

Period 3: 10:15am - 11:05am

Period 4: 12:15pm - 1:05pm

Period 5: 1:15pm - 2:05pm

Students are certainly welcome to utilize their own technology devices or they may choose to check out a district issued Chromebook. Part-time online students will access Chromebooks through their home high school and full-time online students will check out Chromebooks through Anoka-Hennepin Virtual Academy.

Students can pick up Chromebooks at the following days/times:

● Thursday, August 25th 9am -3pm

● Tuesday, August 30th 9am - 6pm

● Wednesday, August 31st 9am - 3pm

Pickup will be at the Secondary Technical Education Program (STEP). Our address is 1353 West Highway 10, Anoka, MN 55303. We are the taller building attached to Anoka Technical College. Enter in the front door and someone will guide you.

Some of our courses will require students to pick up textbooks, supplies, or novels. Students’ teachers will communicate directly with those students and families that need to pick up supplies/textbooks. We are asking families that are contacted to come on the following dates/time:

● Tuesday, August 30th 9am - 6pm

● Wednesday, August 31st 9am - 3pm

● Thursday, September 1st 9am - 3pm

Please note - our full-time enrolled virtual students and families will no longer maintain enrollment in the home high schools. This means it is critical that you sign up for updates so that you can stay involved and updated on important events such as yearbook, dances, graduation announcements, etc. You might consider signing up for E-Newsletters, email updates, etc. If you have any questions, you can contact the high school principal’s office.

The week before classes begin, you can expect an email to both you and your student from assigned teachers. This email will introduce you to the class, share a syllabus, and invite your student with a code to the Google Classroom. This will give you more information about the course expectations and other relevant information. The email is sent to the parent email address and a classroom code will be sent to the students’ district issued gmail account; this code is critical for your student to accept as it will allow access into the course(s). You can expect this email by the end of the day on Thursday,September 1st. We look forward to seeing you at the Orientation and the Open House and please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns!

Free resources available through Anoka County Library to support students.

• Your students can access live online tutoring, ESL support, and college and career assistance for free with a library card. Please see flier attached.