Dear OA Students,
You are missed and loved and we are hopeful that we will be back together as soon as possible and safe to do so.  In the meantime, I am grateful for your participation in the creative and enriching remote learning opportunities your teachers are providing.  The key to this time frame in our school’s history is participation. In my previous letter, I spoke to the change of making you responsible for engaging in this new normal for how we do school.  We are getting used to new realities on a daily basis, and I applaud you in your flexibility adjusting to remote learning. In my letter I mentioned that I would follow up on what grading would look like.  Here is what we have decided for the month of April:

You are given credit or no credit (a P for participation or an I for no participation) for each assignment presented by your teacher.  The total number of assignments and your participation will determine the grade for this time period. Attempts to participate and engage will result in credit issued for each assignment.  At the end of our Covid19 Closure on May 4th (that is what we have to work with for now), you will be given a grade for engaging in these remote learning opportunities based on a simple cumulative point system.  Part over the whole. If there were 20 assignments and you received credit for all 20, you would have 20/20 or 100% for this grade. As it stands right now, this grade will make up 10% of your final grade, and since we are not having final exams this is a great way to boost your final GPA for each course.  We will keep you posted on issues that might arise with the new format and want you all to know that we are most concerned about your health and safety during this challenging time. Please be assured that we will exercise great flexibility should conditions make it challenging for you to access the computer at home. I ask that you reach out to your teachers when challenges arise.  

You are missed greatly and loved even more,
Mr. Paul