April 17, 2020

Friday, April 17, 2020


Dear Wyomissing Area JSHS Parents/Guardians
 
Good afternoon Wyomissing Area families, I hope this message finds everyone healthy, safe, and well.  As all Pennsylvania schools remain closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, we will continue to move forward with on-line instruction, communicate all updates as we receive them, and work in collaboration with our students and staff in an effort to best support them. 
 
Instruction Update:

All students are expected to log on to Schoology and check their WASD emails every day and communicate with their teachers when necessary. All teachers will continue to post resources and assignments to Schoology at least three days per week. 

• Teachers will continue to be available between the hours of 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. for our students to contact them with any questions.  
• The end of the third marking period will be Thursday, April 30, 2020. 
• Email  [email protected] to submit a help request to the technology department.   
WebEx:

WebEx video conferences began this week as an additional platform for communication between students and teachers.  
• The vast majority of conferences went exceptionally well and enabled teachers and students to collaborate and connect face to face.  
• A few conferences did not go well due to a couple students not following the WASD WebEx video conferencing guidelines. Any student choosing not to follow these guidelines and interrupt the teaching and learning of a virtual classroom will be removed from the conference, excluded from future WebEx sessions, and their parents will be contacted. 
• The WebEx guidelines can be found at the link below. We ask that parents review these guidelines with their children and reinforce the importance of contributing to a respectful and appropriate learning environment so our teachers can teach and our students can learn.  

https://www.wyoarea.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_157550/File/Departments/InformationTechnology/Webex_studentguidelines.pdf

AP Update:

Please note new and additional AP exam changes below:
• All exams will now be administered online with reduced content and format changes. Important information and a revised exam schedule can be found at https://apcoronavirusupdates.collegeboard.org/students. 
• College Board will be releasing an at home testing guide later this month to provide students and parents with more information about testing. This guide will also include information for students who have approved testing accommodations through College Board.
• The policy of Wyomissing Area is that students enrolled in an AP course must also take the AP exam in order to receive AP designation and weighting on their transcript. However, due to the unprecedented events and the subsequent changes to AP exam content and test format, students who choose not to take the AP exam for a particular course will not be penalized on their transcript. This change in policy only applies to the 2019-2020 school year. While the district still encourages students to follow through with AP testing, College Board is allowing students to cancel their AP test and waiving the $40 cancellation fee. To cancel, students must notify Mrs. Gockley in writing by emailing [email protected]; parents do not need to contact College Board Customer Service for exam cancellation this year. Refunds will be processed after the WASD resumes normal operations.
• Please note, students who cancel an exam will still be enrolled in their AP courses at Wyomissing Area. No student may drop a full year course during the second semester per the Program of Studies. Students must fulfill all course requirements and will be graded accordingly through the last day of the school year, June 5, 2020.
SAT/ACT Update:
 
The June 6th SAT is cancelled for all testing locations. For more information about future SAT tests, click this link: https://pages.collegeboard.org/sat-covid-19-updates

Personal Items & Student Lockers:

We understand that many of our students left personal items at school and that this poses an inconvenience for them. Due to all WASD buildings and facilities being shut down, at this time no students may enter the building to get their belongings. When this changes we will work out a plan for those items to be retrieved. Additional information will follow on how students can get their belongings from school as soon as that is an option. 

Prom and Commencement:

We have secured rescheduled dates for both the prom and commencement. The prom has been tentatively rescheduled for Sunday, June 28th at the Double Tree, and the Class of 2020 Commencement has been rescheduled for Friday, July 31st at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. We are aware that social distancing restrictions may not be lifted in time for these events. In the event that a mandated shutdown still exists, we are currently researching alternative options and dates for Commencement and will communicate those plans to our senior students and parents if we have viable options.   

We are also aware that some students may need their diplomas earlier than or choose to not participate in some form of summer commencement.  For these students, graduation diplomas may be picked up at the high school by appointment after June 5, 2020, during established times. 

Lunch/Breakfast:

We will continue to serve meals at all three buildings on Mondays (for Monday and Tuesday) and Wednesdays (for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday).  Come see us at any of our three buildings between 11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.; we love to see our students. 
 
Additional Information: 

Please visit our District website for all past communications, helpful links, and community resources at the following link: https://www.wyoarea.org/departments/health_services/coronavirus
 
Thank you all and be well.


Dr. Jones