NBSD Newsletter for the week of August 24, 2020, Aug. 26

NBSD release – We are excited about and looking forward to the coming school year. Over the summer, we have worked hard to gather information for you, regarding student’s schedules and our plan to keep students safe and sound when they can eventually return to our physical buildings. We have also been working on our Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL) plan so that we can provide a robust and quality education to our students when we cannot be at school. We understand that there are many questions concerning what things will look like at North Bend High School this year. Please know that we are working hard to get the most current information out to you as quickly as possible. There may be additional guidelines coming before school starts. Our goal is to keep all of our students and faculty safe while still providing an education that each and every one of our students deserves.  Communication via Email – This newsletter is the final letter that will be mailed to families. To provide the most economical and rapid information possible to families, we will communicate through email with the information in your student’s registration. Please ensure we have your up-to-date information. Our school webpage and Facebook page will also be used in conjunction with email for mass emailing. Report cards will also be provided electronically unless otherwise requested. Families unable to receive newsletters via email may still request postal mailings by returning the request included at the end of this letter. Registration and Schedules – Registration for families of North Bend High School students has begun. If you have not registered your child for school yet, please do so as soon as possible at http://www.nbend.k12.or.us/registration.html . If you are having trouble, please contact our Registrar, Mindy Dubisar at 541-751-7183. Mindy will be happy to help you out. For the past week, we have been working on our Master Schedule. This is a huge process. Student schedules will be available online in ParentVUE and StudentVUE and should go live the first week of September. Start Date, Distance Learning, and the School Day – We have moved the start date from September 9th to September 14th. At the high school, during the first Trimester we will have two “Micro-terms,” that are both 6 weeks in length. We will be starting our first micro-term in “Comprehensive Distance Learning”. During each CDL Micro-Term, students will have 4 classes 5 days a week. While we are in our CDL model all of our classes will be taught online by our teachers. These classes will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. with each class lasting 40-45 minutes. Students will also likely have work to complete in the afternoon with some classes requiring additional live instruction. When we are able to return to school in a “Hybrid Model”, our students will be scheduled to attend classes as part of an A.M or P.M. “Cohort” or they will be allowed to remain in the online instruction. Cohort sizes must be limited because of the space available in each classroom. The A.M. and P.M. groups will be determined according to bus routes. During Hybrid learning, P.M. cohorts will attend classes in the afternoons Monday through Thursday. Our A.M. cohorts will attend classes in the mornings Tuesday through Friday. During the Hybrid Micro-Terms students will attend 4 classes 4 days a week. We want to emphasize that North Bend High School teachers will be leading the instruction during both CDL and Hybrid education. Activities, Exceptions, and Limited in Person Learning – We are currently exploring options for our students to return to some extra-curricular activities while we are in our CDL model. Our school board will meet on September 3rd to discuss this possibility. While the activities may be limited, we believe that providing students an opportunity to be with their classmates, doing some type of activity, is important to their social and emotional health. Please check with our North Bend Athletics Facebook Page for the latest updates. There are provisions for students to come onto campus for small group instructional activities with specific limitations. We are working with state guidance to determine what these exceptions and limited in person learning will look like. Online School and Alternative Education – During Comprehensive Distance Learning almost all high school students will be participating in distance education until we meet specific state guidelines. We understand that some families will prefer to access online options or alternative education regardless of whether or not we are in the CDL model. In order to increase our partnership with families, North Bend High School is beginning to offer regular online courses as part of the comprehensive high school program. While the rest of the school is in the CDL model most students requesting online school will remain in the scheduled teacher led CDL classes. There are some self-paced options also available. Counselors will be contacting families that have requested online high school over the next few weeks. If you are interested in online school as a regular part of your child’s education please contact their counselor or email nbhsonline@nbend.k12.or.us. Chromebook Checkout – We are developing a plan for checking out Chromebooks to all students on the 9th, 10th, and 11th of September. Please look for additional information to be emailed and posted on our website this week. We understand that you may be hearing a few new abbreviations and words that might not be familiar to everyone. A few that you will see this year are: CDL: Comprehensive Distance Learning is what takes place when students are not allowed to be at school to receive instruction. While some students may be allowed on campus under special circumstances, the overall instruction model will be in an online format. Hybrid Learning or Hybrid Instruction: Classes will be taught both at school in person and in an online format. Micro-Term: The current trimester, which is 12 weeks long at North Bend High School, will be split into two, six week terms called “Micro-Terms.” Students will have 4 classes during each of these Micro-Terms. Students will be assigned one math class and 3 additional classes during each Micro-Term. Cohort: A group of students that are together for an extend period of time. Students may be a part of multiple “Cohorts” during the day. Each class is a “Cohort.” Any grouping of students in considered a cohort. Cohorts could include classes, riding a bus together or student in groups such as extra-curricular activities.
SEL: Social and Emotional Learning is the process which children acquire and effectively apply knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, establish and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions. Please know that during these challenging times, the staff at North Bend High School are working to ensure that we are providing a quality education to your children. We look forward to the day when we can return to school full time in a safe and productive environment. We will be sending further information as we get closer to the start of the school year. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at 541-756-8328.