Summit Virtual Academy

Happy Holidays, Blackhawks! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season, and is feeling refreshed and ready to finish strong. We are in the final weeks of the semester. It is important to be mindful of exams (for secondary students) and course progress. There are important reminders and information listed below regarding the end of the semester and upcoming NWEA testing, along with upcoming dates.

All Brandon School District students in grades K-10 will be required to complete winter NWEA Reading and Math testing this month. Testing details are listed below:

• Grades K-8: WHEN: Monday, January 23, 8:00am - 11:00am. WHERE: ITech Building. WHAT TO BRING: chromebook and charger
• Grades 9-10: WHEN: Monday, January 23, 12:00pm - 2:00pm. WHERE: ITech Building. WHAT TO BRING: chromebook and charger
• Make Up: Tuesday, January 24 at the same times listed above there will be a make up session offered. The testing window closes on January 27, so this is the last date to complete the test
• Questions: If you have questions, please contact the office at 248-627-1820 or Christine Hogarth at chogarth@brandon.k12.mi.us

As a reminder, the end of the semester is January 27. Per acceptance into Summit Virtual Academy, students must demonstrate success with the online platform. Should a student fail to pass two or more of their courses this semester, they may be required to return to in person instruction. Mr. Belluomo will be contacting you if your student is in danger of not passing for the semester at this point.

As the semester winds down, please be aware of any upcoming final exams and courses assessments that need to be unlocked for your student to complete. In order to unlock these, an email from myself or Mr. Belluomo may be required. This may take a day or two to go through, so don't wait until January 27 to request that tests be unlocked. If you have any questions about whether or not this will affect your student, reach out to the office or to your course instructor to verify.

Lawrence Technological University is offering a summer camp opportunity to your high school students in Grades 9-12. Two students per high school can attend for free, and others can attend at a 50% discount. There is a capacity limit on each individual camp (noted in the description on the website). Each camp is different. Full descriptions of each offered camp can be found at https://www.ltu.edu/summer-camps/. The registration link can be found at https://apply.ltu.edu/register/summercamp2023.

Once students register for camps, LTU will pull a full list of registrants and identify which students are from your high schools. They will reach out individually and invoice the students one by one for their camp at the half-off rate.

If you are interested in attending one of these summer camp, please contact the office so that we can work with you to either nominate your student for one of two free spots or to apply the 50% off that all registrants are eligible for.

Tenth grade students have the chance to visit OSTC to tour their facility and programming. If you missed this pre-arranged visit and are interested in seeing what OSTC has to offer to your student, reach out to Mr. Belluomo at rbelluomo@brandon.k12.mi.us in order to schedule a visit and get additional information. OSTC is available for our Summit Virtual students.

• January 16 - No School for in person students and teachers
• Week of January 23 - End of first marking period/exams
• February 8 - BHS counselors present scheduling information at BMS for 8th graders
• February 15, All Day - Link Crew Orientation for incoming freshmen at BHS
• February 16, 7:00pm - Virtual Parent Meeting for incoming freshman regarding scheduling
• Monday, February 20 - Tuesday, February 21 _ Mid Winter Break

While Brandon School District closing will not effect your access to complete work on your online classes, it may be useful to know for extracurriculars and in the event that you have a zoom meeting with a Brandon staff member. Please be aware of the school closing guidelines followed by Brandon School District with student and staff safety in mind.

As we continue to progress through the year, here is what you can continue to expect:

• Expect your student to work for roughly 45-60 minutes per day, per course
• By now, you should have been reached out to by a counselor regarding your course progress. These will happen once a week. It is extremely important that you respond to communication. Please note that the student needs to respond and be in communication, not just the parent(s).
• Your main point of contact for content specific questions is your course instructor. If you need help doing so, don't hesitate to reach out to us at 248-627-1820.

Here you will find links to resources to help parents and students. Those of you who worked with Edmentum last year may have noticed some subtle changes to the system, as courses are now listed as being Apex courses. An overview of these changes and how to use the system as a parent can be found using the link to parent orientation presentations that is listed below.

Link for elementary overview: https://e.edmentum.com/eoa-getting-started-students-parents-caregivers/

Instructional Model overview for online learning (last page has links embedded to parent orientation presentations):

https://www.edmentum.com/resources/brochures/edoptions-academy-instructional-engagement-model-glance

Here you will find links to counselor contact information, information for students, etc. as the year progresses.

• Mr. Belluomo - rbelluomo@brandon.k12.mi.us

Please feel free to contact the office for any questions or assistance.

Email: mkoslowski@brandon.k12.mi.us
Website: http://www.summitvirtual.org/
Location: 1025 South Ortonville Road, Ortonville, MI, USA
Phone: 248-627-1820