BCS Update 7.29.2020
BCS Parents and Students,
We are just a week away from welcoming students to the start of the 2020-2021 school year at Blackford Community Schools. As we approach the start of the year, I want to share a few important updates based on frequently asked questions:
Students Attending in the BCS Virtual Program:
Students in our virtual program will begin classes on August 12th. The BCS Fall break week will be a week of virtual attendance for students in the program.
BCS will provide each student with a Chromebook. Parents will pick up the Chromebook at the school their student would attend in person either August 6th from 5-7 p.m. or August 10th from 5-7 p.m.
Parent support in the program is vital. Parents are responsible for ensuring that students work from home, have set routines and schedules, and meet with teachers at assigned time.
We want to clarify that our virtual program this fall will not be like what occurred during the emergency shutdown last spring.
Students will be expected to spend up to 5 hours daily engaged in virtual learning and completing projects/assignments.
The virtual learning environment will use software as the primary basis for instruction. Students are not linked to a traditional classroom in the program.
A BCS teacher will be assigned to each student to check in multiple times a week and to provide learning support where necessary. There will be set hours for students to work with teachers in the learning support. BCS teachers are not providing the day to day instruction for students in this program.
The Administrator for the K-6 virtual program, and the point of contact for parents in this program is Mr. Jim Fox. Primarily the teachers at Montpelier Elementary will be assigned to assist students in the virtual school. He has prepared an information sheet you can find on our website.
Students in grades 7-12 will be assigned one teacher as a point of contact for support, that will be referred to as their virtual advisor. There will be set office hours and times for that student to talk to the virtual advisor during the week. That teacher may schedule and set times for content area teachers to connect with students. Again, the direct instruction for this program is through an online software called Courseware.
The Administrator for grades 7-8 is Mrs. Kelli Ruble. The 7th and 8th grade students will be enrolled in ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, Careers and Health.
The Administrator for grades 9-12 is Mr. Scott Shimer. This program will offer core courses and limited electives, but will be designed to allow students to accomplish their diploma track.
We are frequently posting information on our new website at blackfordschools.org. For more specific information about the online school, please contact the administrator(s) listed above. We look forward to welcoming you to the BCS Online School!
Chad Yencer
Superintendent
Blackford County Schools