Sent March 6, 2023, at 4:37 pm

Good afternoon, Bears and Bear Families,

Course verifications are due this Wednesday, 3/8/23.  If you have not seen this second verification sheet, please ask your child to show it to you ASAP.  Please reiterate the importance of getting that form turned in by Wednesday, 3/8/23 so that we can build the schedule that works for your child.  Due to numbers, we cannot guarantee a change to the schedule in the fall, so it is important to get this work done now.

FYI – if your child is considering virtual classes, it is important to know some information:

1.    Cambridge Counselors, teachers, and staff are not responsible for virtual classes through GAVS or FVS.  Your child is signing up to be completely responsible for their own learning, communication, study habits, logging in habits, work completion - basically they need to be a good time manager.  If you have a question, you must reach out to the FVS or GAVS teacher directly.  We cannot help you.

2.    As a parent, you will also be signing up for communications from the virtual teacher and virtual school.  This will mean several alerts, emails, and phone calls to make sure you are aware of student progress. 
-    Right now, 48% of Cambridge students taking a class with FVS (322 students) are failing their virtual class with a grade lower than 50%. 
-    Right now, 15% of Cambridge FVS students (99 students) are failing their FVS class with a grade between 50-70%.
-    So, 421 of 674 students (63%) are currently failing their FVS class.
-    This means multiple alerts, phone calls, emails as students basically play chicken with their grade.  This is stressful for students AND for parents – many parents are upset and unsure what to do as their senior assures them that they will “get it done”.

3.    In case you do not know, FVS students have multiple opportunities to pass and work at their own pace.  This leads to a lot of procrastination that ultimately leads to stress.  It is easy to get behind or save the work until later, then find they only have a week to get it done.  With GAVS, students must turn in work on a weekly basis with only one opportunity for a “do over”.  Due to this, fewer students take GAVS classes as they do not have the freedom to work at their own pace.  FYI, 82 Cambridge students are currently enrolled in GAVS classes.  Of those 82 in a GAVS course, 15 students are currently failing (18%). 

I’m not trying to discourage online classes if your child has the time management, motivation, and skills to complete the course.  I just want to remind you, as you make decisions for next year, that virtual classes are not for everyone and the students taking these courses will have no support in the building.  Please think about what is best for your child’s success and learning, not just what is convenient. 

I also want to remind everyone that virtual classes, dual enrollment classes, and work-based learning classes are never guaranteed for the beginning or end of the day.  Students should not be making employment or internship work schedules without knowledge of their actual schedule.  We cannot change a schedule in the fall based off a student’s work or internship schedule. 

If you have a question or concern, please do not hesitate to contact me.  I’m happy to help.  Be safe.  Be the BRIDGE.  GO BEARS!

Sincerely,
A²
Ashley Agans
Proud Principal of Cambridge High School