Getting Informed at STEM

Absence or Tardy

Early Dismissal

A student will be excused to leave class with an Early Leave Pass from the office. The student may exchange a note from the parent for the pass at the office.  Also:

• A phone call to the office may be needed for younger Elementary School students.

• Pick your student up during passing period
• Send a note in with your student to receive an Early Dismissal Pass (students will be able to show this to their teacher before class begins, and leave at the appropriate time).
• NO unscheduled early pick-ups will be allowed after 1:15 p.m.

Raptor

In the event DCSD determines that the district should follow the Delayed Opening protocol, our school will abide by its Virtual School Day Policy (from the STEM Handbook).

• Snow Day – Douglas County Schools (check www.dcsdk12.org) calls a snow day – school is closed.
• Late Start Day – Douglas County Schools calls a Late Start day – school is closed and implements a Virtual School Day.
• All Schools Open – Douglas County Schools declare Highlands Ranch area schools open – our school is open and operating to our regular schedule.

Virtual Days Q&A

• What is a Virtual School Day? The school is closed and our students complete work from home.
• Where do we find the assignments? Faculty will advise students where to find the Virtual School Day assignments. Teachers will clearly label what the student is expected to do that will be equivalent to a class period.
• If my student is ill or cannot make it to school for some reason, may I choose to let him or her participate in a Virtual Day? Virtual Days must be approved through the Virtual Day Application process. Please see the office for the request form.
• Is this similar to Virtual Fridays? Yes! Just like our Virtual Friday students, when the completed assignment is uploaded, the student is coded “activity” and not absent. We will count this as an instructional day similar to a field excursion.
• Must students stay home on Virtual School days to complete the assignment? Students do not need to remain at home but the school will be closed; however, the student must submit the assignment according to the due date/time as indicated by the teacher.
• What if our Internet is out or we do not have Internet at home? If the student does not have Internet due to weather or other reason, students will have a few days to complete the work.
• If DCSD calls a snow day, do we still have a Virtual School Day? No. Snow day means the school is closed and no work is required.
• If DCSD calls a Late Start Day, will school be open? No, school will be closed, but students will be required to do their work via our Virtual School Day requirements.

About Virtual Days

The idea for Virtual School Days is partially derived from our successful experiences with “Virtual Fridays” for students who commute long distances, are on ski teams or need flexibility due to other family needs. Virtual Days will:

• Minimize the Impact of Reduced Classroom Time – Minimize the craziness of reduced classroom learning time that occurs on late start days. Shortened classes do not allow for our usual in-depth studies and impact our academic focus.
• Reinforce Evolving 21st Century Workplace Skills – Expose our students to a common, 21st Century, professional workplace dynamic involving productive, flexible, and accountable remote work just like many adults today. This evolves our goal of building independent students who work effectively anywhere, anytime, which is more important than ever at universities and employers today. For many professions, “going to work” will be a poorly understood concept in the near future.
• Promote Safety by Reducing Highway Risk, Stress and Chaos – Reduce parent and staff risk dealing with getting to our campus when our weather creates bad travel situations. About 50 percent of our families live in eight other school districts with some commuting over 50 miles each way from all corners of the Denver metro area and Colorado Springs.
• Negate High Absentee Rates – We have observed that late start days have a high absentee rate for students and staff because of highway conditions. When so many are absent, teachers are often reluctant to teach new material and use the time to review material and work on long-term projects and it is difficult to get substitutes to cover the teachers unable to drive to our school.
• Reduce Driveline Problems – Morning and afternoon drivelines take twice as long when we have a late start day, plus it gets short staffed, again because of highway concerns.

We will institute a Virtual School Day at our school when the Douglas County School District institutes a Late-Start Day. Our faculty will explain to students where to find their Virtual School Day assignments on Canvas. With a Virtual School Day, I understand that parents will express some concerns:

• Student will miss a school day. We are working in advance with our teachers to design Virtual School Day assignments to be rich and complex and more instructional compared to compressed Late Start Days. I am confident our staff will see this as an opportunity to again creatively evolve and advance our delivery model.
• Poor weather can impact Internet connections. If a student cannot log in to complete work from home, extended time will be given for completion and we will ask parents to let us know how their home connectivity was impacted.

We are closely monitoring our Virtual Days, but also want to emphasize to teachers and students that a Virtual School Day is not a snow day. It will be an instructional day just as our Virtual Fridays are for the many students who now use this option.

We will collect data from our teachers and all students will submit their work as evidence of participation. When Douglas County School District decides weather is significantly poor to delay the start by 90 minutes, a Late Start day, STEM School Highlands Ranch will be closed and all students will remain at home completing their Virtual School Day assignments.