1. Bienvenidos Sandtown Middle School

2. www.gavirtualschool.org

3. GaVS Log In - Register

4. Parent Portal – Parent Dashboard Parent Portal – GaVS Dashboard

5. Important Parent Links

6. Parent Auditor

7. Student Progress

8. GaVS Knowledgebase

9. Tips for Success!

10. Time Management During the school week students are expected to log in to their course daily. Students on an 18 week schedule should expect to spend at least 60-90 mins. per weekday (5-8 hours per week ) working in their course. Time spent on course work increases on a shorter schedule.

11. Preferred Browser Mozilla Firefox is our preferred browser. Download free web browser at: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox

12. Working Ahead! GaVS - April 7-11, 2015 Students should always follow the GaVS schedule they chose upon entering their course. If local school breaks do not coincide with the GaVS break, students must meet the assignment due dates on their chosen schedules. Students should communicate school breaks with their teacher as soon as possible and if necessary discuss with their instructor how to get ahead.

13. Teacher Information

14. Course Information

15. Course Schedule

16. Final Exams

17. Assignment Tips Print a hard copy of your course schedule and be sure to follow it. Assignments are due bi-weekly by midnight EST of each Friday due date as outlined on the course schedule. If there are questions about assignments students should contact their instructor in advance of the assignment due date.

18. Synchronous Class Attend instructor’s live chat. Opportunity to speak with instructor LIVE. Students need speakers/microphone. Students can type questions into chatbox.

19. Spanish Grading Scale

20. Late Work Policy Technical Difficulties Technical difficulties are not an excuse for late assignments Students must have computer access to complete GAVS work. It is the student’s responsibility to secure backup computer options when technical difficulties arise. Many public libraries offer computers with internet access. GAVS courses can be accessed on a variety of mobile devices.

21. Check course schedules for specific assignment due dates. Student work is due bi-weekly on Friday at midnight EST. Work turned in after the deadline on the course schedule will be accepted within 1 week with a late penalty assessed. Late penalty begins on Saturday and is deducted at a rate of 10% of the assignment value per school day. Work submitted on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday is considered 1 day late. Late Work Policy

22. At the end of the semester, all classwork must be submitted prior to the time period the final exam is available. If final exams begin Wednesday of the last week of school, all other assignments except the final exam must be submitted by Tuesday of the last week of school. Extensions past the last day of school will NOT be granted. Late Work Policy

23. Student Code of Conduct Academic Honesty Do not copy and paste information from the internet and submit as an assignment to be graded without reference. Plagiarized work will receive a grade of zero. Your work should be yours alone without help from others unless your teacher gives permission. Do not use an online translator. Academic honesty is important to your success as an online student.

24. Special Accommodations If your student is a special education student and would like GaVS to consider making accommodations, please email a copy of your IEP or 504 plan to Sarah Newman at snewman@doe.k12.ga.us or fax a copy to 770-357-3704. If you do not have a copy, please contact your school facilitator.

25. Student Absences Make-up Work Requests When a student has an excused absence of more than 3 days the teacher must be notified in writing and given a copy of any documentation within 10 school days during fall and spring and within three school days during summer. Parents can also submit a request and documentation at https://docs.google.com/a/gavirtualschool.org/forms/d/1hA9fYaR fnSCNJU8yQW4kznYQoqMnHvRn_fsvWSpzF44/viewform https://docs.google.com/a/gavirtualschool.org/forms/d/1hA9fYaR fnSCNJU8yQW4kznYQoqMnHvRn_fsvWSpzF44/viewform If the makeup work request is approved by GaVS administration, the teacher will provide a new deadline and a list of makeup work that can be submitted for full credit.

26. Communication - Correspondence Use GaVS gmail or pager for correspondence with instructor. *Check email daily. Watch for pages when you login. SchoolCast will send grade notification emails to parents each Wednesday and phone calls to parents on the Wednesday following each assignment due date.

27. Three-Important Reminders Read the Spring 2015 Student Handbook. Create a parent auditor account. Link the parent auditor account to your student’s account.

28. Questions?

29. nwalker@doe.k12.ga.us carlos.fernandez@gavirtualschool.o rg maryellen.krueck@gavirtualschool.o rg Email Addresses