Montgomery Co. public school students can stay virtual

Montgomery County Public School students in Maryland will get a new full-time virtual option for next school year.

The proposed new program, Virtual Academy, will be an option for students in pre-K through 12th grade.

“We know there’s a part of the community who may not want to return for health reasons, or may just be thriving in this virtual learning environment — able to focus more, and are performing better,” MCPS Engagement, Innovation and Operations Chief Derek Turner said...

https://wtop.com/education/2021/04/montgomery-co-public-school-students-can-stay-virtual/?fbclid=IwAR34CZ8dC5lUXreZyeibsqPMmpAJ5q31oWTGDN1aKTBJa8A5VZY_B-qdGMM

Dancers! Theater students! Here are more FREE online courses and shows for you!

16 Theatre-Related Online Resources for Kids and Families to Get You Through COVID-19
From Playbill, reporter Olivia Clement. For the entire list, go here.


Navigating the whole parenting through a pandemic situation? We're here to help.
From free remote classrooms and live streams, to donation-based early childhood dance classes that turn your living room into a tap studio—check out this list of theatre-related online resources for families and children.


Some excerpts (Please note not all are free, some ask for donations):


CAMP BROADWAY’S AT THIS STAGECamp Broadway teams up with Streamable Learning to present free, 45-minute lunchtime conversations with Broadway designers, actors, authors, career advisors, composers, and more. Running from 1:30–2:15 PM on select days, guests include composer-lyricist Georgia Stitt and Moulin Rouge’s Kevin Curtis. The series is aimed at students K-12, home school networks, colleges, senior living and community centers, and anyone else with an interest in theatre. Learn more, and see the most up-to-date schedule, here.


HARLEM SCHOOL OF THE ARTS’ HSA@HOME
The Harlem institution continues to offer many of its classes, across art and design, dance, music, and theatre, online via Zoom. Distant Learning options include Art Exploration (ages 5–7), Ballet (ages 3–17), Commercial Acting (ages 8–18), Animation (ages 10–16), and Acting for Film and TV and Advanced Drawing (ages 13-18). Check out class options, and register here.
BROADWAY BOUND KIDS' VIRTUAL PROGRAMS
Broadway Bound Kids offers a number of virtual workshops, taught online via Zoom, and held over five consecutive weeks (one hour to 90 minutes per class). Topics include Movie Musicals, Create a Musical, Acting for Film and TV, and Musical Theatre. BBK also offers access to free online video classes in dance, movement, and yoga, as well as master classes, customized classes, and private coaching. All proceeds go to the organization's emergency relief fund which provides urgent support to its teaching artists and programming. The organization has also started a scholarship fund for those who would like to sponsor students. Visit Broadwayboundkids.net to see the full list of offerings and for more information.
CAMP BROADWAY’S AT THIS STAGE
Camp Broadway teams up with Streamable Learning to present free, 45-minute lunchtime conversations with Broadway designers, actors, authors, career advisors, composers, and more. Running from 1:30–2:15 PM on select days, guests include composer-lyricist Georgia Stitt and Moulin Rouge’s Kevin Curtis. The series is aimed at students K-12, home school networks, colleges, senior living and community centers, and anyone else with an interest in theatre. Learn more, and see the most up-to-date schedule, here.
ONLINE DANCE CLASSES
If your kids love to dance, or are interested in learning (and you with them!), make sure to check out some of these online offerings: Diana star Jeanna de Waal' Broadway Weekends at Home, free online musical theatre classes, led by Broadway and West End performers; Ballet Hispánico's B Unidos, offers daily dance classes for ages 2 and up, including pre-ballet, ballet, and tap; and @getinshapegrlbway's live, free Broadway-inspired workouts, which sometimes feature dancers with their own children.

Theater students! Miss the theater? Love Hamilton? Time for #EduHam FREE

Lin-Manuel Miranda Announces Virtual School Program, #EduHam at Home.
From Playbill, reporter Dan Meyer. For the whole story go here.


If you have any questions, please email eduhamhome@gilderlehrman.org. For details on the program go here.

Hamilton and The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History have launched #EduHam at Home, a free digital program for students and their families to explore the world of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical and America’s founding era. Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda announce the program below.


#EduHam at Home is an extension of the Hamilton Education Program, a classroom initiative that walks through Miranda’s Hamilton creation process and ends with students making and performing their own musical theatre pieces—including on the stage of the international hit production itself before a student matinee. With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping schools closed, the program allows students to be creative theatre artists while adhering to social distancing guidelines.


Students who register will have access to mentorships that will help them create and perform their own narrative in the form of a song, rap, spoken word, or scene. Their pieces can be submitted for consideration upon completion, with 10 performances selected and shared each week on the Hamilton app, social media, and the GLI website.

New, Free Family Website Subscription Provides Resources and Guidance for Remote Learning

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History one of the great archives of American History, is offering Free American history resources for e-learning. Missing history? Here is an opportunity for you.


In these months of remote learning, parents and family members, who are taking on the role of teacher while classroom teachers strive to construct meaningful remote lessons, need resources, advice, and guidance for their kids. We at the Gilder Lehrman Institute understand how challenging this can be. To help families and teachers through this difficult time, we are making available the best of what our organization has to offer in an as easily accessible a way as possible.
Register HERE in the PARENT role to get full FREE access to the Gilder Lehrman Institute website and to receive the latest updates on online programs and other resources we will be rolling out in the coming days and weeks.
These will include

• Study guides for the AP US History (APUSH) and other exams
• Lesson Plans, Primary Source Documents, Online Exhibitions featuring engaging images, and other content to enrich at-home learning, organized by time period and topic
• Lectures by major historians for parents and students in the video section of History Now
• Free access to the Hamilton Education Program Online, a program that is prepared to launch nationwide this fall in schools, which we are now adapting for home use
• Tips and ideas for teaching history at home in our Noteworthy section
• Access to the 70,000+ primary source document Gilder Lehrman Collection online

We look forward to working with you, wherever you are working with your kids, to help bring history to life in this overwhelming moment.

Juniors, Seniors Can Take Free NOVA Community College Classes

From Patch, by reporter Emily Leayman. Read the whole story here.


ALEXANDRIA, VA — While school closures cut the school year short for high school students, they can get a head start on college courses this summer. Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is accepting applications from local high school students to take free summer classes and earn college credits through May 15. The JumpStart classes are available through federal stimulus funding.


Current juniors and seniors in participating school districts and private schools are eligible to sign up for one or two JumpStart classes. Participating school districts are Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church City, Fairfax City, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Manassas City, Manassas Park City and Prince William County. Participating private schools are Paul VI, Christ Chapel, Fairfax Christian, Bishop Ireton and Wakefield School.


The six JumpStart courses will run between June 1 to July 15. According to NOVA, these six classes fulfill NOVA degree requirements and can be transferred to most colleges and universities. Course options include ITN 257 (Cloud Computing: Infrastructure and Services) MTH 154 (Quantitative Reasoning), ART 101 (History and Appreciation of Art), CST 110 (Introduction to Communication), ENG 111 (College Composition I), HIS 112 (World Civilization II). The course in cloud computing is offered in partnership with Amazon Web Services as a strategy to boost the local tech workforce.

Students Conspire in Chats to ‘Zoom-Bomb’ Online Classes, Harass Teachers

The video begins with a teacher in front of a web camera, instructing her students on the day’s lessons. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all the participants are communicating online, using the video conferencing app Zoom. 

But they aren’t alone. The meeting has also been infiltrated by pranksters who are set on disrupting the class with curse words and racist taunts. 

“Yeah, no one gives a fuck,” one of the hijackers yells at the teacher. “No one gives a fuck about your class… Fuck Spanish.”

The incident is but one example of “zoom-bombing,” or when someone with ill-intent hijacks an online video conferencing session. On Monday, the FBI warned the public about the attacks, which the agency says is emerging as a nationwide threat...

https://www.pcmag.com/news/students-conspire-in-chats-to-zoom-bomb-online-classes-harass-teachers

Silver Chips: Why Online School?

...Within just a week of starting online school, Farber noticed a tremendous difference in both her physical and mental health. "After about a week of not having to go to school I was going to bed on time, waking up at a normal time, actually doing work and talking to my friends again," Farber attests. Online school provides a relief of school-related stress and pressure that can be very beneficial for a student’s health. While Farber admits that "it’s hard to say, of course, what exactly helped me get into a better place," she emphasizes that, "being out of school and being removed definitely took a lot of my anxiety away because I didn’t have to worry about all the school drama…"

http://silverchips.mbhs.edu/story/13753

Why is MCPS charging $620 for Technology Class and $310 for Health Education Class? #mdconstitution #freepubliced

Dear Mr. Civin,

The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD, has been informed that MCPS is charging $620 for students to take a 1 credit Foundations of Technology course, and $310 for students to take a .5 credit Health Education course during the school year. 

The MCPS website shows these fee on the information pages for each class.  The fees are shown for the fall and spring semesters. 

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/onlinelearning/courses/technology.aspx

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/onlinelearning/courses/index.aspx
As the MCPS General Counsel, you are no doubt familiar with the law with regard to the ability of Maryland public schools to charge curricular related fees, however, we will refresh your memory by restating the law and providing you with the link to the letter on this issue from the Maryland Attorney General's office.

 From the Maryland Attorney General's office:

...we are safe in saying that anything directly related to a school's curriculum must be available to all without charge...

http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2011/09/md-atty-gen-how-to-appeal-illegal-class.html

Not only do the Foundations of Technology and Health Education courses allow students to obtain credits, they are also both graduation requirements.

There is no evidence that the $620 curricular fee, or the $310 curricular fee for these classes has ever been approved by the Montgomery County Board of Education, the Maryland Legislature, or that they are authorized under the Maryland Constitution.

Please advise under what authority MCPS is charging students $620 to take a required technology credit course, and $310 to take a required health education credit course during the school year.  Thank you for your assistance.

Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD