Good afternoon Mountain Vista High School Students, Families and Community!
Thanks for your patience as we continue to work toward the unconventional start of the school year. This week our amazing staff reported and it has been great to have everyone back in our building. They have in fact been “back” for a number of weeks now as we have been tasked with implementing a new learning platform (Canvas) and having all classes ready to go with a number of possible ‘return to learning’ scenarios to prepare for. I really appreciate everyone in our community who has been understanding and supportive as we navigate this unprecedented path!
Please take a few minutes to review the following important information. DCSD has finalized the cohort assignment process and released those groups to schools. Today, we (in alignment with our feeder schools) will be making necessary adjustments to the scheduling puzzle (a massive undertaking FYI) and preparing to release cohort assignments and schedules to students and families. We are hopeful that will happen feeder wide tomorrow. I know there are multiple questions still out there so will review the basics of our current situation and details of our process below.
1) Cohorts have been assigned based on an in depth alignment process. 99.99% of our students will remain in the cohort they have been assigned. Any adjustments will be initiated by MVHS. We will not be able to accommodate individual parent or student requests.
a) Cohorts are built to create balanced classes.
b) Lunches are divided with safety in mind and space accommodations based on those cohort numbers.
c) Cohort sizes have been created to provide the safest possible classroom environments and are aligned to master schedules and households.
2) Schedules: We will include the current and proposed daily bell schedule with your student’s class schedule. Again, based on the current situation, we will not be able to make individual schedule adjustments . Situations where Counselors will review schedules are limited to:
a) Students assigned to the wrong level
b) Any “see counselor” note due to holes in the schedule
c) Credit issues directly aligned to graduation
3) We will NOT be making any elective schedule changes. Refer to a,b and c above.
4) After accessing your cohort and schedule, please also keep an eye out for the Orientation Week Schedule which will provide all needed information for the week of August 17th - 20th.
5) Transportation: I know that the changes in busing and bus route adjustments are impacting many families. Individual schools (MVHS) have no direct control over the decisions being made at the District’s Transportation Department. Please continue to review updates to their policies and hopefully understand the impact of the health parameters they are having to adhere to.
a) MVHS Parking: That said, we have made some adjustments to the parking process at MVHS. To start the year and during days where the hybrid schedule is in place, we will be issuing (free of charge) parking permits to our Seniors and Juniors who drive to school. We will also be offering temporary parking permits to Sophomores who currently hold a valid license. Many of you have already seen a “refund” if you paid the permit fee during Express Check In. Students will still need to complete the permit registration information in MySchoolBucks (closes August 18). When we return to our regular schedule, sophomore permits will not be valid and prorated fees may be charged to other permitted drivers. Traffic will likely still be an issue in our lots even during 50% capacity days.
6) Personally Owned Devices: Due to limitations around “ shared devices” (school computers, laptops and chromebooks), access to school owned technology during in-person learning days will be extremely limited or not available. We have had our “P.O.D” initiative in place for several years (information available on our website). We will need the majority or all of our students to bring their own devices to school. The District will still support students who need to check out a device.
Please continue to monitor DCSD health / process updates and future school communications as we will attempt to provide information in regards to a number of topics and concerns!
Thank you!!
Michael Weaver
Principal
