Monthly Boost

September 2024

Welcome Back, Otters!

Hello 279Online scholars and families! We hope you had a great summer break and are ready for a fresh start. This school year is going to be filled with lots of learning, growth, and new experiences. Whether you're returning or new to our online school, we're here to support you every step of the way.

This first edition of the 279Online Monthly Boost has important information to help you get started. Please take the time to read through it so you stay up to date with everything. If you ever need help with anything, don’t hesitate to reach out to our office staff or administrative team—we're here for you. We’re excited to work together to make this school year successful and memorable for everyone!

-Ms. Swanson and Ms. Bisson

We are thrilled to welcome you and your family back to school at our 279Online Back to School Kick Off Night.

Date: Wednesday, August 28th

Time: 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Location: Osseo Area Learning Center (7300 Boone Ave. N, Brooklyn Park, MN 55428)

Event Highlights:

• 📸School Pictures: Capture the moment with a professional school photo of your child. (School pictures must be taken at this time in order for secondary students to receive a school ID).

• 💻Device Distribution: Receive your child's device for a seamless online learning experience. *PLEASE BRING YOUR PREVIOUS ISD279 SCHOOL YEAR ID to speed up the device checkout process*

• 📏🎨Materials Pick-Up: Gather essential learning materials for the year ahead.

• 🏫Meet the Teachers: Interact with our dedicated educators and get to know the team.

• 🍔Eat some food: We will be serving burgers, black bean burgers, chips and water

• Enjoy surprises and engaging activities planned for you!

If you are unable to attend this kickoff event, please contact us at 763-391-8670 or online@district279.org to arrange material and Chromebook pick up on an alternate date. Failure to do so will result in your student not being able to start on their first day.

279Online Elementary Families: We're excited to introduce you to Ms. Merlis, our art teacher for the 24-25 school year! Ms. Merlis has been working with our secondary scholars for the past few years and will now be working for our K-5 scholars as well! Art class with Ms. Merlis will be included in the specialist rotation with Music and PE.

We'd also like you remind you of our K-5 classroom teachers:

• Kindergarten: Ms. Larsen
• 1st Grade: Ms. Lussier
• 2nd Grade: Mr. Harne
• 3rd Grade: Ms. Schumacher
• 4th Grade: Ms. Miller
• 5th Grade: Ms. Kieser

All 279Online Families:

• Please make sure to check out our school supply list that is attached below, or you can find it on our website under School Supply List here: https://online.district279.org/info-center.
• Student Schedules will go be available to view on August 27th via StudentVUE and ParentVUE.
• Please make sure to bring a backpack or bag with you to take home your materials!

• August 28th: 279Online Back to School Kickoff Night

• September 3rd: First day of School

Trimester 1 Conferences:

• October 1st and October 8th
• Elementary: 7:15-8:15 AM
• K-12: 3:30-8:00PM

• October 17th and 18th: Conference Release Days - No School for Students

NOVEMBER

• Virtual Bingo: Thursday, November 21st from 6:00-7:00pm
• Have fun with our school staff and classmates!

DECEMBER

• Advisory Challenge: December 9th-13th

JANUARY

• Elementary Night: Wednesday, January 22nd from 6:00-8:00pm
• Kindergarten-5th Grade Activity Night

FEBRUARY

• I Love to Read Month
• Join us for virtual events during this time to celebrate all things reading.

MARCH

• Secondary Night: Thursday, March 6th from 6:00-8:00pm
• Middle and High School Activity Night
• Advisory Challenge: March 18th-22nd.

APRIL

• Virtual Talent Show: Monday, April 28th-Friday, May 2nd
• Whether you sing, dance, juggle, or have a unique talent, this is your time to shine. Show off your skills at our Virtual Talent Show!

MAY

• Teacher End of Year Choices
• Teachers may choose to celebrate the end of the school year in their own special ways.

Each year we ask scholars and parents/caregivers to read and sign an agreement between themselves and 279Online concerning expectations and mutual understanding about appropriate behavior and responsibilities.

• Follow us on social media:
• Facebook at 279Online
• X (formerly Twitter) at 279Online
• Instagram at 279Online_K12
• 279Online website.

• Keep your contact information current in ParentVUE. You can update phone numbers and email addresses at any time in ParentVUE. For instructions, please visit the ParentVUE Site.
• At the elementary level, please check Seesaw for daily assignments and schedules, information from your teacher, and more.
• At the secondary levels, please check Schoology for current grades, daily assignments, and overall progress. Mid-trimester grades and Trimester grades are posted in ParentVUE.
• Review our current and past newsletters on our website for important information.

Check your email regularly for Blackboard and Schoology emails from us. If you aren’t seeing them, please look in your junk folder or check your setting to make sure you don’t have emails blocked.

We would love to partner with you to build our parent/caregiver community.

If you'd like to share ideas, feedback, or connect with other parents and our administration team, please contact Assistant Principal, Ryan Bisson at BissonR@district279.org or 763-391-8682.

Need help logging in to an account, checking in for an online meeting with a teacher, or setting up a device? Check out the technology resources in the Parent and Family Toolkit.

Need more technology assistance? The district tech support help desk is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on student days, and 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on non-student days.

Submit a ticket for technology assistance through our new ticketing system, IncidentIQ.

• The best way for scholars and families to submit a ticket is to use the following external link to IncidentIQ. https://district279.incidentiq.com/guest/5K9FRZD3/help-desk-kiosk. Once you submit the ticket, then your user information will be in IncidentIQ for the future.
• You may also call the tech department directly at 763-391-7180.

ParentVUE is an application you can use to view your scholar(s) attendance, report cards, schedule conferences, update your contact information and more. We highly encourage you to create an account if you do not have one already. Please follow these instructions on how you create an account.

You may also visit our ParentVUE page for more step-by-step instructions on how to access and change things in ParentVUE.

If you have any questions regarding your ParentVue account, please submit a ticket to our technology department via Incident IQ.

Families will need to complete the Back-to-School Annual Verification form in ParentVUE before accessing their accounts for information regarding students in the new academic year. Please review the information thoroughly to make any necessary changes to you or your scholars information.

In the back-to-school forms process, families have the ability to deny the release of all directory information (including a student’s image) or to specifically deny the release of a student’s image only. Families who wish to change their student's opt out preferences can do so at any time in ParentVUE.

What is the difference between denying a release of a student's photograph and denying a release of directory information?

• If you deny the school district the ability to release your child’s photo only, the school district will not include a photo or a video/audio recording of your child in yearbooks, school/district websites, school/district social media pages or other school/district publications accessible outside of school.
• If you deny a release of all of your student’s directory information (which includes the student’s photograph), the school district will not include your child’s name, image, voice, school of attendance, awards, participation in officially recognized activities/sports, or any other directory information in any school/district publication that is accessible outside of school.

More information about the Directory/Photo Release information can be found here: https://www.district279.org/info-center/media-inquiries/opt-outs

Seesaw is a digital portfolio that your scholars will use in grades K-5. Scholars can post images, drawings, videos, and other examples of classwork to show what they are learning in school and share it with their family.

For more detailed Seesaw technology tips and instructions, please click here.

For families who use Schoology, we created this handy reference guide to help you navigate what you’ll see in Schoology, how Schoology is different than ParentVue, and how to get support for accessing the parent side of Schoology.

Click here for the reference guide.

Parents/Guardians can access the Schoology Parent Access Code in ParentVUE under the Lunch PIN in Student Info.

Per the Minnesota department of education, Online and Homeschool families are not eligible for the Minnesota Free School Meals Program. But it is still important for families to fill out an application for educational benefits.

Fill out the Educational Benefits Application to take advantage of benefits available to families who meet income requirements, including free or discounted costs for the following:

• Field trips
• Community education programs
• Clubs, activities, and athletics
• Instrument rentals
• Fees, including for AP testing, graduation, student parking permits and more
• Sliding scale for repair costs on school-provided devices for qualified damages
• Comcast internet for home
• Xcel Energy account assistance for electricity bills

Additionally, the state of Minnesota uses a school district’s percentage of qualifying students from applications completed and approved prior to October 1 each year to calculate each district’s funding level. School district funding impacts every student:

• Class sizes
• Number of support staff the district can hire to help scholars (counselors, social workers)
• Extra programming opportunities

Please fill out the Educational Benefits Application today to make sure your family can take advantage of these and other benefits! To bypass creating an EduTrakConnect account you can simply fill out an application at the following link ….https://bit.ly/3hWdk7Q.

Rather than posting numerous resources each week, we are compiling them in a Google Doc that will be updated accordingly. Please click here for assistance regarding things like mental health, food and clothing support, and Internet access.