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Jan. 4, 2022
Greetings, everyone, and happy New Year!
We have potential school closing across the state due to inclement weather and COVID-19 precautions. See our preparedness plans in the School Closing and Delays section below.
Check out our End of Semester Reminders section as we wrap up Fall 2021 classes. See the News and Trending Updates section for courses added to the spring catalog and choosing your semester end date.
See all the news and highlights below, and forward this e-lert to any stakeholders who may need it. They can subscribe to the e-lert here. |
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School Closing and Delays
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NCVirtual is preparing for school closings and delays due to inclement weather and COVID-19 precautions. We know that when a school’s regular operations are disrupted, it impacts student learning, whether the student is in the traditional classroom or online.
We will follow the same preparedness plan that we have used for inclement weather delays in the past. We will work with state and local leaders as new details emerge.
NCVirtual has the following upcoming semester end dates and start dates that may be impacted:
January 5: Start date for Spring 2022 Early Start classes.
January 7: End date for Fall 2021 Standard Start block classes.
January 18: Start date for Spring 2022 Standard Start classes.
NCVirtual will do the following if inclement weather or COVID-19 disrupts school operations:
- Notify NCVirtual teachers of school closings that are reported to NCVirtual.
- Ensure that NCVirtual teachers have flexible plans for students who cannot access their online courses. Teachers will monitor student logins, remain flexible, and communicate with students about progress and needs.
- Communicate to districts and students any interruption to services that NCVirtual might experience (power outages, sick leave, access issues, etc.). This information will be provided through our website, email, social media, and in Canvas (our learning management system).
- Communicate with teachers to determine which teachers have also been affected by any inclement weather or COVID-19.
Districts should be prepared to do the following:
- Communicate to NCVirtual and/or NCVirtual teachers any school or district closures due to inclement weather. You may open a ticket with our Support Center or email us with your closings.
- Notify students of any services that may be interrupted due to inclement weather or COVID-19 that may affect NCVirtual operations.
Parents and students can do the following:
- Notify their NCVirtual teachers, if possible, if access to courses has been affected due to inclement weather.
- Communicate with the NCVirtual teacher regarding make-up work and testing.
- Note that if students have continued access to courses, they may continue working if their situation allows, even if their schools are closed.
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End of Semester Reminders
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Our Early Start courses have finished, and Standard Start ends this week.
Following the steps below will help with the success of your students and help you have grades prepared for your final report cards.
Timeline
Here are the end dates and reporting dates for Fall 2021 block courses:
Last Day of Early Start Classes: Dec. 10, 2021
Grades Posted for Early Start Classes: Dec. 16, 2021
Last Day for Standard Start Classes: Jan. 7, 2022
Grades Posted for Standard Start Classes: Jan. 13, 2022
December 16th Reporting
We will publish two grades reports on December 16:
- Final Grades for Early Start and Standard Start Early Completion
- Progress Grades for Standard Start and Yearlong Courses
If you had Standard Start students finish their courses early, look for their final grades on the Final Grades for Early Start and Standard Start Early Completion report. All other Standard Start progress grades will be reported on the Progress Report for Standard Start and Yearlong Courses. Please remember, for those Standard Start students expected to finish early, we cannot cut off their course access. They have access to January 7, and our teachers will continue to grade any work that they submit. Local schools must drive the early course completion expectation.
EOC and CTE Testing
Schools must administer all EOC and CTE state tests. (Note: Some CTE courses do not have a state test.) Schools will also need to average the EOC and CTE scores into the grades that we post for those courses. If you’ve not already made arrangements with your school’s testing coordinator, please do that right away.
Grades
Our final grade report will show the weighted coursework grade (80%) and the final exam grade (20%) and final grade. EOC and CTE courses will only show the coursework grades. Schools will need to calculate in the EOC and CTE exam grades. Follow this link to see what the final grade report will look like.
NCVPS Grading Policies
You will want to be aware of our grading policy and how we weight grades, especially for state-tested courses where you will need to calculate the final grade once you receive your test scores. Review our Grades Quick Reference Guide to see how we calculate grades.
Report Cards and Transcripts
Schools must enter grades into PowerSchool. Be sure the data manager has access to the grade report and understands our grade calculations. Be sure to examine the spreadsheet closely to find the final grade. This will be essential when your data manager enters NCVPS grades into PowerSchool to avoid data entry errors.
Middle School Reporting
Middle schools should ensure that they use the NCVPS course codes so that their students can receive high school credit for the courses that they take with us. You can find course codes in our catalog, or in the second column of any grade report.
NCAA Eligibility Center
Please see our Reporting NCVPS Classes On Transcripts for the NCAA quick reference guide here. There are some essential reporting steps to take to ensure a student’s NCAA eligibility.
Grade Questions
If you have questions about a student’s grade, you should send those directly to the student’s teacher or submit a help ticket to the Virtual Support Center.
Extensions
We have a five-day extension period for courses. These extensions do not require approval from our Instructional Directors. Instead, schools will work directly with the NCVPS teacher, and the teacher will grant the 5-day extension. |
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Social Studies Courses Added to Spring Catalog
We have added American History 1 and 2 standard and honors courses to our spring catalog. We have also added American History: The Founding Principles, Civics, and Economics standard and honors sections to the catalog.
In our OCS program, we have added American History 1 and 2 and American History: The Founding Principles, Civics, and Economics. Look for “Blended” in the course titles.
Standard Start Early Course Completion & Final Grades
This fall, we had a process for schools to request an early course completion for students in Standard Start classes. Schools needed to submit the request form for an early completion by Sept. 24. This gave our teachers time to adjust the pacing guide and assignment due dates for those students to finish early, and it gave the students time to adjust to their new accelerated pace. We had fifty schools request an early course completion for their students.
We’ve had a number of schools just recently request early final grades for Standard Start students. Districts, schools, and NCVirtual must remain student-centered in this process. Students must be given adequate time to complete their learning and finish their courses. In this process, we cannot produce final grades on demand.
However, we do have a process that will help some schools. If your school did not submit the early course completion request form, yet you have students who have worked at an accelerated pace and can complete their coursework and final exams by Friday, Dec. 10, NCVirtual teachers will report their final grades on our Dec. 16 Final Grade report. If students have not completed their coursework, teachers will report a progress grade on the Dec. 16 progress report.
Spring 2022 Final Grade Report – Choose Your Date!
Starting in our Spring 2022 session, NCVirtual will have a new procedure for receiving final grades based on Early Start or Standard Start enrollments.
First, determine when you need your final grades from NCVirtual. We have two options for you:
May 12
May 26
Next, choose your start date. If you need final grades by May 12, enroll your students in Early Start classes. If you need grades by May 26, enroll in Standard Start (traditional) classes.
Check your Spring 2022 enrollments. If you need final grades by May 12 and have students already enrolled in Standard Start classes, you will need to drop them and enroll them in Early Start classes. If you do not see a course offered in Early Start that you need, open a ticket with our Virtual Support Center and request a section.
New – ELA Orientation! |
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| We are excited to release our new E-learning Advisor Orientation course! This course will help support you in the role of E-Learning Advisor to NC Virtual students. Learn about the funding formula, the registration process, our grading policy, our valuable resources, and how to best support your online students.
Access the E-learning Advisor Orientation today!
Supporting Students Online – Parent Courses |
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| As virtual learning has become a part of everyday learning for most families across North Carolina, many parents, guardians, and mentors continue to struggle with how to support their online learners in blended and online classes. To provide resources and strategies for how to support not only our NCVirtual students, but all online learners in North Carolina, NCVirtual has created two Supporting Online Students (SOS) video courses in Canvas. Both courses are free, open to the public, and do not require login credentials.
The first course, Supporting Online Students – All NC, is general in nature and is designed for parents, guardians, and mentors of any student who is participating in a blended or online course or is enrolled in a fully online program regardless of school or grade level.
The second course, Supporting Online Students – NCVirtual, is specific to NC Virtual and includes specific examples, demonstrations, and resources for NC Virtual parents, guardians, and mentors.
Please share both links with your educational communities and parent networks.
Professional Development
Looking for online professional development? We have you covered! Check out our new subscription option for joining our professional development mailing list. The subscription button is found on both our Digital Transition page and the Teacher Online Training page.
A Snapshot of NCVirtual Grading Guidelines
We recently published a Snapshot of NCVirtual Grading Guidelines. Please note that NCVirtual teachers must adhere to the NCVirtual grading guidelines, practices, and procedures which can be found in our Grading and Testing Quick Reference Guide. NCVirtual teachers cannot adjust their NCVirtual grading guidelines, practices, and procedures based on a local school’s or district’s policy.
2021-2022 Academic Year Guide
Please visit our 2021-2022 Academic Year Guide for details on registration, enrolling, withdrawing, grades, student guides, parent guides, and more! |
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What Grades Are Currently Posted?
Dec. 16 – Early Start and Standard Start Early Completion Final Grades
Dec. 16 – Standard Start Progress Reports Posted in the NCVirtual Registration System
What’s Next on the Schedule?
Jan. 13 – Standard Start Final Grades Posted in the NCVirtual Registration System
Progress Report Action Steps
What should your action steps be with our progress reports? We’re glad you asked! Visit our Progress Report Action Steps page for all the details.
Reporting Overview
See our Grades and Testing Quick Reference Guide for an overview of our reporting. We have details on our Student Status (No-Show) Reports, Progress Reports, Final Grade Reports, and how we calculate grades. |
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District and School Outreach
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| In our Digital Transition webinar series, we share best practices for supporting students in learning online. You will leave with a toolkit of resources to bring to your face-to-face classroom into the virtual world!
We have new sessions beginning Nov. 9! |
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| Our Teacher Online Training course is a free professional development program for NC public and charter school teachers designed to prepare and support educators as they work in online and remote learning environments.
The next cohort begins Nov. 8. |
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| The NCVirtual Office Hours meets each weekday, M-F from 12:00-12:30 p.m.
Teachers, administrators, parents, and students are welcome to drop in and have their questions answered. |
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Connecting with Students & Parents
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| The IworkNCVirtual speaker series includes presentations about career paths by those working in the field. We are now providing a platform for our students to gain insight and exposure to potential career paths. Sessions focus on Prerequisites & Education, Getting the Job, Daily Responsibilities (Micro), Industry Environment (Macro) |
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| The Culture Café Café hosts hour-long lectures on various cultural topics in Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Latin, and Arabic to broaden our students’ cultural and world views. Topics include cultural, culinary, historical, geographic and, architectural themes. See the Culture Cafe calendar for upcoming events! |
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| For students who have completed the first term of his/her second-year Japanese language course in middle/junior high or a senior high school and has maintained a 3.5 GPA in Japanese courses and an overall GPA of 3.0.
For more information, contact Ellen Hart or Revae Bostwick. |
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| An online simulation of the global capital markets that engages students in the world of economics, investing and personal finance and that has prepared nearly 20 million students for financially independent futures. The team will have virtual money to invest in the stock market game that is offered by SIFMA Foundation.
For more information, contact Ellen Hart. |
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| The Student Research Alliance is a unique opportunity for students to conduct original research on topics of interest. The goal is to provide a platform for innovation and to create resources for students to deepen their understanding of specific course content. For more information, contact Señor Hall. |
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| The NCVirtual Coding Club is open to any NC high school students who would like to join. Complete this Google Form if you would like to join. For questions about the Coding Club, contact
ellen.hart@ncpublicschools.gov or
toni.hall@ncpublicschools.gov |
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| Figuring out which mobile app or web portal to use can be confusing. There are several mobile apps and a web portal that help students, parents, advisors, facilitators, and teachers stay connected to NCVPS and the student’s online course. Each app and the online portal have a different function.
Check out the guide on our Mobile Apps page to see when and where it’s best to use each app or portal. |
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Thank you, everyone!
Your North Carolina students appreciate your dedication and hard work!
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12 Unique Blogs Are Written By Professors
Virtual School Meanderings 