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Dear Mark,
Hello and welcome to the 2024-2025 school year at Volusia Online Learning! For those of you who are new to VOL, I am your proud principal, Dr. Serianni. The publication that you are currently reading is the Foxhole Flyer, a bi-weekly communication designed to keep us connected with worthwhile information delivered through inspirational stories about the amazing people who make up this unique and diverse school. By keeping you informed, my goal is not only to create a network, but also to connect our community by sharing how success is found by individuals and families working together towards common goals.
Since last school year, there have been a couple of changes at VOL. First of all, we moved. Again! For several years, we had been stationed in Port Orange on Herbert Street, next to Silver Sands Middle School. Last summer, we relocated to Building 3 at Deltona Middle School on Enterprise Rd. and this summer we moved again to our new location at 336 E. Highbanks Rd. in DeBary. We are extremely excited about this move and our new location as it checks all the boxes for a long-term home for VOL.
Another change you may see is the talk of a new course platform called Edmentum. We worked to pilot Edmentum last year on a limited basis and are now using the platform for many courses, particularly electives. We are excited about what Edmentum will allow in terms of flexibility and meeting the needs of our students. Since it is new, I am sure there will be a learning curve and some growing pains. I look forward to hearing from you about your experience in Edmentum as we implement this new program.
We have also updated our Student and Parent Handbook since last year. This document contains key contact information as well as the requirements and expectations for full-time enrollment at VOL. One of the changes this year is an increased emphasis on live lesson attendance. Live lessons are required, and all full-time students are expected to attend. Our experience is that students who attend live lessons are more likely to stay on pace and perform at high levels in their classes and on state assessments. To help with live lesson attendance, we are taking steps to standardize the secondary lesson schedule (elementary will not change) and will post the live lesson schedule on our website once it is finalized. Teachers will have already shared their live lesson times with you in their Welcome Email, but in case you are unsure, you can check their announcement page in FLVS or Edmentum or reach out to them directly. All live lessons will be in zoom and begin this week!
Finally, I want to point out some key items that will be shared with you in Welcome Calls (happening this week), or have been shared with you in Welcome Emails:
• Fortify Florida
- Recent legislation requires schools to ensure that all students understand what Fortify Florida is and how to use it. The presentations below are for you to learn about this suspicious activity reporting tool that allows you to instantly relay information to appropriate law enforcement agencies and school officials. If you have not already done so, please take some time to review the appropriate presentation below and complete the form on the last slide to acknowledge that you have done so.
Elementary presentation
Secondary presentation
• Safer Spaces
- One of the new initiatives that we will have at VOL this year is an emphasis on more face-to-face learning opportunities. These opportunities will take place at our new facility in DeBary. While here, it is important for students to know where “Safer Spaces” are in the classrooms in case there is an emergency. In each classroom, there is a sign on the wall that says “Safe Corner” to indicate where the Safer Space is in that classroom. While we will review this with students when they arrive on campus, we ask that you also review this concept with your child on your own.
• Student IDs must be issued at the beginning of each school year. So, even if your child just received their ID in the spring for testing, we will need to get a new picture and replace that ID with a current one. Information on how families can schedule an appointment to get the ID will be shared soon.
• As I mentioned before, teachers have already sent out their Welcome Email and you will receive a Welcome Call from your child’s Homeroom teacher later this week. Please make sure you read that Welcome Email closely to see how to access each course. Remember, we have more than one learning platform this year and not all classes are in FLVS.
That’s all I have for now. I look forward to working with you this school year to help your students find success. As always, I welcome your feedback on how to make VOL and the Foxhole Flyer better and more effective for you and your family; you can reach me via email anytime at aaserian@volusia.k12.fl.us.
Thank you for reading and have a great week!
Dr. Serianni
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