Monthly Boost

December 2024

Can you believe it? Trimester 2 kicks off on Monday, December 2nd, and we’re so excited for all the amazing things to come! Before we dive in, let’s take a moment to celebrate the incredible work you’ve accomplished in Trimester 1. Whether it was conquering challenges, building new skills, or supporting one another along the way, you crushed it. We’re so proud of you! 👏

As we gear up for this next chapter, we can’t wait to see what you’ll achieve. Trimester 2 is a chance to dream bigger, aim higher, and keep growing together. Let’s keep the momentum going! 🚀

We also want to remind you that Winter Break begins December 23rd—a well-deserved time to rest, recharge, and spend quality time with loved ones.

Your energy and enthusiasm make 279Online such a special place to learn and grow. Let’s bring that same spirit into Trimester 2 and make it amazing!

-Ms. Swanson and Ms. Bisson

December 2: Start of Trimester 2

December 9-13: Secondary Advisory Challenge

December 20: Last Day of School before Winter Break

December 23-31: Winter Break - No School for Students

December 24-25: District Closed for Holiday - No School for Staff or Students

January 1: District Closed for Holiday - No School for Staff or Students

January 2-3: Conference Release Days - No School for Students

January 6: First Day of School after Winter Break

January 17: Student Asynchronous Day - Licensed Staff Instructional Planning

January 20: Holiday - No School for Students

January 22: Elementary Activity Night at the OALC

Mark your calendars for these fun activities planned for the 2024-2025 school year!

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.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for Virtual Bingo Night last night! 🎉 It was so much fun connecting with our families. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! 💜

To our winners—congratulations! 🎁 Your prizes will be hitting the mail this week, so be on the lookout for their delivery.

Secondary Advisory Challenge is back! Coming December 9-13th, Advisories will play games against each other to try to earn the most points. At the end of the week, the top three Advisories in middle school and the top three in high school will win prizes.

Stay tuned for more information!

The first 279Online MTSS Advisory Council met on Monday, November 25. This group consists of 279Online parents, teachers, and support staff to discuss the school's site-wide goals for helping to increase the engagement and academic achievement of our scholars.

Thank you to the stakeholders that gave feedback and participated in the collaboration. The MTSS Advisory Council will meet again in the Spring to review progress and plan for next year.

If you are interested in joining for the Spring meeting, please contact Tara Gravelle at GravelleT@district279.org.

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.

Talent Development, Academic Challenge and Gifted Support (TAG) services are available to students in third through fifth grade to strengthen interests, extend grade-level content, and apply skills and concepts in authentic ways.

Please feel free to contact our TAG Specialist, Ms. Wald, at walde@district279.org if you have any questions.

• 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.

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.

The best way for scholars and families to receive technology help during school hours (7:30-4:00pm) is to contact 279Online's main office at 763-391-8670 or email us at online@district279.org.

• We will then have the technology department reach out to you as soon as they can.

The best way for scholars and families to receive technology help outside of school hours is to submit a ticket for technology assistance through our new ticketing system, IncidentIQ

• Use the following link to submit a ticket via 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.

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.

Volunteering is an opportunity for you to:

• Show your children or the youth of our community that you are interested in their school life and their future
• Show your commitment to the community
• Help others and develop new skills
• Meet new and interesting people and develop friendships
• Share your time and talents
• Open communication between you and your child when you’re involved and know what is going on at school
• Give your child a boost -- studies show that parent and community involvement and volunteering enhances student success
• It’s fun!

If you are interested in volunteer opportunities for 279Online, please contact us at online@district279.org

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.

GRADES K-5

Teachers take attendance twice a day through their classroom meetings.

GRADES 6-12

Scholars in 279Online are expected to attend live instruction for classes every day.

• Teachers verify and submit the official attendance record in Synergy.
• At 6:00 pm, Blackboard calls will go out to families for scholars with unexcused absences from the previous day.

OTHER ATTENDANCE TIPS:

• If a scholar is unable to attend, families need to report the absence to 279Online in order to excuse the absence (email: online@district279.org or phone: 763-391-8670 option 1) OR report your student(s) FULL DAY absences in ParentVue. Click Here for directions.
• If you need to report your scholar’s absence and speak a language other than English, please email online@district279.org in your language and label your message with the name of the language. We will translate your message and record the absence.

If you have any questions regarding attendance please contact your scholars’ teachers or the main office (phone: 763-391-8670 OR email: online@district279.org)

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.

Examples of Resources included:

• Educational Benefits Application Information
• Mental Health Resources
• District Multilingual Facebook Pages
• Technology Resources
• Community Resources
• Winter Weather Gear
• Furniture, Sheets, Blankets, Dishes, Pots and Pans, Cleaning Supplies and Clothing
• Homework Starts with Home Program