3rd Quarter Grades/Continuous Learning

​Olathe North Community,

I know many of you have questions about what our new Continuous Learning looks like at the high school level and how this will impact student grades. Additional information will be coming from the district in the next few days about specifics related to coursework. The focus for the remaining eight weeks will be for students to concentrate on the key learning pieces and standards that we want our students to understand. Teachers and district staff are working on daily lessons and opportunities  in each grade level and subject area to help achieve these learning goals. Again, more information will be coming on this.

In the meantime, I wanted to help answer questions that many of our parents are asking related to grades.
On March 30, third quarter grades will be posted for all students. Students will essentially freeze their third quarter grade, making their third quarter grade the semester grade for that class. The work that will be sent home will be important for students to take part in, but will not directly impact their grade at this time.  However, if the student with a D or above wishes to improve the grade by up to 10%, the student will contact the teacher by email by April 17. We ask that students copy a parent on the email.  If the student has an IEP, the student will also copy the case manager for the IEP. The teacher will determine through assessing the student’s ability against priority standards what the student will do to improve the grade.  A contract will be created for each individual student based on the individual situation with activities specific to the student’s current situation to provide grade improvement possibility. These activities may include some of the learning opportunities provided by the district in fourth quarter, or personalized assignments for the individual student in question.

If a student has an F in a course, the student and parent will be contacted by the teacher via email. If the student is a senior and the course is ELA or Government, the teacher will copy the counselor and the assistant principal. Counselors will play an active role in communicating with teachers of seniors who need a class other than ELA or Government for graduation.  If the student has an IEP, the teacher will also copy the case manager on the email.

Teachers will respond to all emails from students or parents within one normal school day (Monday through Friday) to confirm receipt. All student work must be completed and submitted to teachers by May 15. Second semester grades will be submitted for each student on May 22.

I know that this is a unique situation that has caused many questions. Please know we are working through each question as we are able and will be communicating as we have more information. Thank you for your patience as we work through this unprecedented time. It is our focus at this time that our students continue to learn and grow through the educational opportunities we will be providing.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Jason Herman