Thursday Senior Update

Happy Thursday Seniors.

We hope that you are enjoying Spring Spirit week and that your remote learning week is going well.

We have a special senior event to announce. Traditionally, your overall group Class of 2020 photo is first seen when you receive your yearbooks in June. This year, we will unveil this tomorrow, Friday, May 1st! We have made a 48" x 96" banner of your class photo! This banner will be placed at the front steps of BFA (where you took the photo this past Fall). To protect the banner, it will be displayed tomorrow from 8 am to 4 pm and starting next week, on weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm for your viewing. Please keep in mind social distancing of 6 ft when you come to view the banner.

For the past three weeks, many of Vermont's High School Principals have been meeting to discuss ideas about the end of year celebrations. We were told a month ago that we would receive guidance from the Agency of Education and the Department of Health by May 8th. Prior to that time, principals have been asked to submit ideas and I have sent in all the suggestions I have received from seniors and parents.  From our Youtube live event and e-mails, we have heard loud and clear that the priorities have been for seniors to physically walk across the stage for graduation.  We are trying to figure out a way to do this while we keep social distancing happening.  Some ideas have been to set up chairs for parents and seniors outside and with social distance between families and using face masks, to having families be in cars, to having only seniors at the event, and to broadcast it through the cable access channel and the internet, just to name a few.  

Before we make any decisions on which way we should move forward, I am waiting for guidance from the AOE and the Governor’s office.  Yesterday, in his press release, he said he reminded Vermonters his guidance would be out by May 8th.

Also, next week we will be sending out a survey to seniors and to the parents of seniors for additional feedback to learn more about the priorities everyone has for our celebrations. This survey will be similar to some of the questions I asked in the YouTube live event we had a month ago.  We plan to have two surveys, one for seniors and one for the parents to hear our priorities for our end of the year celebrations.  We will ask you some of the same questions we asked you at the start of the month and some additional questions.  The results of this survey will be shared back with you and we will use them to inform our thinking and planning process.

We would like to conclude today with reiterating our first priority of health and safety as well as our commitment to our seniors on your end of year activities. We fully believe that communication is key and if you have any questions or concerns, we want to hear from you.

We hope that you enjoy the Class of 2020 photo banner.

Sincerely,

Bill Kimball

Revised "Tentative" Prom Date: June 20th

Here is an image of the prom ticket. Ticket sales will be at the door the day of the event.

Spring Spirit Week 4/27/20 - 5/1/20

Spring Spirit Week 2020!

Let’s Have Some Competition!

Monday 4/27/20

Dress up as your favorite meme! On your own or with a friend, keep in mind that life imitates art, and get funky with it!

Show us your favorite stay-at-home spring break outfit for a classic Tropical Tuesday!

Tuesday 4/28/20

Wednesday 4/29/20

Looks good, feel good is what they say, right? Ditch the sweats for your most glamorous outfit (or one for your pet) for Whimsical Wednesday!

With a partner or a group from your class, “Twin” the best you can with coordinating outfits and send in a collage of what you came up with!

Thursday 4/30/20

Friday 5/1/20

Since Tradition Never Graduates, throw on your favorite BFA attire to reminisce and show your spirit!

Important: when sending us your submissions, please share files as:

“Your name+grade_day of the spirit week_date” so that we can organize and edit them. Stay tuned on who to send them to.

Each day we will announce the CLASS who had the highest participation, and at the end of the week the ultimate winner (and the prize) will be announced!

Make sure your photos are taken against an appropriate background so that we can make a fun slideshow at the end of this exciting week!

*Please contact Kayleigh (kesweeney@maplerun.org) with any questions!*

April 16, 2020 Update to Seniors

Good afternoon Seniors,

I hope that you are all transitioning well into BFA's continuity of the learning phase. Although it is a challenging time, we are all part of making history during this unique time.

My goal for the senior class is that every one of you graduates this June.  For that to happen, you need to pass your second semester and year-long courses.  As we stated last week, if you currently have a score greater than 2.5 at the progress report time and remain active in your work, you will receive credit.   If your score is below 2.5 in a class you need to graduate, please work with your instructor to know what you need to do to pass the class.

Your teachers should be communicating to you what you must do to remain active in your classes.  This spring, in particular, is not a time to "slack off" or "senior slide."  For those of you who are in jeopardy of not graduating, you and your parents will receive a letter from me explaining what you need to complete to graduate.  I know each of you can do the work to ensure you do graduate.

Yesterday, we announced a "tentative" prom date of June 6th. Safety comes first but we are hopeful for this Roaring 20's party in your honor. 

Enjoy your Friday off and restful spring break. 

Bill

Youtube Live Event, Tuesday April 14th

Mr. Kimball and Ms. Wright will be co-hosting a "live" YouTube webcast for all students and families tonight, April 14 at 6 pm. The link for this event is at https://youtu.be/LuKWajn05YI.  You will be able to chat if you have a youtube account.       

The focus of this event will be to review student expectations during continuous learning and to clarify any questions and concerns.  

Save the Date: Tuesday, April 14th 6 pm

Mr. Kimball and Ms. Wright will be co-hosting a "live" YouTube webcast for all students and families. The focus of this event will be to review student expectations during continuous learning and to clarify any questions and concerns.

We will post the link Tuesday, 2 hours prior to the broadcast via blackboard connect messaging, our school website, and Facebook. Please join us.

Weekly Update - Friday, April 10, 2020

Hello BFA community:

Happy Friday everyone. I just wanted to take a moment to remind the entire BFA community that next Monday, April 13th, we are entering the continuity of learning plan as ordered by Governor Scott.  This means teachers will be delivering new learning through our COVID-19 Remote Learning Plan and we will be taking attendance daily for all students.  This expectation along with other student expectations and resources for families is outlined on our website.

Last night we had a terrific showing of seniors and their families at our YouTube live event to discuss senior celebrations.  At one point, we had approximately 150 viewers.  Next Tuesday, April 14th at 6 pm, Ms. Wright and I will be co-hosting a "live" YouTube webcast for all students and families. The focus of this event will be to review student expectations during continuous learning and to clarify any questions and concerns.

I want to thank all of you for being active during our maintenance of the learning phase and wish you a restful weekend.

Sincerely,

Bill Kimball

Interim Principal BFA

Maple Run Assistant Superintendent  

Video of webcast for Senior Activities Discussion 4/9/20

Here is a recording of Mr. Kimball's presentation to seniors and families.

Please note that the first 4min or so is music to allow time for joining the event.

https://youtu.be/fvNd_EEc27g

Continuity of Learning Plan

To: BFA/NWTC Parents and Students

From: BFA/NWTC Administration

---

Dear BFA/NWTC Community:

This coming Monday, April 13th, NWTC, and BFA will start our continuity of learning plan as instructed by the Governor and the VT Agency of Education. In order to facilitate this process, students and families need to be aware of some common changes and support for students. During the past three weeks, teachers and students have been meeting to maintain their learning, and we have found that over 95% of our students are able to contact our school via electronic means. For those who lack access to high school courses through the internet, we are determined to find multiple ways to support learning.

Our intention with this document is to outline the common student expectations across the school. Each teacher is using either Google Classroom or Unified Classroom to organize their instruction for the students. Along with these common expectations, teachers will have additional requirements which will be communicated to their classes. We have asked each teacher to design four, two-week instructional blocks for their classes to help pace the students in their learning. In the instructional blocks, teachers are trying to design instructional time that, on average, will take 120 to 150 minutes per week per class.

If you have further questions, please feel free to reach out to your teachers.

We hope you are all safe and healthy,

BFA/NWTC Administration

___________________________________________________________________

Building Access

Our custodial staff has been working endlessly to sanitize the entire BFA/NWTC buildings. Parents and students have asked about entering either of our school buildings during the COVID-19 stay at home order from the Governor. We feel it is best that buildings are not accessed at this time, both as a physical distancing measure and as a sanitation measure.


Student Locker Access

We are looking at least a month before we can start getting things back to students. Currently, we are designing a process that will be safe for all to gather their belongings.

Student Support

Please reach out to your student’s school counselor for any needed support. Counselor contact information, including a link to book appointments, can be found on the BFA Guidance Website here. Additionally, information about community resources is available on the BFA Guidance Website here. 

Continuity of Learning Guidelines

Starting April 13th, 2020

Student Engagement


Teachers have set up Google Classrooms or Unified Classrooms to help facilitate engagement, organization, communication, and work completion.

In order for students to receive a grade, they must remain active in their classes. Therefore, we need to define “being active” and have some common attributes across all classes. “Being active” will be reflected in the self-directed score for the class. Teachers will be allowed to determine, using their professional judgment, if a student is “active” in their class based on the attributes. 

The list below contains indicators teachers may use and clearly communicate to their students, so they understand the expectations of their teacher on what they need to do to be considered “active”.


Indicators for Self-Direction for remote learning:

• I view the mini-lessons for this class.
• I complete and submit the learning activities.
• I reach out to my teacher when I have questions or need help.
• I use feedback from my teachers to improve my learning.
• I am a positive member of my remote classroom community.

Scoring and Reporting Guide
Semester and Year-Long courses 

NWTC courses will stay with their scoring guide.

Credit awarded: Students who show sufficient evidence of achievement (either at the time of the progress reports or by the end of the year) and continue to participate during Remote Learning will receive credit and their earned score of 2.5 or above.

Incomplete (INC): The following situations will result in an INC on the student’s transcript. These students will have an opportunity to attend remediation after the school year.

• Students who had a composite score between a 1.5 and 2.5 at progress reports and did not participate during Remote Learning to improve these scores, OR

• Students who showed sufficient evidence (2.5 and above) of achievement at Progress Reports and did not participate during Remote Learning.

• Students who have been participating in remote learning and still have below a 2.5 will receive an INC.

3’s and 4’s: Students who choose to maintain/improve their current skills to above-standard and who continue to demonstrate sophisticated levels of achievement during Remote Learning will continue to be scored according to BFA’s scoring guides.

Credit Denied: If a student has below a 1.5 on their progress report and has not participated in remote learning to bring up their score, a CD (Credit Denied) will appear on their transcript.

Classes that require a higher score to move on to the next level can set their minimum standard for progression (i.e., Spanish II progression to Spanish III)


Attendance

The Agency of Education has directed all schools to take attendance. We have developed the procedure below. This procedure is meant to be flexible and individualized, depending on the student’s circumstances.

• Teachers will take attendance in Powerschool.

• Students must make contact with their instructor each day the class meets (schedule below). For example, you could attend a video meeting, submit an assignment, ask a question through e-mail, chat on Google Classroom, or have a phone call, just to name a few.

• Daily attendance for a student will be ‘counted’ by attending at least one class.

• Every Friday, students are to meet/make contact with their advisory teacher.

Schedule

The “Green and Gold” Schedule helps facilitate scheduled time for teachers and students to connect. Students may engage in activities on Zoom, Google meet, video lectures, virtual discussion sessions, or individual check-ins with teachers via email or phone.

• It is not the expectation that students are doing work or are always available throughout the day during the Green and Gold scheduled times.

• We know that students are providing childcare, working, and have others in the house competing for internet connection.

• The schedule offers a structured time when a teacher could pre-schedule a meeting with their class without running into the periods that others may be meeting.

• If the schedule helps a student stay organized, then they can follow it.

• It will be up to the individual teacher to determine the format and communication with the students.

• Daily attendance will be taken in accordance with your scheduled classes for the day.

Our intent is to be flexible around student’s needs; however, recognizing the importance of remaining active in their classes.


GREEN (Monday and Wednesday)

8:00-9:30 Faculty collaboration

9:30-10:30 Period 3 Classes

10:30-11:00 Advisory

11am-12:00 Period 1 Classes

12:00-12:30 Lunch

12:30-1:30 Period 5 Classes

1:30-2:30 Period 7 Classes


GOLD (Tuesday and Thursday)

8:00-9:30 Faculty Collaboration

9:30-10:30 Enrichment/Office Hours

10:30-11:30 Period 2 Classes

11:30-12:00 Advisory

12:00-12:30 Lunch

12:30-1:30 Period 6 Classes

1:30-2:30 Period 4 Classes

FULL SCHEDULE FRIDAY (Advisory Check-in will be determined by advisor. Flexible time for students to connect with teachers throughout the day)


Packet Distribution by Mail

Students who have been identified as needing hard copies of work due to no internet access or academic support plans will receive the work via the US Postal Service. There will be a deposit bin placed at the cafeteria entrance at BFA for students to drop completed packets. Once a date has been determined for drop off, students will be notified.


Progress Reports

Progress reports are available on Powerschool.

Teachers recorded a snapshot of each student’s grade as of March 17, our last day of in-person instruction. If you cannot log into PowerSchool to please contact bfatech@maplerun.org and they will help you get access to PowerSchool.

Other Information

Finding Teacher Contact Information Visit the BFA and NWTC website and click on the “menu” in the upper lefthand corner and select the green staff icon for a listing of teacher’s emails and phone numbers. Currently, all voice messages are automatically forwarded to the teacher’s email accounts.


We will be following the school calendar for the rest of the year.

No School, April 17th: Teacher In-service day.

April Break: April 20-24 

Senior Activities web cast event Thursday, April 9th 6 pm

Dear BFA Seniors and Families:

I will be hosting a "live" YouTube web cast with seniors and families Thursday, April 9th at 6 pm. 

Please join in by clicking on the link below.

https://youtu.be/ORrz41uK2cQ

During this event, we will focus on discussing the following senior activities:

• Senior receipt of yearbooks and caps & gowns
• Senior Class Family Brunch
• Senior Sports Banquet
• Class Night
• Senior Potluck / Class Slide Show / Project Graduation
• Graduation

I look forward to this event with you.

Bill

Weekly Senior Update

April 2, 2020

Dear BFA Seniors and Families:

Last Thursday, I wrote to you after learning that Governor Phil Scott announced that schools would not be returning to in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.  I am still sad about the loss of our physical connections at BFA, but I remain optimistic that we will strive to provide some unique opportunities for the Class of 2020. 

As you are aware, we are currently in the phase of maintenance of learning where you should be concentrating on catching up and being current in all of your work assignments.  We will be shifting to online continuous learning the week of April 13th. You will be hearing more about this in the near future and I encourage you to stay in close contact with all of your teachers, advisors, and counselors.

In this letter, I want to focus our thoughts on our upcoming senior activities. The Agency of Education stated in their daily memo on Friday that we will not receive guidance until May 8th; however, I assure you that we’ve already started planning. I’d like to first thank you seniors and parents who have already volunteered to help and who have offered various senior activity suggestions including graduation ideas. I will be holding a YouTube “Live” parent forum next Thursday, April 9th at 6 pm. Please join in and we can discuss senior activity options and planning.

As you know, in order to graduate, all seniors must complete ten hours of Community Service.  Currently, and for the foreseeable future, best practice dictates social and physical distancing to preserve the public health.  To ensure the safety of our seniors and community members, BFA is waiving the ten hours of Community Service as a graduation requirement. This unforeseen pandemic has required BFA to shift from its current practices in order to protect the health and wellbeing of all people and prevent the communicable spread of this virus to the most vulnerable among our population.  Many thanks to those seniors who already completed their community service hours. Your service to our community is invaluable.

I’d like to also encourage you to watch the attached heartfelt YouTube message from one of your teachers, Mr. Moulton if you have not seen it. He talks about the three steps of success: preparation, confidence, and perseverance. He stresses that he and BFA as a whole cares about you, misses you, and believes in You.   I couldn’t say it any better than he did. Here is the link to watch the video:

https://youtu.be/YCXXs_r1s3A

Lastly, I’d like you to know that if you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to reach out to me via email or calling 802-527-6400.

Sincerely,

Bill Kimball

Interim Principal

April 2, 2020 Update

Dear BFA and NWTC Students and Families,

Not in a million years did we think we would be in a situation like this. I want to take an opportunity to thank BFA’s Custodial Staff for working so hard to sanitize and get the school clean and accessible so that our faculty and staff can access the campus as needed to continue to work for you and your families.  

As a school community, we are problem-solving new issues and concerns as they arise daily.  It is during times like this when we call upon BFA's greatest strength and an asset to support one another and the reason why students, faculty, and staff show up every day to the Academy; it is our collective COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY AND EDUCATION that keeps us strong and together. 

CLASSWORK:

Teachers are in the process of setting up their Google Classrooms or Unified Classrooms.  BFA will be distributing new work the week of April 13th as per the Governor's and the Agency of Education's directive to shift from a Maintenance of Learning to a Continuation of Learning format. We have been working hard to figure out the needs of each and every student. For those who are accessing the work digitally, we ask that you work through that mode and do not ask for packets as well.  For those students who do not have internet access, we ask that you call Matt Bloom at 802- (527-6503) and leave a message that you need internet access. We are compiling a master list of students who will need hard copies of the work (i.e., no electronic access, students with plans, etc.). New packets will be mailed the week of April 13th.  

DEVICES:

If a device is needed, one can be picked up at the cafeteria window on Academy Drive on Mondays and Thursdays between 11:00 and 12:30.  If you do not have the means to pick up the device, please contact your Guidance Counselor so that arrangements can be made for you to get one.

LOCKERS AND PERSONAL ITEMS:

Lastly, we are aware that there are still students who have belongings that were left in lockers.  We are working with our Custodial Team and a select group of staff to transfer belongings from lockers to bags and have them labeled.  The campus is about to go into a 72-hour shutdown to help effectively eliminate any possible chance that the COVID-19 virus is on campus. Following that, based on how many lockers we have emptied, we will devise a schedule for content pick up.  If you left something at school, outside your locker, please send an email to Matt Bloom or your guidance counselor to let them know you need to pick up something additional to your locker contents. The building will remain off-limits as to keep it as sanitary as possible during this time.  Stay tuned for pick up times and dates.

BFA & NWTC: ONE COMMUNITY

If you have not seen the video to BFA and NWTC from the staff, please go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Iqjzi-4QI&authuser=1 .  A big thank you to all the BFA and NWTC staff who created messages of hope and love to the students.  Also, Luke Cioffi and Karla Kane deserve a shoutout for coming up with the idea, organizing and producing the video.  Way to go BFA and NWTC!!!

Thank you all for your patience and continued support. 

#BFASTRONG

Sincerely,

BFA and NWTC Admin Team

BFA & NWTC One Community

At this moment in time we give thanks to all the amazing people in our lives and cherish every moment we have together. We will get through this. We will be strong! Absolutely love our community!

Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_Iqjzi-4QI&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR23JTfMzZRAZKPWZKSQet4DdD6qKg9Sy0Ap7R3-Uj3vLqtnaqAInHxlkaM

Community Service Senior Graduation Requirement

Attention Seniors:

As you know, in order to graduate, all seniors must complete ten hours of Community Service.  Currently, and for the foreseeable future, best practice dictates social distancing to preserve the public health.  To ensure the safety of our seniors and community members, BFA is waiving the ten hours of Community Service as a graduation requirement. This unforeseen pandemic has required BFA to shift from its current practices in order to protect the health and well being of all people and prevent the communicable spread of this virus to the most vulnerable among our population.

Many thanks to those seniors who already completed their community service hours. Your service to our community is invaluable.

Video from Mr. Moulton

I’d like to also encourage you to watch the attached heartfelt YouTube message from one of your teachers, Mr. Moulton. He talks about the three steps of success: preparation, confidence, and perseverance. He stresses that he and BFA as a whole cares about you, misses you, and believes in You.   I couldn’t say it any better than he did. Here is the link to watch the video:

https://youtu.be/YCXXs_r1s3A

Mr. Kimball