TVAH DCA Family News

Texas schools honor Celebrate Freedom Week to highlight the values and ideals on which the United States was founded as well as the sacrifices that were made for freedom in the founding of the country.

A Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) is an extracurricular student led group for all that are currently in or interested in being a part of the career and technical world. Joining any of these organizations opens up many opportunities for students. It also helps to further their knowledge and skills by participating in activities, events and competitions.

If you are interested in joining any organizations within the CTSO, please click on the following link: Student CTSO Sign-Ups

Hello Students and Learning Coaches!

Welcome to Destinations Career Academy!

My name is Luci Zuniga. Working alongside the DCA teachers and administrative team, I serve as the Career Readiness Education Program Coordinator for K12 Texas!!
If you are participating in one or more Career Readiness courses this year, you have joined an elite group of students who are participating in Destinations Career Academy (DCA)!

You will need to watch the Welcome to Destinations Career Academy! orientation video that includes some information about our DCA program!

Once you’ve watched the DCA Welcome video, please complete the following survey:

Destinations Career Academy (DCA) Pathway Selection TVAH

I will have *OPTIONAL* open office hours to answer any questions you may have about Destinations Career Academy:

*OPTIONAL* Open Office Hours in Zoom:

September 10th - 4PM-5PM - https://zoom.us/j/4721582521

September 14th - 4PM-5PM - https://zoom.us/j/4721582521

September 15th - 4PM-5PM - https://zoom.us/j/4721582521

Please complete the CAR003 Welcome to Destinations course if you have not done so already.

If you have any questions, please reach out to me or Mr. Marcus Walker, CRE Academic Administrator, or myself.

Thank you!

Luci Zuniga

Ms. Thorne, certified to teach Money Matters and Marketing, will be supporting the Introduction to Marketing class at this time. The course and assignments are accessible to students, and Ms. Thorne will also be hosting daily office hours. Students are encouraged to attend open office hours scheduled from 1:00 to 1:30 pm, Monday through Friday, in order to ask questions or get assignment help as they work through the course. Ms. Thorne’s contact information was sent in her welcome email. You can find a copy of that here.

Good afternoon, Bobcats!

My name is Ms. Thorne, which many of you might remember me from when I held the Marketing Orientation session two weeks ago. While I currently teach Money Matters, I have also taught Marketing, and until Mrs. Kinney returns from maternity leave, I will be assisting Marketing students with their coursework.

Beginning today (Tuesday, 9/8), I will be holding open office hours from 1:00-1:30 Monday through Friday to assist students with any questions regarding Marketing coursework until Ms. Kinney returns. These open office hours are optional, and you will see the link to them in your class connect section of your Marketing course.

I may also be reached via email: pthorne@tvahallsville.org or via phone/text at 806.370.0204.

I look forward to assisting you for the next few weeks!

Thank you,

Ms. Thorne

Please let us know if you have any questions or need assistance.

Dr. Joseph Ferguson

Click Here to Opt Into Receiving Texts From Teachers, Advisors, Counselors, and Admin!

Links to all Class Connection Sessions (orientation, MAP testing, IOL help sessions, etc.) will be found in your OLS account, the Plan tab, under the Class Connect Schedule section.

• Class Connect Sessions continue.
• Complete the DCA Survey.
• Attend DCA Orientation.
  

At K12, we power "Education for Any ONE." For us, that is more than a tagline—it’s an underlying philosophy. We believe that Black lives matter. And we will work to help create real change toward racial equity. As an education company with 20 years of experience in online learning, we’re in a unique position to promote diversity and inclusion in the classroom and beyond for students, teachers, and all those involved in preparing our young people for successful futures. In addition to our existing programs, we are committing to the following new diversity and inclusion initiatives, which can be viewed here.

K12 Customer Support:

866-512-2273

https://www.help.k12.com/s/

K12 Tech Support

1-866-626-6413

Hello,

In our virtual setting, it is much easier for you to be part of your student’s educational journey. We would like to formally welcome you to attend live Class Connect sessions with your student, either sitting side by side at the computer or logging in through your Learning Coach account. We believe that students succeed when we can work in partnership with you and want to make sure that you know that you are welcomed into our classes. We are committed to ensuring that our virtual class sessions are a warm, welcoming, and safe place for all students.

Class Connect Expectations for Learning Coaches, Parents, and Legal Guardians

1. 24-Hour Access is provided to the recordings from the Class Connect sessions to view a missed class.
2. Learning Coaches, Parents, and Legal Guardians are our partners in their student’s education and are warmly welcomed into Class Connect sessions.
3. Learning Coaches, Parents, and Legal Guardians are not allowed to interrupt the teacher, advisor, counselor, another staff member or students with questions, comments, or disruptions.
4. Learning Coaches, Parents, and Legal Guardians must respect our staff member’s time by not holding them after class is finished for a private conference. We highly encourage you to reach out via phone, text, or email to your student’s teacher or advisor to schedule a conference time.
5. Learning Coaches, Parents, and Legal Guardians that cause disruptions in class may be restricted from attending live sessions. Staff members may remove any adult that is causing a disruption so that they can ensure warm, welcoming, safe learning environment for all students.

We can’t wait to “see” you in Class Connect sessions!

Dear Parent,

Texas has funding based on need for additional academic support in schools. We need your help to make sure all of our students are fully prepared for academic success by completing Federal Income Forms in order to receive these funds.

There are three important reasons to fill out this form:

1. Interventionists: The state funds will be used to hire and train certified intervention teachers to work with your student(s) in filling any previous learning gaps and to prepare them for their current and future academic success.
2. Graduation Coaches: The state funds will be used to hire graduation coaches to help students who are behind to cross the finish line and develop post high school goals.
3. Teacher Training: We want to provide more in-depth training for our entire staff in order to best serve our students.

Please take a few minutes to fill out this form so that we can qualify for additional state funding that will directly impact your student. If you are not sure how to complete the form, a sample is attached. You can also review this short recording: https://bit.ly/tvahfif

Thank you for your continued support of our school. Go Bobcats!

Sincerely,

Catherine Groven, Head of School

What to do when the OMHS is down.

The Online Middle/High Schools (OMHS) may be down for maintenance or unexpected outages from time to time. During these times, it is important not to panic and follow this plan!

Be prepared in advance by doing the following things on the first day of school:

1. Download your course textbooks

2. Save and print a copy of all your teacher’s phone numbers and contact information.

3. Save a copy of your courses’ semester calendar

When you are unable to log in to the OMHS, your first stop should be http://help.k12.com to see if the outage is known and has been posted by K12. You can also check the K12 Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/k12inc) as well as the TVAH Middle School Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/TVAHMS/) for updated outage information.

What happens if Blackboard Collaborate is experiencing service disruption and students are not able to access Class Connects?

· Students will be notified on Facebook and in their school email that Blackboard is down and sessions will move to an alternate platform (for example Zoom) or are canceled until service resumes.

· Students will be notified on Facebook and in email that Blackboard is back and sessions will resume.

· Students will not be penalized for required session that were missed during the outage.

· Teachers will conduct make up sessions that were missed and post recorded content sessions.

What should students do if the K12 Online MS is interrupted and students cannot access courses?

There are many things students can work on outside of the OMHS. OMHS interruptions should not mean interruptions in learning!

· Students can reach out to their teacher by phone if they cannot use their school email.

· Print or save a copy of your course semester calendar so you can access it to see what can be worked on offline.

· Read books or complete other activities/assignments listed on the semester calendar to keep up with Course Plan as much as possible – lesson assignments can be submitted when the OMHS is back up and running.

· Login to USA Test Prep to complete any assignments or practice items, if applicable

· Find other educational activities to complete, such as

o Find home science experiments online to try

o Watch educational web videos pertaining to your subjects (History channel, PBS, Khan Academy)

o Complete exercise minutes for PE

What to do when Class Connect is down, but OMHS is working

If Class Connect goes down and you miss live sessions but the OMHS and your courses are still available, the teacher will make a recording of the missed live session for later viewing once Class Connect is working again. Send your teacher an email that class connect is not working for you. Then, work in your online course to complete lessons, assignments, and assessments.

How to determine when systems are back up and running

Check the following places for updates on all systems outages, and keep checking back to login about every 30 minutes to see if the affected system is back up and running again:

· K12 Customer Care: http://help.k12.com

· K12 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/K12Inc

· TVAH High School Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TVAHHighSchool

Helpful links to bookmark

· K12 Customer Care: http://help.k12.com

· K12 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/K12Inc

· Elementary School: https://www.facebook.com/TVAHElementary/

· Middle School: https://www.facebook.com/TVAHMS

· High School: https://www.facebook.com/TVAHHighSchool/

Your student is expected to have an average of 450 minutes (7.5 hours) of daily attendance or 35 hours/2,250 minutes each school week.

Attendance is logged daily by active participation through the following channels:
➢ Working in coursework in the Online School (OLS) or Learning Management System (LMS) (not just checking email)
➢ Attending and participating in assigned virtual online sessions with state-certified teachers.

➢ Attending required in-person state assessments, such as STAAR and TELPAS tests.

Please note: While we typically do not have live classes on Fridays, school is still in session each Friday. You may complete OLS lessons, USA Test Prep assessments, and catch up on any missed class connects from the week via recording.

If you have recently moved, please remember to fill out the Change of Address Form. This will ensure we have the most up to date address for you.

Survey One: To be used if someone in your household, including student(s), is thought to have been exposed to or tests positive for COVID-19

LINK: COVID-19: Health Update

Survey Two: To be used when immediate, non-life-threatening assistance is needed (testing attendance, re-registration, outages, parent/teacher conference requests, prolonged student absences)

LINK: COVID-19: Help Request

If you need assistance for your student, please reach out to your student's Assistant Principal first, as listed below.

This will be added soon :)

Hello Everyone! My name is Dr. Joseph Ferguson and I am honored to serve as the new Destinations Career Academy (DCA) Principal at TVAH. This is my 17th year in education, serving as a teacher, Assistant Principal, Associate Principal, and Principal. I received my education from Baylor University and Lamar University. While at Baylor University, I played rugby. This where I learned the true meaning of leadership, teamwork, selflessness, and my desire to help children.

I truly believe that all children can and will learn, regardless of their background. I believe in giving my all to education and my students, as well as instilling that same belief in my staff. Here at TVAH, we have that mindset.

Email: jferguson@tvahallsville.org
Phone: (512) 859-3539