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Hello Students and Families:

Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year. Although many things will look different this fall, the mission is still the same. To a person, the staff of Woodland High School stands to serve our students and to help them reach for their goals and aspirations. We can’t wait to get started! 

On August 12th, the Woodland School Board approved our district reopening plan. This plan establishes a path for the staged reopening of our high school keyed to critical county health indicators. The transition between each stage will be a board decision. Stage One and Stage Two of this plan has the students and staff of Woodland High School working and learning in a fully online environment with some small variations in the way that very small groups of students may be able to work on campus. Stage Three moves WHS to a hybrid learning model.  Stage four allows us to return to standard, fully in-person school. Currently we are in Stage One, which means that we’ll be starting the year online.

In this letter I’m going to try to answer many of the questions I’m sure you have. I’m also sure I won’t answer them all. As a staff we feel good about the progress we’ve made in getting ready, but there are more details to be ironed out. As questions occur to you, please feel more than free to contact me via email at pearsonp@woodlandschools.org or by phone at 360-841-2800.

On a personal note, I want to thank you for trusting us with your students during this very challenging time. My commitment to you is to be as timely and as transparent as I possibly can be. We’re going to do a lot of things well this fall.  Some things we’re going to miss, and when that happens I want to hear from you. Our commitment as a staff is to compassionate excellence. We’re nearly ready to get started, but we can’t do it without you. Thanks in advance for your partnership. 

Dr. Phillip Pearson
Principal, Woodland High School

 


Spring 2020 vs. Fall 2020 - What’s Different?

Last March, in accordance with directives from OSPI, WHS moved quickly to a fully online model which offered supplemental learning opportunities. The educational goal was to “hold the line” and to provide learning opportunities to those students who wished to take advantage. New content wasn’t heavily emphasized and schools pursued a very different approach with respect to grading. 

The fall of 2020 will be very different. New content will be delivered through our courses, students will accrue credits towards graduation as usual, student work will be graded using our standard grading practices and attendance will be mandatory. Online classes will meet in virtual (Google Meets) classrooms multiple times per week according to a schedule and attendance in those classes will be recorded. More details on this structure are provided below.   


Ninth Grade and New Student Orientation

Monday, August 24, 2020

Woodland High School welcomes incoming ninth graders and students new to Woodland High School with the WHS Virtual Open House and New Student Orientation. Principal Dr. Phillip Pearson and Assistant Principal Dan Uhlenkott join School Counselors Terra Pfeiffer and Christine Maggi to walk students through what to expect as they embark on their high school academic careers. Click here to download an audio-only version.

You can download a copy of the slides shown during the presentation by clicking here.

 
 


All-Student School Year Orientation

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Woodland High School welcomes the return of all of our students and their families. Come learn how Distance Learning 2.0 is different featuring information about live instruction, assignments, grading, required attendance and more. Click here to download an audio-only version.

You can download a copy of the slides shown during the presentation by clicking here.
 


Opening the Year

Pickup of class materials and Chromebooks:

Prior to the first day of school (September 1), all students enrolled in Woodland High School will need to pick up school materials and sign an updated Acceptable Use Policy which governs the use of digital resources owned by WSD. New students and incoming 9th graders will also need to pick up a Chromebook and sign the Chromebook check out form. Families will be able to purchase Chromebook Assurance at the time of Chromebook checkout if desired. Because signatures are required, a parent or guardian must be present with the student at the time of pickup. 

Pick up will occur in the auxiliary gym on the WHS campus. Staff will be on hand to facilitate the process and to manage social distancing requirements. In order to reduce the number of individuals in one place at one time, families are asked to pick up their student’s materials according to the following schedule if at all possible:



Last Name 
Begins With 

Date 

Time

A

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

1:00

B

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

1:30

C

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

2:00

D

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

2:30

E

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

3:00

F

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

3:30

G

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

4:00

H

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

4:30

I

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

5:00

J

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

5:30

K

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

6:00

L

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

6:30

Open

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

7:00

M

Thursday, August 27, 2020

1:00

N

Thursday, August 27, 2020

1:30

O

Thursday, August 27, 2020

2:00

P

Thursday, August 27, 2020

2:30

Q

Thursday, August 27, 2020

3:00

R

Thursday, August 27, 2020

3:30

S

Thursday, August 27, 2020

4:00

T

Thursday, August 27, 2020

4:30

UV

Thursday, August 27, 2020

5:00

W

Thursday, August 27, 2020

5:30

XYZ

Thursday, August 27, 2020

6:00

Open

Thursday, August 27, 2020

6:30

 

Questions regarding materials pick up should be directed to Dana Preston at 360-841-2800 or prestond@woodlandschools.org


Family and Student Orientation

The first 3 days of the school calendar - September 1, September 2, and September 3 - will be set aside for family orientation conferences. Your student’s College/Career/Life (CLC) teacher will reach out to you in late August through student emails. You  will be able to sign up for meeting times through the parent Skyward portal. More instructions as to how to do with will be made available in the coming days. Here are the instructions for doing that:

  1. Login to Skyward Family Access
  2. Select your student’s name using the “Student” link on the top left hand corner of the page
  3. From the list on the left hand side, select “Conferences”
  4. On the next page, select “All Conferences”
  5. On the next page under “Status”, select “Select a Time”. This will bring up a list of available dates and times. 
  6. Select the time that you would like to schedule a conference. 
  7. Click save
  8. On the day and time of your conference, ask your student to login to their CLC Google Classroom and click “Meet Link” in the upper right corner of the Google Classroom page. 

This will be a great opportunity for you and your student to become more familiar with our online learning program and to ask whatever questions you may have. It will also provide WHS staff with the opportunity to connect your family and provide whatever other assistance we can. In order to follow current health guidelines, all conferences will occur online using Google Meet.

If you have any questions about this or if your student hasn’t received an invitation by August 26th, please contact Phil Pearson (pearsonp@woodlandschools.org) or Dan Uhlenkott (uhlenkod@woodlanschools.org).   


Lunch and Meal Service

 

  • Free meals for all children ages 0-18 will continue through Thursday 9/3/20.  Meals are available for pick up at WMS between 8:30 am and 12:30 pm.
  • When school starts (9/8/20) meals will no longer be free for all children.  Meals can only be served to students enrolled in Woodland Public Schools.  Students that qualify for free or reduced meals will be able to receive free meals.  Meals will be available to students at the regular meal prices (20-21 meal prices are located at  https://www.woodlandschools.org/page/45 ).
  • At least for the first week of school (9/8-9/11), all schools will be open for meal pick up.  Meals will need to be accounted for by students. However, parents will still be allowed to pick up meals.  Students will not need to be with them.

Structures

Woodland High School will be opening the 2020 - 2021 school in a comprehensive distance learning configuration. This will look very different from the “extended learning” model that was implemented in a hurry last spring. Comprehensive distance learning is not a stop-gap band aid. It is a developed and fully implemented instructional model which is intended to replace, as fully as possible, the standard in-person school day. Students will be attending classes online on a regular schedule. They will be learning new material and being assigned tasks that need to be completed. They will be acquiring credits towards graduation and they will be receiving grades. Attendance is mandatory. The day will look different, but the basics will be the same. Teachers will be teaching. Students will be learning. 

The core of our Comprehensive Online Learning configuration is “synchronous online instruction”. This actually means something pretty simple. Students and teachers will be meeting together in an online classroom environment multiple times per week on a regular schedule. Attendance will be mandatory and teachers will be taking attendance. To fight screen fatigue and because class time is typically divided between “watch and listen” time and work time, the class schedule has been modified. A typical week of Comprehensive Online Learning will consist of the following components:  

  • Classroom Live Lessons
  • Scheduled support times and small group work sessions
  • Individual Work Time
  • Student Support Time

What can I expect each day?

A day of online school will be similar in many ways to a day of in-person school. Classes or small group sessions will begin according to the schedule shown above. Students login and will interact with their teachers and classmates virtually using video conferencing via Google Meet. Students will submit classwork through and will receive feedback on their work through Google Classroom. Grades in each class will be recorded in Skyward, so parents and students should continue to use that interface to monitor academic progress. Teachers will be working on campus during regular school hours, so parents can reach teachers via email or phone as they have in the past. As a parent, you should expect to see your student logged in and interacting with their virtual classes 3-5 hours per day and spending another 2-4 hours working on classroom tasks on their own or in small groups. All told, students will be expected to spend about the same amount of time tending to their online school requirements as they spent tending to their in-person school requirements. 

We do expect that there will be glitches and hiccups, especially as we get started. We will provide regular communications as those difficulties are encountered and resolved so you can help your student to remain on track. As you have questions or concerns with the daily flow, please contact us directly as soon as you’re able. A list of contact numbers is provided at the end of this letter.  


Classroom Procedures

“Synchronous” actually means something pretty simple. Students and teachers will be meeting together in an online classroom environment multiple times per week on a regular schedule. Live classes will meet multiple times each week according to the schedule included with this letter. These classes will operate in virtual classrooms much the same way in person classes do in regular classrooms. Each class will have a Google Classroom Meet link posted on the Google Classroom homepage. Using that link, students and teachers will meet together via video and chat through Google Classroom to learn, explore, practice, and discuss new content. Students time will be divided between whole class direct instruction, whole class discussion, and group and individual work time. Students will not necessarily be interacting with the whole class during the entire 40 minute class block in the afternoon. As is true for in-person classes, activities will vary each day according to the learning needs of the students.   

Small group and student support time:

Mornings will be devoted to small group and individual student support times. In each class, students will be divided by the teacher into small learning groups which will meet a minimum of once every other week. The small group learning times will be devoted to small group activities as developed in the class and to providing individualized learning support as needed. Example activities might include small group discussions, small group help sessions on specific class assignments, and check in with individual students. 

If your student is unable to attend a Synchronous class:

Wherever possible, we believe that students should attend their online classes synchronously, logging in at the assigned time and participating with the rest of the class in the various activities. Doing this will greatly advantage student learning and will provide students with valuable social connections which tend to be missing during online school. However, we recognize that students’ access to a reliable internet connection varies from household to household. In order to allow students who aren’t able to virtually attend a specific class period, each day’s lesson for each class will be recorded and will be made available via Google Classroom in an archive format. Students who are routinely unable to attend class live are strongly encouraged to contact their instructor so that as a team we can work on possible solutions. 


Assessment and Grading

Classroom assessments will occur on a regular basis in online classrooms much in the same way they were for in-person classrooms. However, some modifications will be necessary in order to ensure authentic assessment and feedback to student learning. These modifications will include the use of summative end-of-course projects rather than final exams and the use of digitally secured teacher-proctored exams. Each course instructor will inform students and parents of their individual assessment strategies. In all cases, flexibility will be extended to students wherever possible to account for the differences in students’ access to internet connectivity.  Student work will  be graded according to the course instructor’s standard grading procedures. Students will be awarded standard grades [A-F] in accordance with the instructor’s assessment with the student’s academic work in the class.


What about technology?

All current WHS students have been issued a chromebook for school use. Incoming 9th graders and students who are new to Woodland High School will be issued a chromebook according to the procedure described under “Opening the Year” above. Students who are receiving chromebooks for the first time will be using those computers throughout their time at Woodland HS. Even after Comprehensive Online Learning is over, students will continue to have the use of their assigned chromebook. Here’s a link some some commonly asked questions:https://www.woodlandschools.org/digital-learning

If you are having issues with internet connectivity at your home, please let WHS administration know right away so we can partner with you and our technical support team to find solutions. If your student is having technical problems related to computer hardware, their Google user account, or their Skyward account please contact Candice Lindsay (lindsayc@woodlandschools.org) or Dana Preston (prestond@woodlandschools.org). They also can be reached by phone at (360-841-2962).


Communication

Clear and frequent communication continues to be a priority here at Woodland High School. Here are the ways you can stay up to date with what’s happening with your student’s academic work and other important updates as they become available: 

  • Student grades will continue to be recorded in Skyview. The student and parent interfaces are the best way to keep up to date with your student’s academic progress throughout the term. 
  • Class activities, assignments, and recorded lessons will be posted in the Google Classroom for each course. 
  • Class assignments will be posted by teachers under the “Classwork” tab of the Google Classroom. This means that students will have access to a “To Do” list generated by Google automatically. To watch a short tutorial on how to access the to do list, visit this link
  • The daily bulletin and updates through Remind are going to be replaced this year with a school Instagram that will be updated with important information. The Instagram username will be provided in the coming days. 
  • Last spring, Mr. Shoup began posting a short weekly video to the school’s youtube page in order to keep students and parents updated. I’m going to continue this practice for as long as WHS remains in full online learning. The videos will be posted on the WHS youtube channel which is accessible via the front page of the WHS website. 
  • As always, feel free to contact your student’s teachers, myself, or Mr. Uhlenkott at any time as questions come up. 

Culminating Projects

Updates regarding forms, deadlines, service hours suggestions, maintaining state-mandated safety guidelines, etc. will be forthcoming. Seniors, please plan on 10 service hours with photo evidence, an essay and presentation. Juniors, please begin acquiring their 25 service hours which need to be completed by semester 1 of their senior year.

Please direct questions to Mary Ann Sturdivan via email at sturdivm@woodlandschools.org


Who can you contact for help?

The following people are available to help you and your student navigate this fall:

  • For questions that are specific to one of your student’s classes, please contact the course instructor directly
  • For questions regarding culminating projects or service hours, please contact Mary Ann Sturdivan (email: sturdivanm@woodlandschools.org phone: 360-841-2800). 
  • For questions about scheduling or other counseling questions please contact Terra Pfieffer ( email: pfeiffet@woodlandschools.org  phone: 360-841-2800) or Christine Maggi (email: maggic@woodlandschools.org phone: 360-841-2800)
  • For questions about technical support with google devices or student accounts, please contact Candice Lindsay (email: lindsayc@woodlandschools.org phone: 360-841-2962) or Dana Preston (email: prestond@woodlandschools.org phone: 360-841-2962).  

For other questions or concerns, please contact Dan Uhlenkott (email: uhlenkod@woodlandschools.org phone: 360-841-2800) or Phil Pearson (email: pearsonp@woodlandschools.org phone: 360-814-2800)


For more information, visit the COVID HQ website.