April Update

Dear WGMS Families, 

I hope that all of you are safe and healthy. As we work our way through April I wanted to send a reminder regarding some important information as we continue our virtual learning journey.

Marking Period 3 Report Cards

Report cards are now available to view in Schooltool.  The grade has been calculated from assignments handed in prior to the March 16th school closure and any made up assignments a student submitted during the week of April 6th. Here are the directions to view the report card: 

• Login to Schooltool from the West Genesee web site
• Click on “Grades” tab 
• Select ‘Marking Period Grades’
• Make sure you have ‘Marking Period 3’ selected
• Click on the printer icon to see the entire report card

If you have difficulty logging into Schooltool please contact Peter Tarkulich at ptarkulich@westgenesee.org.

Marking Period 4

Marking period 4 began on April 13th and will continue through June 25th. Teachers will no longer be giving numerical grades. In addition to teacher feedback, students will receive a C (complete), I (incomplete) or M (missing) for each assignment. 

It is so important that our students stay engaged with us and do their very best on the assignments and activities being pushed-out to them. We all recognize that these are not ideal circumstances, but we are all trying to make the most of them. If you are struggling with keeping up, or have questions related to a specific assignment, please reach out to your teachers so that they can help you.

Online Learning Portal

The Online Learning Portal is a terrific one-stop shop for remote learning support which includes helpful links and short Google Classroom video tutorials for families. Here is the link to WG Online Learning Portal: 

https://sites.google.com/westgenesee.org/wg-online-learning-portal/home?authuser=0

Please remind your child to routinely check their email. 

Virtual Student Planner

We have started pushing-out Virtual Planners by grade level with an overview of assignments for each class so that parents can better support students in staying organized, staying engaged, and working through their weekly assignments. These files will be emailed to all parents and will be available through the WGMS website by going to 'Virtual Planners' under the 'School Links' section. These will be posted and emailed on Mondays of each week by 1:00 PM.

We continue to send you our best and we are grateful for all you are doing to support our efforts to maintain teaching and learning during this time. Stay healthy. Stay positive. Stay together. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at all.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

School Closure Grading Information

Dear WGMS Families - 

I hope that all of you are safe and healthy. As we all adapt to how we experience school, I wanted to share some information about how teaching and learning will continue in the weeks and months ahead. Given all of the unknowns, we have looked beyond Governor Cuomo’s school closures through April 15th. We will adjust our plan as he updates his guidance to the State. 

Week of April 6-10 (previously April Break)

We will utilize the extra week of instruction for students to complete and/or make-up any assignments still open during the 3rd marking period. Teachers will reach out to individual students regarding what assignments they are looking for that most closely measure the learning standards for their courses. Not every student may have make-up work that they are responsible for completing.

Closure of 3rd Marking Period

Teachers will finalize the 3rd marking period grades on April 21st. Report cards will be available for viewing in Schooltool on April 24th. 

Marking Period 4 (April 13-June 25)

Teachers will begin to deliver new content through Google Classroom beginning on April 13. We will continue to follow these guidelines: 

Core Subject Area (ELA, Math, Science, 

Social Studies, World Languages)-

2 assignments per week, approximately a 40 minute 

completion time each

Electives and All Special Area Classes-

1 assignment per week, approximately a 40 minute 

completion time

New Grading Guidelines for Marking Period 4

Teachers will no longer be giving numerical grades for submitted assignments in marking period 4. In addition to teacher feedback, we will be using the following criteria for each assignment: 

Complete = Student has executed the task to the 

course or grade level standard

Incomplete = Student has executed the task, but it is not yet to the course or grade level standard

Missing = Student has not yet submitted the assignment

Parents and students will be able to view individual student progress through Schooltool for marking period 4 as assignments will be posted as they were previously. In place of grades, you will see a C, I or M representing Complete, Incomplete, or Missing.

At the end of Marking Period 4, students will be given a final quarter grade of Pass or Fail based on their ability to demonstrate their learning of course specific learning standards. 

The calculation of the final cumulative (4 marking periods) average has not yet been decided. 

All of us at WGMS are thinking of all of you each day. We so deeply miss all of our students and hope that we will all be together again soon. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

As always, thank you for your continued support of our students and staff.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms