Remote Connections

eAchieve Students and Families -

Can you believe it’s Week 15 already? December can be a wonderful time for those looking forward to spending time with family and friends or celebrating a holiday. It can also be a difficult time for those who are missing sunshine and longer days. The good news is that the Winter Solstice will occur next on Wednesday, Dec 21 at 9:27 pm. This is the time when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted as far away from the sun as possible, which means that it is typically the shortest day of the year. A common misconception is that winter happens because we are farther away from the sun, but in fact, we are closer to the sun during winter! For those looking forward to longer days, every day after December 22nd gets a little longer (more daylight) until June 20th!

Personally, I’m loving this unseasonably warm fall, especially the number of sunny days in southeastern Wisconsin. I’m just fine without the November and December gloomy days! For our winter weather and snow lovers, I bet this waiting game has been rough. I suspect you’ll get your wish soon, but in the meantime, I’ve been able to sneak out for a few more open water fishing trips, and included few photos below. These were taken in the Milwaukee Harbor and River; two Brown Trout and one Rainbow Trout (Steelhead). Do we have any other fisher-folks at eAchieve? If you have any amazing fishing photos from this summer or fall to share, we’d love to see them and include them in an upcoming newsletter!

eAchieve Academy is a wonderful place for students to learn at their own pace, and to take advantage of the flexibility that virtual learning offers. We hope every student takes advantage of this flexibility, while still receiving a world-class education from our talented and dedicated teaching staff. However, now is the time to dig in and commit yourselves to your learning; in essence, everyone needs to get to work and make good and steady progress every day. We know that every student has a unique situation and our teachers will handle every student's situation individually. However, when our teachers are working with over 250 students each semester, and the volume of assignments grows exponentially in Dec and January, we need each of you to do your part, by simply rolling up your sleeves, setting a daily schedule and getting to work.

I strongly encourage you to put forth your best effort this week and next and then close the computer and enjoy your winter break. While some students may find it helpful to work on assignments, we want you to be able to enjoy the time away from your studies and focus on yourselves, your families and friends.

For those who are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work to “catch up” on, please take a deep breath and know you’re not alone. Don’t give up. Pay close attention to the course announcements as your teachers will often have information about how to navigate a catch up plan, saving you and the teacher having to create one individually. Your teachers are here to help you find success and we need you to do your part, because after all, it is your education.

Can we count on you to do your part?

Save travels to those heading out of town, and for those staying close, we hope you have a wonderful and relaxing winter break. We’ll see you in 2024 in a few weeks!

Jason Smith

Principal

Emily McHugh

Associate Principal

We are so excited to unveil our brand new eAchieve Website at https://www.eachieve.com/

Our website serves as an important marketing tool to recruit new students to eAchieve, and while that’s really important, we also need to a place for our currently enrolled students and families to access the information they need. We know email will always be our main means of communication, yet we think that being able to access what you need via the website would be so much more convenient than trying to find an old email or try to remember who sent it to you! Check out the “Enrolled Families” page and let us know what else would be helpful to include!

Even better, you can access our website via the eAchieve Academy app! Here is how to access the app and get started today!

December 25- January 1: No School

Blackboard remains open during all breaks, so you can still turn in assignments during this time, but please don't expect a response to email or to see your work graded during a break.

While there is still plenty of time to finish coursework, the end of semester deadlines are getting closer by the day. A reminder that all coursework is due on Friday, January 12 with Week 18 work (exams) due on Friday, January 19, 2024.

This is a link to our eAchieve Grading Policies which should be available in all of your eAchieve classes.

As we move into the end of the semester, here are a few important details to remember:

Students should not expect that revisions will be possible on work submitted during weeks 16 or 17 due to the high volume of work submitted during these two weeks. Teachers simply can’t keep up and students may not receive their graded work back until after the deadline has passed. Revisions on final exams and projects (week 18) are typically not allowed. While students are always encouraged to submit quality work all school year long, they should especially ensure that work submitted during weeks 16 - 18 represents their very best work.

At eAchieve, it's important that families and students take an active role in monitoring their learning progress. Students and parents (observers) have unrestricted access to the Blackboard grade book. Visible items for each assignment include the assignment name, due date, score, whether it was opened, and if it was submitted for grading. Any comments the teacher has made will also be visible. A paper progress report is also mailed home after the 8th week of each semester. If adequate progress is not being made, parents should first consult with their student. Parents are also encouraged to contact teachers any time they have a question about anything they see in the gradebook which their students cannot satisfactorily explain.

The only firm deadlines at eAchieve are the end of each semester. All coursework is expected to be completed by the end-of-semester deadline. The flexibility to adapt the learning schedule to individual needs is one of the things that makes the eAchieve experience unique. However, students have to be responsible for their own education and make good and steady progress every week (and hopefully every day).

Just an FYI the student trip to Washington D.C and New York is full. We are no longer taking students for this trip. Hopefully we can offer another trip like this in the future.

Join us on Thursday, January 4th at 10:00 AM for our first family outing of the new year! There is no cost to attend this event, but it is recommended that you get your free tickets in advance. Tickets will be available on the Milwaukee Public Museum's Website starting one week before the event. Please be sure to bring a lunch.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP using this Google Form Link. Thank you!

Please check out this document for art opportunities for secondary students. There are lots of great art shows, contests, and events coming up in the second semester. These opportunities are open to ALL eAchieve Academy students.

Do you enjoy reading? Do you enjoy talking about what you've read with peers? Please consider joining the eAchieve Book Club. We meet every second Wednesday of the month from 1:30 to 2:15. Please fill out this form if interested.

Click here to see this month's student services newsletter.

Please email Danielle Castro dcastro@waukesha.k12.wi.us if you need student or parent log in information!

Click here if you have a question about technology. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible.