North Hills School District virtual instruction is synchronous daily with live lessons and student interaction. Live lessons will be recorded and later uploaded to the teacher’s Google Classroom for students who cannot watch the lessons live. Students are required to watch the lessons daily.

When students are participating in a live lesson virtually through Zoom or similar platform, they must:

• Dress appropriately and behave as they would in the classroom and at school. Students who do not may be subject to disciplinary action.
• Abide by the district’s network acceptable use policy and follow the district’s use of electronics guidelines. Both are outlined in our student handbooks.
• Ensure anything that is visible in their video is appropriate and not offensive or personal. Students are encouraged to use virtual backgrounds when possible. Several NHSD backgrounds can be found here.

When a student takes part in a live lesson virtually through Zoom or similar platform, the student and parent/guardian acknowledge that:

• The lesson is live and other students are also taking part.
• The lesson is being recorded with the intent of the teacher to upload the recording to Google Classroom so students can watch if they were unable to participate in the lesson live or re-watch.
• The possibility that the student, whether participating virtually on in-person if the district is operating a Hybrid model, will appear in the recording.

Additionally, students are:

• Prohibited from sharing or posting videos, pictures or screenshots of any teacher’s video lesson on social media, gaming networks or elsewhere online.
• Prohibiting from joining or accessing livestream for classes they are not scheduled to attend.

When students are in the classroom, the teacher and the instruction will be the focus of the livestream and recording. The teacher will notify students prior to the streaming or recording.

Livestream links and links to video will be shared only through password protected sites such as Google Classroom and will not be accessible to the public.

Attendance

On each school day a student is attending virtually, the student must submit the attendance form here.

All lessons and assignments will originate in Google Classroom. Students will have a classroom for each teacher. This includes special area teachers, GATE, reading and math support, and special education teachers.

Google Classroom should be accessed directly from the Google Classroom app (iOS or Android) or a Google Chrome web browser.

Students will log into Google Classroom using their NHSD Google account. Every student has an NHSD Google account. A student's Google account is their NHSD network username followed by @students.nhsd.net. Their Google account password is their NHSD network password.
Hint: The NHSD network username and password is used by the student to log into computers at school. This information is also now available under the student's name in the parent/guardian's PowerSchool account.

Students will be invited to join a teacher's Google Classroom in one of two ways:

1. Students will see the class listed in their Google Classroom dashboard and can click "Join."
2. Students will be given a class code and can enter that code by clicking the "+" from their Google Classroom dashboard.

Zoom is a cloud-based service that offers meetings and webinars, and provides content sharing and video conferencing capability. Zoom works on an iPad, laptop or desktop. Teachers will use Zoom for live instruction and to hold office hours. Students will be invited into Zoom by their teacher. No login is required although mobile users will need to download the app for iOS or Android.

ClassLink is a single sign-on portal giving students access to resources and programs they have already been using in school including ABCya!, First in Math and Keyboarding Without Tears. Students sign in to ClassLink using their NHSD network username and password. Google Chrome is the recommended browser if using ClassLink on a computer. ClassLink apps are also available for iOS and Android.

If using a mobile device, please download the ClassLink app as well as any other apps used by the student's teacher. On district iPads, these apps are available to download without an Apple ID from the Self Service app. The Self Service app is the district's version of the App Store.

Self Service is an app installed on all district iPads. It is the district's version of the App Store and from it, you can install any of NHSD's approved apps. All of the apps above are available through Self Service if not already installed on the device. No Apple ID is needed. The App Store is not available on district iPads. Watch this video tutorial about Self Service.

North Hills School District virtual instruction is synchronous daily with live lessons and student interaction. Students are required to watch the lessons daily. Live lessons will be recorded and later uploaded to the teacher’s Google Classroom for students who cannot watch the lessons live. Virtual instruction will also include asynchronous and independent teaching and learning.

Students and families should review the Student Code of Conduct for expectations during virtual instruction.

Beginning Aug. 31 and for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year, for each school day a student is attending virtually, the student must submit this attendance form between 12:01 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on the school day.

Should the district move to a Hybrid model, attendance will be taken by the student's teacher(s) when the student is in school in person.

What to expect: Secondary

All students in grades 6-12 will follow the same virtual schedule with nine 40-minute periods daily as follows:

Each period will include live lessons where teachers engage students and call upon them to participate just as they would in a traditional classroom. Live lessons will be recorded and posted to the teacher’s Google Classroom for students to review as needed. Students will be assigned classwork, projects and other assignments to complete independently.

What to expect: Elementary

All students in grades K-5 will attend virtual school from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. The schedule will include live lessons at set times throughout the day. Subjects will be taught to students in grades K-3 in the same grade at the same time districtwide. This will vary slightly for students in grades 4-5 since teachers teach in teams (ELA/Social Studies and Math/Science). Lesson lengths will vary as developmentally appropriate with course material.

Teachers will engage students and call upon them to participate in lessons just as they would in a traditional classroom whether through the live video or chat box feature. Live lessons will be recorded and posted to the teacher’s Google Classroom for students to review as needed.

Students will also be assigned classwork to complete independently throughout the day.Teachers will have virtual office time each virtual school day.

Sample Elementary Schedule

Additional staff will be available throughout the day during scheduled virtual office hours to support student needs. This includes school counselors, librarians, social workers, gifted and special education teachers and instructional support staff such as teaching assistants and paraprofessionals.

Every child has unique needs and requires different accommodations or adaptations. Students with IEPs and GIEPs will continue to receive direct instruction by the special educator according to their specific need. Collaboration between regular education teachers, special education teachers and parents will continue to be ongoing.

Paraeducators will be utilized to assist students in virtual learning, which did not occur in the spring. IEP and GIEP teams will reconvene when necessary to analyze the needs of students and plan accordingly for each individual.

Social and emotional needs will continue to be addressed through our school counselors, social workers and school psychologists. Lessons, groups and individual student meetings will be held throughout virtual learning for students who are in need.