UPDATES

 

 

August 27, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians,

It’s been an exciting week so far as our buildings have started open houses.  It’s so great to see students in our buildings again!

In an effort to send continued communication, below you will find information regarding back to school. There is a lot of information below so bear with us!

As you know, we have three learning options for this year:

In-Person Knights - students will learn in our school buildings 5-days a week following a traditional schedule.

Online Knights - students will learn at home, online with a Kings teacher providing instruction.

• K-6: Students will work in whole class and small groups with Kings teacher blended with independent activities to balance the screen time for elementary students. Online teachers will follow the same curriculum maps as In-Person Knights.
• 7-12:  Students will follow their same “normal” bell schedule that the In-Person Knights follow.

Virtual Knights - students will learn through Virtual Learning Academy or APEX.

• K-8:  Utilizing Virtual Learning Academy supported by Kings Champion Teachers, Jess Mease (K-4) and Carrie Foreman (5-8).
• 9-12:  Students will take classes at their own pace and on their own time using APEX cloud-based software supported by Kings Champion Teacher, Sue Werner.

CHROMEBOOK AND SUPPLY PICK-UP 

See below for the times to pick up your student’s Chromebook and school supplies.

In-Person Knights:

• In-Person Knights will use traditional materials in their classroom. Sharing of supplies is discouraged. 
• n-Person Knights in grades 5-12 will use their Kings Chromebook for class and are responsible for making sure it is fully charged and ready for use at the beginning of each school day. 

Online Knights: 

• Online Knights K-4 may choose a Kings Chromebook or use their own device.
• Online Knights 5-12 are required to have a Kings Chromebook. 

Virtual Knights: 

• Virtual Knights can use their Kings Chromebook or their own device for VLA and APEX. 

Kindergarten and Grade 1 Students - Pick up Chromebooks at JF Burns Elementary from 12:00 noon until 5:30 pm on Thursday, Aug. 27th.

Grade 2, Grade 3, and Grade 4 Students- Pick up Chromebooks at Kings Mills Elementary from 12:00 noon until 5:30 pm on Thursday, Aug. 27th. 

Grade 5 and Grade 6 Students- Pick up Chromebooks at Columbia Intermediate School from 12:00 noon until 4:00 pm on Thursday, Aug. 27th OR Friday, Aug. 28th. Curbside pick up using the gym side parking area (to the right of the building).

Grades 7-8 Students- Pick up Chromebooks at Kings Junior High from 12:00 noon until 4:00 pm on Thursday, Aug. 27th.

Grade 9-12 Students - All students should have picked up their Chromebook during their assigned Open House appointment. If your student didn’t pick their Chromebook you will need to schedule a time to pick it up next week. Details will be communicated from KHS via email later this week.  

• ​​​​​​​In-Person Knights 9-12:  students will receive their Chromebooks on their assigned day during Open House. Books will be distributed on or after September 8 during classes.
• Online Knights 9-12:  students will receive their Chromebooks on their assigned day during Open House.  You will need to schedule a time next week to pick up textbooks and other materials.  Details on how to schedule your pickup will be communicated from KHS via email later this week. 
• Virtual Knights 9-12: students will receive their Chromebooks on their assigned day during Open House. Textbooks will not be distributed. APEX has a syllabus for each class which will give details on any outside materials needed for the class

SOFT START WEEK

August 31-September 3 will begin our Soft Start Week.  The idea of the soft-start was to be able to bring a smaller group of students together to ease into the school day schedule and to learn new safety protocols and expectations. See below for information by learning option for all grades K-12:

In-Person Knights- Students who have chosen to learn in-school will come to school one day depending on their last name. Students will come to a full day of school utilizing school transportation (if needed) and eating lunch. Face coverings are REQUIRED for all students and staff. 

• August 31st - last name A-F
• September 1st - last name G-L
• September 2nd - last name M-R
• September 3rd - last name S-Z
• ​​​​​​​September 4th - ALL REMOTE DAY FOR ALL IN-PERSON KNIGHTS

When students are not at school during their assigned day, they will participate in district-provided online work along with the topics of digital citizenship. Please look for communication from your student’s individual teacher(s) for any possible assignments. Students will receive this work via their school email.

Online Knights 
Grades K-4 - Virtual Open House will be held on 8/28, time to be determined by the student’s online teacher. Activities will be communicated by the student’s online teacher.
Grades 5-6 - Teams will host virtual meetings with students. Your student’s online teacher will contact your student for soft start activity expectations.
Grades 7-8 - KJH Online Knights will follow their online schedule for the day on Wednesday, 9/2. Your student’s online teacher will communicate the time of the meetings.
Grades 9-12 - Students will not follow a traditional schedule this week. They will receive work via their school email and participate in district-provided online work along with the topics of digital citizenship. Students will receive this work via their school email.

Virtual Knights
VLA Knights
"Soft Start" will look a bit different for the Virtual Knights. The Champion teachers will be making contact with you and your student during this week to communicate the next steps.
APEX Knights
Students should check their Kings email address for an APEX username and password.  If students have checked their school email and do not have this initial message regarding APEX, contact Mr. Corradini immediately at rcorradini@kingslocal.net Students will actually not start working in APEX until September 8, 2020.  Mrs. Werner will be working with Mr. Corradini to contact students as their schedules are developed in APEX.   
​​​​​​​** For record-keeping purposes, Online and Virtual Knight students will be associated with the following buildings. This does not change your student’s home school designation. 

• Grades K-1--JFB
• Grades 2-4 -- KME
• Grades 5-6 -- CIS
• Grades 7-8 -- KJH
• ​​​​​​​Grades 9-12 -- KHS

REMOTE LEARNING DAY - SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

Remote Learning Day for all students. In-Person Knights DO NOT report to school. For In-Person Knights and Online Knights, assignments and classroom instruction will take place remotely following the traditional schedule. This is a practice run for all students in case we need to send everyone home for a full day or more for remote learning. Virtual Knights will maintain their own schedules. 

BUS ROUTES 

Schedules will be finalized this weekend. Changes have been taking place daily.  Please check the bus look-up on Sunday to make sure no changes were made to your child’s route. 

SCHOOL FEES

The 2020-2021 School Fees can be found here. School fees may be paid for by check or online at payforit.net.

SCHOOL LUNCH

The school lunch menus are up on the Kings Food Service website.  Lunch will be served during our Soft-Start week.

SCHOOL HOURS

In-Person Knights
KHS/KJH - 7:15 a.m. - 1:53 p.m.
JFB/SLE -  8:15 a.m. - 2:45 p.m.
CIS/KME - 9:15 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.

Online Knights
K-4 students - 9:05 a.m. -3:45 pm.
5-6 students - 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
7-8 students - 7:15 a.m. - 1:53 p.m.
9-12 students - 7:15 a.m. - 1:53 p.m.
**K-6 Online Knights Teachers will provide you with a specific schedule of times when your student will be online vs. working independently offline. 

Virtual  Knights
Students will work at their own pace to complete assignments but will have contact with their Kings Champion Teacher.

We have created the Kings Reopening Plan webpage on our website that houses the Kings Reopening Plan details and more.  Please make yourself familiar with the plan.

We are looking forward to a great start to the school year and can’t wait for our Knights to get back to learning!

August 21, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians,

There have been questions from parents regarding technology/devices for students this fall.  Originally, we told parents that students could use their own devices at home as long as they had a working camera and microphone.

As we investigated further, we will need to require all students in grades 5-12 who are utilizing in-person learning (Option 1) and the online learning option with a Kings teacher to use a Kings device.  Students in grades 5-8 who will be learning via VLA or APEX are NOT required to have a Kings device but will need to have a working camera and microphone to use their own device. A Kings device will be available to those students if needed. 

The reason behind this decision is to allow teachers to use a program called Go Guardian to be able to secure students' devices for tests, quizzes, and assignments, when needed.  It will also prevent students from visiting other websites while they are in class.

All students utilizing Kings devices will be required to pay the insurance fee of $16 for the year.  We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused but we believe it will be crucial to maintain the integrity of exams and quizzes during learning. 

Information regarding device pick-up being held next week will be sent to you.

August 11, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Thank you again for your patience and understanding as we put our plans together for back to school.  I know this isn’t ideal and I know these are very difficult decisions that you have to make on behalf of your children. 

As we communicated yesterday, we have added a third option to our Reopening Plan for grades K-8, which is online learning with instruction by a Kings teacher. In this option, students will be taught by a Kings Local School District teacher who will support them in their learning, grade submitted work, and monitor their progress. Parents will be expected to set up a school environment for their child and provide support and help develop an online learning environment and routines.

Students will be required to log in according to their daily schedule which will be released prior to the start of school.  With this option, students will not participate in special area classes - art, music, PE, or media. They will engage with their peers at their same grade level in their online classroom and will be following the same curriculum and grading expectations as their peers physically at school.

The day/schedule will be a little different depending on the grade level. Students will participate in both real-time and self-paced learning activities. Students will be held to attendance expectations and the day will be set up to allow for screen breaks so students are not sitting in front of a computer all day. 

Please click here for additional information regarding the online plans.

Below is a link to the selection form.  I know we asked you to do this previously, but because we have added a new option, we are asking parents to please use this form to make your selection again. We anticipate that adding this option could potentially change your initial decision.

K-8 Student Learning Selection Form

Thank you again for waiting so patiently as we worked diligently to put a plan together that is not only safe but will fit the needs of our students, staff, and families.

August 10, 2020

Dear Parents/Guardians,

After hearing from many parents, we are making changes to our reopening learning plans to include a K-8 online instruction option that will be taught by Kings teachers. 

What does this mean? We will be offering three options for instruction:

• Option 1 - In-person instruction from Kings teachers five days a week physically at school. 
• Option 2 - Online learning at home using Virtual Learning Academy, not a Kings teacher.
• Option 3- NEW - Online learning at home with instruction provided by a Kings teacher, five days a week.

We will be sending a new selection form tomorrow and we will ask ALL families (K-8) to reT-submit their choice after considering the changes to the options. Because of this, we are extending the deadline to choose the option for your child to this Thursday, August 13 at midnight. Students in grades 9-12 will not be required to submit a new form since their options have not changed.

We understand that this decision may be frustrating and confusing however, we are listening to our community's feedback and making changes to best serve our students and families. Again, watch your email tomorrow for the updated plan and selection form.

Thank you for your patience and support.