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Volusia Online Learning earned an 'A' grade from the Florida Department of Education for the 2023-2024 school year and was recognized for this academic achievement by the District. 

Volusia Online Learning Community Brief

Monday, August 26, 2024

Dear Mark,

What a great first two weeks of the school year! As with every year at every school, there were certainly some hiccups here and there, but I want to thank you all for your patience and constructive feedback as we worked through the issues we faced and get everyone in the classes they need. 

One of the major tasks in the first couple of weeks is making contact with all families and ensuring that everyone has access to their classes, as well as all required forms and information. As of Friday afternoon, we had completed or scheduled a Welcome Call with all of our full-time students, which is fantastic. Additionally, about 90% of full-time families (thank you!) have responded to the Fortify Florida acknowledgement form (please click here to complete if you have yet to do so). We still need many families to submit the testing consent form, but we will be reaching out to those families individually since testing is right around the corner. There is one more acknowledgement form to complete regarding some forms that are required by the department of education; Ms. Shaw has shared that link in a section later in this issue. Thank you all for making this process a smooth one!

With all of the administrative tasks to complete at the beginning of the school year, it can be easy to forget about the most important part of Full-time VOL – the classes! Of course, all students should have started their classes already and all students should be attending their live lessons. While the elementary schedule has not changed much from last year, we set up a new secondary live lesson schedule this year in which specific subject area live lessons occur at consistent times of the day. We are working on adding the combined secondary schedule to our website, but for now, please make sure that you check out teacher announcement pages for live lesson days and times. 

Live lessons are just one component of a successful approach to online learning. Over the years, we have found that a student’s ability to maintain engagement in the learning process combined with a high level of performance are the keys to success in virtual education. As such, we monitor student progress and performance throughout the school year. This monitoring process will begin over the next couple of weeks. In general, the expectation is that all students complete 5-6% of their course every week. Teachers will reach out to students who fall behind pace to see why and formulate a success plan. Students who are consistently behind pace or failing will be contacted by administration for additional intervention and support. Intervention and support will vary depending on the need, but can range from individual or group virtual tutoring to face-to-face lessons at VOL Headquarters. Our goal is for all students to find success at VOL and we’re here to help!

Before I sign off, I wanted to recognize the outstanding work of our students, teachers, and parents last school year when recognized as an ‘A’ school by the Florida Department of Education for the first time in VOL history! We were honored at the last school board meeting for this accomplishment and I couldn’t be more proud of school community. Thank you all for making this the best school in the district! Let’s do it again this year!!

That’s all I have for this week. Please scroll down for important information about our school and some features on the amazing people who make VOL a special place. Thank you for reading.

Dr. Serianni

Wednesday, August 28th – SAC Meeting 4pm at VOL Headquarters

Monday, September 2nd – No School, Labor Day

Thursday, September 5th – Lego Club 4pm at VOL Headquarters

September 9th – 13th – Grades 3-5 Reading and Math FAST Assessment PM1 (Teacher scheduled; virtual)

September 9th – 13th – Grades K-2 Reading and Math Renaissance STAR Assessment (Teacher scheduled; virtual)

Tuesday, September 10th – Reading FAST Assessment PM1 (virtual)

Thursday, September 12th – Math FAST Assessment PM1 (virtual)

September 11th – 27th – FAST Assessment PM1 Make-up testing (virtual)

Monday, September 30th – Picture Day 8am-4pm at VOL Headquarters and Dean Stewart

Driver Education

Behind the wheel training for students with their permit!

Registration is August 20th rom 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM

For more information click here.

VOL Clubs

Are you interested in joining a club at VOL? Here are some of the clubs we offer!

forms.office.com/r/hwvbXKJr8Z

Contact Ms. Horn with any questions at SLHORN@VOLUSIA.K12.FL.US

This section will include helpful information for Edmentum and FLVS platforms along with other information to help you be most successful here at VOL.

Edmentum: 

Parents/Guardians: Need to access student progress? Here are the steps to do so:

1. Sign in to your Edmentum Sensei for Families account. 

2. If you have more than one child enrolled in an Edmentum program, select the student

whose progress information you want to view from the left menu. The dot next to the 

student name indicates a new report has been shared with you.

3. Select Assignments or Shared Reports to see everything available to you.

4. From this screen you can also see the last time your student accessed Courseware and how long their session lasted.

FLVS

How to create your Parent/Guardian Account:

1. Student Completes Application: First, the student must complete the sign up process. Once the student has completed the online application he/she will receive a Student Username/ Password. You will need this Student Username/ Password to create your Parent/Guardian Account.
2. Create your Parent/Guardian Account: Click here to begin creating your Parent/Guardian Account

Zoom

• If you are having trouble accessing Zoom, you may need to sign out and sign back on using your FLVS account credentials, or download Zoom to the computer you are using. Here is a video to help signing off and back on using the correct credentials: Click Here. The Zoom credentials (username and password) are found in the upper right corner of you FLVS courses:

Students enrolled in Volusia Online Learning can access their courses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on our various curriculum platforms. At the elementary level, most students have all courses in the FLVS platform. As students get older, courses are spread across multiple platforms: FLVS, Achieve, Canvas, Edmentum, and/or ULS. Please have your student show you their dashboards to ensure they are up to date on all assignments.

Did you know that students who attend live lessons and small group sessions continue to outperform their peers on their graded assignments, retention of skills, and state assessments? Please make live lessons a priority for your child. Specific information related to your coursework is shared and reinforced through this weekly communication with your teachers.

If your child is struggling with a concept or lesson, please book a tutoring session with your child’s teacher so that she/he can assist them now before they get too far behind.

Congratulations to the following students who completed the Superintendent’s Summer Home Run Reading Challenge:

• Finley Dail, second grade
• Benjamin Ollis, second grade
• Austin Audet, fourth grade
• Aurora Negron, fourth grade
• Benjamin Berglund, fifth grade
• Daniel Ollis, sixth grade
• Kaylee Williamson, 6th grade

These students earned prizes based on the number of minutes they read and then logged in Beanstack. Prizes included Little Caesars cookies, Coldstone certificates, Daytona Lagoon tickets, and tickets to a Daytona Tortugas baseball game. Keep up the great work!

Seniors, make sure you are in contact with your counselor, Mrs. Hamlin, regarding exclusive opportunities for seniors throughout the school year. Remember to stay on top of graduation requirements, including testing. 

Florida law requires school districts to publish important information for public school students and their parents/guardians. This information includes:

1. Parent Guide and School Calendar 2024-2025;
2. Code of Student Conduct and Discipline (Elementary) or (Secondary);
3. Student Technology Use School Board Policy 219; and
4. Parental guardian notice of software systems used by students that require student data found at www.vcsedu.org/noticeofpiisystems.

Please complete the district’s acknowledgement form stating that you have been provided access to digital copies of these required documents here.

Class of 2025 Senior Alison Colindres-Solis' success story & tips for VOL Seniors

Have you started thinking about next year? What do you want to do? 

• Go to college
• Join the military
• Go straight to work

Keep your eyes open for upcoming information. Start thinking about your future today!

Senior Photos: 

VOL Graduation Calendar: 

• VOL Senior Awards Ceremony – Tuesday, May 27th @ 7:00 PM

• VOL Graduation Rehearsal – Thursday, May 29th @ 12:30 PM

• VOL Graduation Ceremony – Friday, May 30th @12:30 PM

VOL Senior Page – please use this link to access important senior information. https://www.volusiaonlinelearning.com/student-life/senior-class-2025

Fall PM1 Grades K-10: In September, we will begin our first Progress Monitoring (PM1) FAST testing for students in Grades K-10. This is a required state test, which will occur three times this year. Full-time students at Volusia Online Learning will take the first two Progress Monitoring assessments remotely from home. The third Progress Monitoring assessment (PM3) will take place in-person in the Spring for Grades 3-10. Dr. Markell sent emails with more information about the first Progress Monitoring (PM1) FAST assessment that your student will take in September. Since this will be taken remotely from home, there are a few important action items that VOL families must take now in preparation for this assessment. 

Remote Testing Action Items for Parents:

1. Students in Grades 3-10 must have the new version of Florida’s secure testing browser (V.17) downloaded on their computer to test. For instructions on how to download the newest secure browser, click here. 
2. The remote FAST assessments require remote proctoring by the test administrator, which will be a VOL teacher. Therefore, students must test on computers that have cameras. Each VOL student in Grades 3-10 testing remotely must have a parent consent form for remote proctoring completed. If you have not already completed that for this school year, here is the link: Remote Consent Form  
3. Remote testing requires that the computer and internet being used will be able to support the testing program properly to ensure a smooth testing experience. To perform a quick check to make sure that the bandwidth and internet connection you are using will be able to support the test, please go to this link and do a systems check well before testing: https://netdiag.cambiumtds.com/diagnostictool/Pages/?c=Cambium
4. Expect to receive important testing emails from your assigned test administrator during the first week of September. These emails will include important information about your student’s specific test session.

Looking Ahead:

• Fall EOC and Retakes: September 23-October 4th (Emails will be sent later this month to students who need to take these tests)
• PERT (Dual Enrollment Candidates): October 7-11 
• ACT NCR: October 15-17
• PSAT and SAT SD: October 24th

(Registration forms were emailed to students who qualify to sign up for the October PERT, ACT-NCR, PSAT and SAT SD tests occurring at zoned schools.)

Please reach out to Dr. Markell by emailing bgmarkel@volusia.k12.fl.us or by calling (386) 734-7190 ext. 72701 if you have any questions about state testing.

Ms. Spencer, 5th Grade

Ms. Spencer has a BS in Elementary Education grades 1-6 from UCF. She has her ESOL Endorsement, Reading Endorsement, and is a Nearpod Certified Educator. Ms. Spencer has been teaching in Volusia County schools for 24 years. In 2010 she was awarded Teacher of the Year at Sugar Mill Elementary and was the 2024 VCTM Elementary Mathematics Teacher of the Year. This year she is teaching the 5th grade core subjects of English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.

When she is not teaching, Ms. Spencer enjoys indoor gardening and music. “I have hydroponic and kratky systems growing tomatoes, peppers, tons of greens, and herbs like thyme, basil, and lemon balm. I also have over 40 houseplants like African Violets, hoyas, and streptocarpus. Besides "playing in the dirt", I enjoy listening to music and attending live concerts.”

Fun Fact: When I was younger, I danced ballet professionally and I also raced off-road motorcycles. I know, they seem like polar opposite passions!

Inspirational Quote: Practice doesn't make perfect; it makes things permanent.

www.apparelnow.com

Suspicious Activity Reporting App

FortifyFL is a suspicious activity reporting tool that allows you to instantly relay information to appropriate law enforcement agencies and school officials. FortifyFL was created and funded by the 2018 Florida Legislature as part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. The application was named by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The Office of Attorney General, Department of Education and Florida Department of Law Enforcement coordinated its development and roll-out.

Illegal passing of stopped school buses

This is a quick reminder to all Volusia County drivers about running through buses' stop arms during these early weeks of back-to-school. In 2021, the penalties for failing to stop for a school bus and passing a stopped school bus on the side where children enter and exit doubled. It is imperative that all motorists properly stop for school buses so all of our students can arrive at school or home safely.

Source: Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

* Please also remember that using a wireless communications device in a handheld manner while driving in a designated school crossing, school zone, or active work zone area is against the law and extremely dangerous.