Required Learning for 4th Quarter

Moving Forward

Good Morning SHS family,

As communicated last week, we will be moving to our required learning plan starting next week. If you are currently enrolled in a Math or Spanish course, it will start on Monday, April 13th. All other courses will begin on Monday, April 20th. The format for these courses will be very different from a traditional high school class we are all accustomed to. Each department will have office hours and will be delivering the new content in a variety of ways through Google classroom and recorded video lessons. There will not be “blocks” to attend or any expectation around attendance. Teachers may record or screencast lessons that you will be able to watch when it is most convenient for your family. We will also have scheduled zoom meetings for each course (2 or 3 times a week at the most) if students want to ask questions or check in face to face. The new learning will be assessed through a competency based approach to ensure you are understanding the concepts delivered. Feedback will be the number one goal for all work that is assigned and turned in. With this approach, Solon High School has adopted a temporary grading option for ALL 4th quarter courses. This grading will allow students to focus on the learning and not the grade. It will be different from the standards based system and will allow students the flexibility to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways in each course offered. The classes will be considered Pass/No Credit (P or I). We will continue to use PowerSchool to communicate progress, but it will look a little different. There will be more communication on this within the next week.

We recognize that students' academic performance may be impacted by the unusual circumstances of the current semester and the impact of COVID-19 on our country. We know many of you are juggling several things during this time, such as working from home, sudden unemployment, and balancing child care, along with everything else your life contains at this point in time. We will be able to give credit to any course that is passed and your son or daughter will be able to move on to the next sequential course during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Teachers will be contacting students directly via email to share the course syllabus and expectations moving forward. Please continue to support your son or daughter in the best possible way, and as always reach out with questions. We have developed a FAQ document specifically addressing this transition and will continue to add to it as more come up.

We CAN do this, and I am looking forward to the great things that will happen over the course of the next couple of months. WE will be giving our very best during this challenging time! I will be sending one more communication prior to Monday the 20th with a few more details.

Thanks, Zach