Welcome & Classroom Information
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Good Morning Las Colinas Families,
As the end of the school year approaches, following is an overview of important dates regarding the collection of school materials issued to students:
Thursday, June 3rd:
Students in Cohort A that are on campus will return textbooks.
- 2:30pm-3:30pm: DLA and DLE students will visit Las Colinas (Room D3) to return textbooks.
Friday, June 4th:
Students in Cohort B that are on campus will return textbooks.
- 2:30pm-3:30pm: DLA and DLE students will visit Las Colinas (Room D3) to return textbooks.
Thursday, June 10th:
Students in Cohort A that are on campus will return their Chromebook device, charger and any hotspot in a labeled plastic bag.
Friday, June 11th:
Students in Cohort B that are on campus will return their Chromebook device, charger and any hotspot in a labeled plastic bag.
Thursday, June 17th, 8:45am-12pm:
DLA and DLE students will return their Chromebook device, charger and any hotspots in a labeled plastic bag (Room D6). Please enter through the marked gate.
Science textbooks do not need to be returned. Please feel free to contact the school if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Lorena Mecagni
Senior Office Assistant
Las Colinas Middle School
805-383-5320
Hello Students and Parents,
Beginnning Thursday and Friday, CAASPP testing will begin. We will have two days of practice sessions on May 13th and May 14th, during first period.
Students who are in cohorts that do not attend on that day, or who are DL students will be working to complete the assigned projects during the first period class session.
Please look at Google Classroom Classwork for the work that has been assigned during this time for 1st period, Art Exploratory.
Please refer to the testing schedule on the Home Page of the Las Colinas Website for the testing schedule for this week.
Thank you,
Mrs. Bridges
If you forgot the class code, please email me before class and I will send it to you.
Thank you,
Mrs. Bridges
Greetings Las Colinas Families,
My name is Darcia Bridges and I am your student’s 4th quarter Art Exploratory teacher, and also teach Language Arts. In addition to the information that has already been shared with you, I have included what instruction will look like in my classes for the Modified Traditional Plan Schedule. Currently, I plan to host live Zoom meetings while simultaneously teaching the in-person cohort. It will be required that remote instruction cohorts attend these live Zoom meetings daily in order to receive instruction for the day, and to be counted as present for attendance.
Whether attending in-person or digitally, daily attendance is required. For each learning situation, students will be using their chrome books, and to minimize the spread of this virus, work will be turned in as it has been this year, through Google classroom, for all classes. If the work is completed in class, it will still be a requirement to submit it, by taking a photo of it, or completing the work assigned in Google classroom. Therefore, when attending school in person, a charged chrome book is a requirement, as there are not enough electrical outlets for students to have the ability to charge chrome books in class, in person, and there will be very limited movement possible, while practicing six foot distancing in a classroom. It will be a requirement that each student brings a reading book to all classes. Please help your student to prepare for in-person instruction by bringing the notebooks that students were given at the beginning of the year, so they are prepared to take notes, as has been required during digital learning, for all classes.
This in person schedule may not be ideal, as it eliminates some of the assumed freedoms of a remote instruction day. However, hosting live Zoom meetings while simultaneously teaching the in-person cohort, is one of the only options that will allow the possibility to provide new instruction to all students on a daily basis. With the move to a Modified Traditional Plan schedule, class instruction time will be reduced from 95 minute class periods to 80 minute class periods.
Additionally, cohorts participating in in-person instruction will be required to complete an important series of health and safety protocols at the start of each class period. Teachers were informed that they will be acting as health diagnosticians, requiring each student to remove their mask temporarily, for a visual assessment of their physical health, upon entering the classroom of their first class. Each student will then be required to sanitize their hands, and then given an alcohol wipe to clean chairs and desks from the prior class’ use. After this procedure, the students will again sanitize their hands after disposing of used alcohol wipe, etc. These necessary protocols will need to take place at the beginning of each period, which will result in less overall class-time dedicated to academics.
Please note that the directive teachers have received is that Zoom class meetings streamed during live in-person instruction will no longer be bi-directional exchanges. Essentially, the expectation is that students will attend and view the lesson only; they will not necessarily interact with the teacher or their peers as is the norm in our current Zoom class meetings. Therefore, in order for teachers to follow the direction given, to focus on the in-class students, Zoom students will remain muted and expected not to interrupt the in-person class. Despite this new expectation, I will do my best to continue to address remote participants’ questions and allow students to share and collaborate with the whole group while also teaching the in-person cohort to the best of my ability.
In-person classes will begin at the beginning of the period. The zoom students should be ready to zoom at the beginning of class. Please be patient, as there may be a five minute extra waiting period of time for students joining on zoom, however, when in zoom, students MUST be prompt and on time. Teachers are no longer able to put the attendance in at the end of class. The teachers are required to put the attendance in at the beginning of class. Students that were in the habit of entering zoom classes late will be marked absent as the attendance is required shortly after class begins. This has been a struggle for teachers when students arrive on zoom ten to thirty minutes late.
Please suggest to your student to prepare for class by layering their clothing. The air/filtration system installed for Covid 19, makes the room quite cold, and while working from school I have had days when I’ve worn several sweaters, a scarf, and a jacket, and am still cold as air is constantly moving in from outside, and fans are constantly blowing cold air. Also, please suggest layering of clothing for the days that we have class outside. I have reserved the outdoor learning areas for class, and during 3rd quarter most students were disappointed if we did not use the outdoor learning areas.
Absolutely NO gum should come to school. Also, please stress the importance of never sharing a water bottle with another student.
Please prepare for rainy or windy days and pack a lunch with some way to give your student a desk covering, or encourage them to do this. There will possibly be up to twenty students in one room, without masks on, on rainy or windy days, so please assist your student in planning ahead for this difficult situation.Students should come prepared with the textbooks they need for class, an outside reading book and notebooks and pencils and pens. There is an Independent Study time between lunches, and students are to work quietly during this time.Thank you in advance for all you do to support this educational experience. I have enjoyed working with you and your student while in Zoom class meetings, and thank you for your patience and understanding as we learn to navigate these changes.
Respectfully,
Darcia Bridges
Las Colinas Middle School
Please feel free to contact our principal, Kelly Hatton, with any scheduling or programmatic questions at khatton@pleasantvalleysd.org.
