Important information that will help you understand the basics of Volusia Virtual School.

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2 Important information that will help you understand the basics of Volusia Virtual School. Volusia Virtual School is a Volusia County School. Your child s teachers are local and part of Team Volusia.

3 All students in VVS are asked to create a Gmail account. This Gmail account will serve as the basis for communication between student and teacher. Students are required to check their Gmail every school day.

4 Teachers provide students with their Gmail address and respond to students questions within one school day. Students can use the Chat feature in Gmail to reach their teachers during the school day as well. All teachers keep Virtual Office Hours in order to provide live assistance to students.

5 Virtual students are required to access each of their virtual courses every school day. This is how attendance is taken.

6 VVS courses follow the Volusia County School calendar. Course grades are entered at the end of each semester. To complete courses by the end of the semester, students are expected to keep up with their assignment due dates. Students may work on virtual courses on any day, at any time.

7 Set aside the equivalent of minutes per school day for each class. Create a schedule for working on virtual courses. Complete the most difficult coursework first.

8 Period 1 English 3 Virtual Off Campus Period 2 American History Virtual Off Campus Period 3 Physical Science On Campus Period 4 Algebra 2 On Campus Period 5 Elective On Campus Period 6 Elective On Campus Period 7 Elective On Campus 6:00 pm 7:00 pm Work on English 3 virtual course 7:00 pm 8:00 pm Work on American History virtual course

9 ENC1101 (English) at DSC on Monday and Wednesday at 8:00. MAC 1105 (math) at DSC Monday and Wednesday at 10:00 SLS1122 (student success) at DSC Tuesday and Thursday at 8:00 American History virtual off campus Physical Science virtual off campus Psychology I virtual off campus

10 There are three main sites to access courses and course materials 1) Apex 2) Blackboard 3) VVS website

11 Most courses are in Apex Learning Students watch the Virtual Student Video Guided Tour in Apex. Students can click on Reports to see due dates and progress. Students use Message Center to turn in assignments to the teacher. The calendar feature allows students to see a monthly view of upcoming due dates.

12 Students grade to date in the Reports section is their current grade in the course. This grade is computed based on completed and past-due assignments. Students grades can also be seen in the weekly parent report.

13 Any assignment with a grade of less than 60% may be retaken. Students must earn at least a 60% on all unit tests and written English and Spanish assignments. In order to retake a quiz or test, students must submit the completed study sheets to their teacher for review.

14 Blackboard Learning Management System is a different system than Apex. Several elective courses are in Blackboard Different log-on than Apex Many of the same features such as online gradebook, submitting papers electronically, computer-scored quizzes

15 Students login at user name = vvsstudent password = grades9-12 Assignment sheets and course materials Teachers virtual office hours information Testing information Resources Technical Tips

16 All tests are proctored. This means that students take their tests under the supervision of a designated Apex Lab Manager. Students must notify their teacher at least one school day in advance of taking a proctored test. Students must pass each test with at least a 60% in order to receive course credit.

17 Only proctored tests taken in the Apex Lab will be valid. If a test is taken outside of the lab, there are grade penalties. See Testing Information in VVS Resource Center for more information including the designated proctors.

18 There is no grade penalty for late work except in Personal Fitness and Fitness Lifestyle Design. HOWEVER, there are cut-off dates for past due work. These dates will be ed to students. Volusia Virtual courses follow the same calendar as Volusia County Schools.

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20 Testing in the Apex Lab with a specially trained VCS employee ensures that we can conduct testing in an environment that accurately measures what the student has learned. It also ensures that they are proficient and ready to progress to the next level.

21 Proctored tests are locked and can only be opened by a student s virtual teacher. Not only does giving one school day s notice allow the teacher to verify the students progress, but it also allows them to notify the Apex Lab Manager. Lab Managers are unable to unlock tests.

22 Parents can their child s virtual teacher at any time throughout the year. All students have their teacher s address. Parents can link to teachers addresses from the weekly parent report.

23 In the reports section you see two grades. The grade to date is the students current grade which includes completed work and past-due assignments. The quality of work grade is an average of the assignments that have been completed.

24 Weekly progress reports are sent out on Sundays. If you did not receive your child s weekly progress report by Monday it may have been for one of the following reasons: Student has not accessed the course in two weeks Your weekly progress report might have been flagged as SPAM VVS has no address or an invalid address