Hello Golden Eagles and families!
We are only a day away from starting off our 2020-2021 school year! Our entire staff has been working hard to plan for and create excellent learning opportunities for our Golden Eagles during this unusual year. Each and every one of us can’t wait to see you on Monday and are ready to support you in the year to come. Below are some tips to help be ready for Monday.
First Day Photos
Even though this year is going to be different, our partners at Herff-Jones (yearbook) want to make sure that students are able to have their memories documented within a school yearbook. Because we are not having photos at school as we would normally do, we are asking that all families (or students) take a First Day of School photo at home on Monday. The yearbook company is creating a site where we can upload these, but until we have specifics, please hang onto this photo and we will let you know when we have next steps. Feel free to take any photos along the way this year. We will be relying on families and students to help us generate photo content rather than our typical yearbook staff.
First Day Tech
In order to make sure that you are ready with your iPad and Canvas, please visit the district page outlining information related to both. Please pay special attention to the first two sections (iPad Ready and All Ages) as well as the section down below (Grades 6-12). This is where you can often find answers to common difficulties prior to contacting the school. Most issues with iPads can be resolved easily (i.e. making sure updates are complete, shutting-down and restarting, deleting an app and reinstalling, or making sure that Global Connect is installed) but one area that you will need help with if it is not working for you is related to passwords. If you do not remember your password (it is not your 6 digit number- everyone changed theirs at the beginning of the year last year), it will need to be reset by our school tech team. Please send an e-mail to [email protected] to request support for this.
Getting started on Monday
On Monday morning at 9:00 (or a bit before), all students should log into their Advisory teacher’s webex room. You can get to this three ways: (a) students can find their teachers webex room link on the “Home” page of their teacher’s Canvas class, (b) students can click on the link that was included in an email they received from the Advisory teacher sometime in the past two days, or (c) students can type the classroom address into the browser (format is https://bls.webex.com/meet/teacherfirstname.teacherlastname). For example, if a student wanted to come to my webex room, they could type in https://bls.webex.com/meet/lisa.birk and it should bring them to my room.
- Do you want to just try the webex link to make sure it’s working? On Monday morning, I will open my webex room from 8:30-9:00 so students can connect just to make sure it is working for them. Just click on the link above and it should take you there. I can also help with any other questions that might come up at that time. Feel free to pop in if it is helpful.
Weekly schedules
You can find our middle school schedule on the MS CDL Schedule.pdf . I also attached a PDF version if you’d like to print.
Need other support?
On Monday, Mrs. Hanna will be helping students during webex help sessions from 9-10, 11:30-12:30, and 2:30-3:30. If you need tech support, please log into her webex room during one of these times to get the help you may need. https://bls.webex.com/meet/marni.hanna
As we get going this year, I encourage you to think of this as a marathon. If you are worried that you are going out a bit too slow or you are having difficulties getting all of the pieces aligned, that is absolutely okay. At Pacific Crest, we talk a lot with students about Golden Eagles being the best at getting better and this year will provide no shortage of opportunities for all of us to get better. We are all learning new things and with that sometimes comes stumbles but when we demonstrate flexibility and adaptability for our young people we are modeling important skills that they will need for life. Please know that our team of excellent educators are here to support all of you along the way and please do not hesitate to get help or ask questions as we get going.
I look forward to another great year at Pacific Crest and could not be happier to do this work in such a caring community. Thank you for being our partners as we learn with, care for, and inspire our young future leaders.
Go Golden Eagles!
Lisa