The Putnam County VITAL School hosting an orientation day Friday to prepare new students and ninth graders for a virtual and hybrid learning environment.
Assistant Principal Becky White said the orientation serves as a critical introduction for students to meet their teachers, understand how attendance is calculated and get adjusted. White said the school has spent the summer reviewing pre-registration information to ensure students are prepared to be successful in the non-traditional format.
“Orientation is extremely important, especially, you know, if you’re new to online,” White said. “The way that the class looks is very different. They have to know how to get in and navigate through our online learning platform.”
White said fifth through eight-grade students follow a synchronous schedule where they must log in to meet with teachers at specific times throughout the day. High school students often work asynchronously, but White said they must still adhere to strict deadlines because a missed assignment is recorded as an absence.
“It’s really important for all of our students to be at that orientation to understand, you know, what constitutes an absence with us,” White said. “It’s not just logging into their computer, but there’s actually things that they have to do, things they have to submit to make sure that they are counted present and then, you know, have don’t end up with attendance issues.”
White said the school uses the orientation to be transparent with families about the requirements for success. Some students may also have attendance agreements that require them to visit the physical building once or twice a week for additional support.
“Students have to be able to feel comfortable with our teachers to ask those questions because they don’t see them face to face every day,” White said. “When a student, like if they do miss an assignment, you know, our teachers immediately reach out to them to make sure that they’re okay.”
White said the transition to ninth grade is a significant shift for returning students because they move from a set schedule to a more independent, asynchronous model. The orientation helps these students understand the increased level of personal responsibility required as they move into high school.
White said the in-person orientation is the first step in building relationships between Putnam County teachers and their students. While the learning happens behind a screen, White said the faculty prioritizes open communication and immediate outreach if a student misses an assignment.
“We’re not just avatars, and so you know, we are actually Putnam County teachers, and so when they come into that orientation, they actually get to see a face with a name,” White said. “And so I feel like that’s that first step in building that communication piece because they know that there is a person on the other side of that screen or the other side of that assignment or that’s waiting in the building to talk to them.”
White said all students attending the orientation will have the opportunity to check out their computer devices for the school year.
