Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Resources
Communication Sent Out to Parents Via Email
Soft Closure 7 – 12th Grading
April 16, 2020
Soft closure brings challenges to students, parents, and teachers alike. Whether it be at-home student packets or online learning, this method of delivering instruction has its limitations, especially for a classical, whole group instruction school. These limitations make it difficult to assess Xavier students in the same way that in-class teaching is assessed. We want parents to be assured that Xavier administration and teachers understand this and are making necessary adjustments to allow for this change. At the secondary level 7 – 12th grades, final second-semester grades will not be more than one letter grade less than the 3rd quarter grade unless the student did not participate actively during the 4th quarter grading period. These students’ grades will be brought to the Assistant Head of schools, and after conferencing with their teacher, a decision will be made as to their final grade. Also, secondary students will be required to take final exams, however, the format will be different than what students have been used to in the regular classroom. Final tests will be no more than an hour and if the test covers more material than a unit it will be open book.
Parents and students can expect meaningful feedback from their teachers when the assignment lends itself to this. It is our aim that if your child does his/her best then the 4th quarter grade should not negatively impact the final second-semester grade. Xavier secondary teachers are working hard to keep content manageable for families. Our teachers understand that due dates may need to be flexible if students are experiencing difficulties or technology challenges. It is important that parents reach out to teachers with questions concerning their student’s progress and/or struggles.
It is our goal to provide learning opportunities without causing major stress for students and families. We encourage students to do their best, but not feel overbearing pressure. We realize that when we begin in the fall, teachers will need to fill in content gaps caused by our current situation.
Thank you for your efforts and contributions to help us deliver distance-learning instruction to your child.
Soft Closure Grading for Grades K-6
April 16, 2020
Soft closure brings challenges to students, parents, and teachers alike. Whether it be at-home student packets or online learning, this method of delivering instruction has its limitations, especially for a classical, whole group instruction school. These limitations make it difficult to assess Xavier students in the same way that in-class teaching is assessed. We want parents to be assured that Xavier administration and teachers understand this and are making necessary adjustments to allow for this change. Although we will still be attaching grades (gr. 3-6) to student work, there will be a softer, more generous approach to grading. Some at-home work will be assessed based on completion only while skills students have been taught the first three quarters prior to soft closure will be held to a stronger standard in order to provide constructive feedback. Final second-semester grades will remain at least as they were at the end of the 3rd quarter grade unless the student did not participate actively during the 4th quarter grading period. For grades K-2, meeting expectations will be determined by using homework packets. Homework packets will be analyzed for completeness, ability to follow directions and understanding of the concepts that are being reviewed.
Parents and students can expect meaningful feedback from both teachers and their paraprofessional graders when the assignment lends itself to this. It is our desire that your children maintain their existing academic status as well as grow in some areas of content where possible in the current setting. Xavier teachers are working hard to make this happen while keeping content manageable for families. It is important that parents reach out to teachers with questions concerning their student’s progress and/or struggles.
It is our goal to provide learning opportunities without causing major stress for students and families. We encourage you to do your best, but not feel overbearing pressure. We realize that when we begin in the fall, teachers will need to fill in fourth-quarter instruction and content gaps caused by our current situation.
Optional: (we make available on a regular basis, but it will not be scored or tracked)
- All Fine Arts content
- Teacher provided enrichment activities
Student Work and 2020-2021 Calendar
4/8/2020
Dear Xavier Parents/Guardians,
I want to thank all of you for your help in making our packet pick-up and drop-off a success on Monday. Everything that was collected is being stored until Thursday (tomorrow). The material is stored away from contact with staff members for a period of time based on a suggestion from local health officials in an effort to help prevent the spread of the virus. Teachers will get access to all of the dropped off material on Thursday and will then begin the process of grading and providing feedback.
Due to the fact that there is a delay in teacher access to the material submitted by students, all assignments that are turned in will not necessarily be graded and returned by the following Monday. In other words there may be somewhat of a lag in returning student work.
In the March school board meeting the Xavier Board of Directors approved the calendar for school year 2020-2021. This calendar will be uploaded onto the school website in the next few days and I will send out a message through the Remind app to let you know when it is posted. I would like to thank all that provided input and feedback to assist the Board in making a decision.
Sincerely,
Gary Moon
Head of Schools
Xavier Charter School
K-6 Teacher and Classified Employee of the Month
4/6/2020
Xavier Families,
We are starting a new month and normally we hand out our Teacher and Classified Employee of the Month awards on the first Monday. We want to continue with this tradition today. We have entered April differently than ever before, we have been forced into a soft closure and distance learning with very little notice to prepare and ready ourselves. Our staff has worked extremely hard to start delivering instruction to our students in a manner that is as smooth as possible. Each of our staff members could easily be identified as the Teacher or Classified Employee of the Month and I would like to thank each and every one of them!
With that said, we do have award winners for April. The winners for April come from nominations from their colleagues. The following teacher and classified employees are the award winners this month for grades K-6. Congratulations to both of them, the comments and descriptions that appear also come from their peers.
Elementary Teacher of the Month: Mrs. Karen Crider, First Grade
Mrs. Crider has been teaching for more than 40 years 🙂 She has been teaching so many years that she has taught some moms, dads, aunts and uncles of some of her current and recent students 🙂
Karen loves her students. She works so hard to make sure that her students learn. She spends hours and hours creating worksheets to extend the curriculum so her students will be prepared for 2nd grade. She works tirelessly through the summer to find specific picture books to read to her students for every SAT word of the week. Mrs. Crider has taken our 1st grade reading curriculum and broken it down so we can teach the students who need extra support at a slower pace, if this wasn’t done many students wouldn’t be ready to read in 2nd grade. Teaching 1st graders is extremely challenging and Karen knows what it takes. She is tough and strict, but so loving and kind and will do whatever it takes to prepare her students.
Mrs. Crider’s students love her. Her students love her because she shares stories with them, she shares jokes from Alexa with them, they know what she likes and doesn’t like, they know the name of her dog Gracie, they know all about David (her son) and Brian (her husband), they know she has high expectations and they strive to meet those expectations. She recently had a high school senior honor her on Senior Night at his high school football game, even this young man remembers his Mrs. Crider.
Karen is a Master Teacher.
Classified Employee of the Month: Trina Rowlands, Third and Fourth Grade Paraprofessional
During our regular school year Mrs. Rowlands is amazing! She does a marvelous job working with our kids and making sure they are showing growth. She is willing to try any of the remediation strategies we throw her way and she is able to come up with strategies on her own. During our distance learning, she has proven she is just as valuable. Mrs. Rowlands has been willing to put packets together, scan documents, and try our distance reading and math meetings. Trina is also doing a daily read aloud on Class Dojo so the kids can see her face and bring comfort to them. Mrs. Rowlands is a vital player in the Xavier Family!
Congratulations Karen and Trina and thank you for all you do!!!
Gary Moon
Head of Schools
Xavier Charter School
Good Morning Xavier Families,
We were able to get day one of distance learning under our belt. We have already learned a lot as we knew we would. Communication and feedback between students, parents, and teachers is extremely important as we work to improve and refine our procedures. I want to remind everyone again that all of our teaching staff is available on school days by email from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm.
It was great to see so many of you yesterday even if it was from a “social distance”. Please let your students know that we miss them all very much.
3/26/2020
Update for 7 -12 Parents/ Guardians,
Since our secondary students were in school almost two weeks ago all of us have had to face many challenges to our daily lives. Despite all the changes, continuing your child’s education is our priority and it is our plan that the 7-12 educational program will be delivered online through the Google Apps with a majority of the instruction provided through Google classroom.
Before Monday your child’s second semester teachers will invite your child into their Google Classroom. We anticipate that this transition to online learning will present us with many issues that we will work hard to resolve in a timely manner. Patience by everyone will be very much appreciated.
We recognize that communication is critical to ensuring that this program move forward as smoothly as possible. We will have office staff in the building during regular school hours. Teachers will not be on campus unless it is for essential purposes, but they can be reached through email during school hours. Staff emails are conveniently located on the School webpage under the “About Us” tab. Your child will be able to contact teachers either through Google Classroom or email. If you have any questions about Google Classroom please contact the teacher. If you have received a Chromebook from the school and are having problems with it please Contact Mr. Bennett jbennett@
We understand that learning online for your child may take some time to get used to. Our teachers will start slowly during the first two days. As the teachers move into more content instruction by Wednesday it is our plan that the teacher instruction per class per day for secondary students will be around 35 minutes. This does not include the time for homework. Class lessons are recordable and therefore students may do their classwork at anytime.
Starting out there will not be two-way video conferencing between students and teachers. We are concerned that this type of instruction will cause many logistical and technological issues for families. Interactions between students and teachers will take place through discussion boards and chat rooms. Students are asked to use email as a last resort. If teacher instructional videos are presented in Google Classroom, the videos will be files that students can access at anytime.
Grading will continue for secondary students according to our current letter grade and 4-point GPA system. We ask parents to help monitor students to ensure that their work is their own.
The State Department of Education has confirmed that all testing, including the SAT and ISATS will be waived this year. The decision to provide the opportunity for Juniors to take the SAT at the State’s expense is pending. We will also be flexible with students who have been unable to finish their senior project due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
If your child needs materials from their classrooms, we will allow students accompanied by a staff member to retrieve what they need on Monday, 3/30 8:00 AM -6:00 PM. Students will need to disinfect their hands as they enter the building and as they leave through a different exit point. No more than 10 will be allowed in the building.
For students who have indicated on the “Access to Technology Survey” that they do not have internet connectivity, the teachers will have a packet of assignments available for curbside pick up in front of the school on Monday morning between 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Please return the completed assignments to the school the following Monday. The only exception to this plan will be for next week. The first assignment packets will start for 7 – 12 students on Wednesday morning.
I know this is a lot of information and I’m sure there will be situations that come up that I have not addressed in this email.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
3/26/2020