Hi Riders,

Sorry it's been a while since I have sent anything out to you.  There have been some communications from the district, and we have been working to make sure that we are ready to welcome students back on September 2nd. Here is some information to help you and your family start to plan.  We know this first quarter will be a challenge for students, parents, and teachers.  Please know we are here to support you and your student in being successful in virtual learning.  

Getting Ready for the Year

Ask your student to dust off that chromebook and make sure it's working OK.  If it isn't, please email our Vice Principal - Dave Valenzuela (dvalenzuela@pps.net) - in English or Spanish and he can make sure we have a plan to get your student a working device.  

In the coming weeks, we will be sharing a weekly schedule for your student. Talk with them about the schedule, and also talk about a space that they can use to do their school work.  

Semester Schedule

Students will have four classes each semester.  This will allow teachers and students to focus on fewer classes.  Our 9th graders will have one teacher for English and 9th grade seminar, to ensure they have a point person for the entire year.  If your 9th grader is in algebra, that teacher will remain with them all year as well.  

9th Grade Welcome

We are planning some 9th grade welcome activities.  We know this isn't how you or your student planned to start 9th grade.  We are working with our 9th grade teachers and our leadership students to create some virtual opportunities for students to get to know their teachers and Roosevelt.

Soft Start

Our first few weeks together will be a "soft start."  This will give students and teachers time to learn how to navigate our new virtual world.  Each day, students will be asked to log-in from September 2nd to 11th to watch a short video and get their assignment(s) for the day.  We will be taking attendance, and these weeks are required.  Stay tuned for more information.  This will be an important time to ensure students and families know how to use all of the resources and troubleshoot technology or other needs.  We will start with classes on September 14th. 

IDs, Bus Passes, and School Photos

We will be taking photos on August 24, 25, and 26.  We will be mailing home a registration packet with more information and directions for these days.  We will confirm that your student is in our system, and we will be getting student photos taken, so students can have a school ID and a bus pass for the start of the year.  If you need to register your student, you can do that online.  We will hand out some more information about the start of the school year.

Apps for you and your student

Website:  We will be using our Roosevelt website - pps.net/roosevelt-hs for updates and information.  We know that one of the issues with online learning is that there is too much (and not enough) information, so we want to make sure families know where to go to get the information they need. 

Trivory:  To try and streamline some of our communication, we will be using the app - Trivory - that was created by one of our very own students.  This app will have links to teacher information and will give daily reminders.  During the first few weeks of school (the soft start), this is where students will go each morning for their daily announcement and plan. 

ParentVue & StudentVue:  We will use ParentVue and StudentVue again.  Make sure you and your student can log-in.  This will be the easiest way for them to get their list of classes for the first day of school.  You will also use ParentVue to update your student's registration information.  Here's more information about how to get started with online verification: English Spanish Somali Russian Chinese Vietnamese

Canvas:  We are shifting away from Google Classroom to a new Learning System called Canvas.  Canvas has a lot more things it can do, and parents can see more information than they could in Google Classroom.  Learning Canvas will be one important part of our soft start.  We will have some tutorial videos for students and parents posted on Trivory. 

This Year

We know that there are a lot of unknowns for this school year.  I know that teachers and other staff at Roosevelt are sad that we won't be seeing each other in person on September 2nd.  There are a lot of different emotions about learning virtually.  Know that we are here for your students and you.  If you need something, or have questions, please reach out.  We will continue to share information as it becomes available.  

Enjoy your last few weeks of summer.  Go Riders!

KD