Lunch &

Learn

PARENT MEETING

March 5, 2025

Jennifer McCain - Instructional Specialist

SY25

ACCESS

Alabama

Connecting

Classrooms

Educators &

Students

Statewide

ACCESS is the first statewide initiative focused on bringing truly equitable instructional opportunities to all Alabama public secondary school students regardless of where they attend school.

ACCESS Virtual Learning

• ACCESS Courses are provided free of cost to ALL students in Grades 6-12 in the state of Alabama.

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• There are 3 support Centers serving students in ACCESS courses across the state:
• Madison City
• University of Alabama
• Troy University

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• Students are enrolled in ACCESS courses by the counselor at the school for which they are zoned. Full-time homeschool and private school students are enrolled through the Troy Support Center.

ACCESS Courses

• ACCESS courses are delivered through Schoology, a Learning Management System (LMS) available to all Alabama public schools.
• There are 3 typical course delivery models used at schools:
• Computer Lab Model
• Students are assigned to a dedicated facilitator’s classroom.
• Facilitator is responsible for supervision and accountability.
• Independent Study Model
• Student reports to the Media Center or another teacher’s room.
• ACCESS Facilitator role is in addition to a school staff’s normal duties.
• Fully Virtual
• Students complete courses away from campus.
• Students come to school’s campus to take tests.

ACCESS High School Courses

ACCESS Middle School Courses

Traditional Courses (S2)

and

Spring Semester 0.5 credit (SS):

01/06-5/16

(Drop Date: 3/6)

ACCESS 24-25 Calendar

Early

Graduates

May 2

at

4:00 PM

Spring Block

Courses

Quarter 3: 1/6 - 3/7

(Drop Date: 2/7)

Quarter 4: 3/10-5/16

(Drop Date: 4/10)

• ACCESS Support Center
• Provides and supervises certified teachers in their ACCESS course.
• Provides support for all stakeholders in ACCESS courses.
• Available M-F from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. mcaccesshelp@madisoncity.k12.al.us
• Teacher
• Communicates through weekly Updates and Schoology messages.
• Monitors student progress.
• Provides additional resources and video to supplement the course materials.
• Provides grading feedback. (Teachers should grade within 48 hrs.)
• Student:
• Logs in daily to ACCESS course.
• Reads Updates and Messages daily.
• Completes daily course assignments.
• Asks facilitator for help.
• Messages teacher for help in Schoology.

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STAKEHOLDER ROLES

STAKEHOLDER ROLES

• School
• Administrator
• helps monitor student success in ACCESS courses.
• supervises facilitators.
• ensures ACCESS policies are followed.
• Counselor
• enrolls students in ACCESS courses and assigns student a facilitator at the school.
• ensures students IEP, 504, EL Plans are submitted to ACCESS.
• Facilitator
• supervises students when they take their tests.
• communicates with parents.
• schedules test administration.
• enters test passwords and supervises tests and exams.
• Parent/Guardian:
• Monitors student progress.
• Reaches out to school Facilitator or ACCESS teacher with any questions.

Course Sections

LOG HERE

Schools on Traditional (7-period) schedules will typically enroll students in…

Term 2 ends 5/16 /25 Spring Semester ends 5/16/25

Schools on Block schedules will typically enroll students in…

When a Term ends, students are NOT allowed to go back and submit any work!

TdFC=Traditional Full Year

OR

SSHC=Fall Half-credit

SpFC=Spring Block Full-Credit

OR

Q3=Quarter 3 Half-credit

Q4=Quarter 4 Half-credit

***Q4 doesn’t start until 3/10/25

Term 1 Ends 3/7/25 Q3 ends 3/7/25

Term 2 Ends 5/16/25 Q4 ends 5/16/25

Sections and Time

Quarters ~ 9 weeks (90

minutes/day, 5 days a week)

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Semester ~ 18 weeks (45

minutes/day for 5 days a week)

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Block ~ 18 weeks (90 minutes a

day for 5 days a week)

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Traditional ~ 36 weeks (45

minutes a day for 5 days a week)

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Summer ~ 9 Weeks

LOGO HERE

Getting Started

Courses are located on Schoology at accessvl.schoology.com .

(This is different from your school’s instance of Schoology.)

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Username: 10-digit SSID number

Password (all lowercase):

First two characters of first name

First two characters of last name

Last two characters of first name

Last two characters of last name

(Student: Mickey Mouse)

Students may need to choose ACCESS Virtual Learning as the school.

*Students may need to first log off of their school’s instance of Schoology.*

(Students new to ACCESS will have 2024 at the end of their password!)

2024

GRADES

Students will go to Grades tab to view individual assignment grades in the course.

• Students are required to complete ALL assignments in their course.
• Teacher will provide feedback in Grade comments and also on the submission.
• Students should go back and look at their submissions for additional feedback.

MONITORING GRADES

• ACCESS courses allow students to work at their own pace. This is called asynchronous learning. Each student in the class may be working at different time of the day and may complete the course at different speeds.
• Teachers will enter Missing flags when a deadline passes.

• Missing flags will be replaced with a grade after the assignment is submitted and graded by the teacher. (Teachers should grade within 48 hrs of submissions.)
• If there is an icon next to the Missing flag, your student has submitted the Missing assignment.

MISSING FLAGS

(Teachers have been advised to enter Missing flags for ALL remaining work in the course.)

Missing flags have you overwhelmed?

• Communicate
• Contact your teacher, facilitator, and/or counselor and let them know what is going on and why you may be behind.
• Make a Plan
• Determine how many assignments you have missing and how much time you have left until the end of the course.
• Start Working
• Start by tackling the assignments with the largest number of points (projects, tests, and quizzes). Then go back and check and see if there are any easier assignments that you can complete quickly.
• Turn Something In
• Missing flags are grade killers. Turn something in for every assignment. If you make some type of effort, the teacher may give you some points. Some points are always better than 0 points.

CURRENT AVERAGES

Current Averages can only be viewed in your district’s PowerSchool Parent Portal.

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ACCESS Grades will be listed under your local school’s grades as “Grades from other school districts”.

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S1-Grade for 1st half

S2- Grade for 2nd half

F1-Average of S1 and S2 or

average of half-credit courses.

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• ACCESS grades will NOT show in your school’s progress reports or report cards.
• Final grades are sent to schools 5 days after the end of the course. The school awards credit and grade points to the student’s transcript.

! IMPORTANT REMINDERS !

• TESTS and Exams MUST be taken at the school with a Facilitator during school hours!
• Students CANNOT go back into a previous term and complete assignments once grades have been stored!
• Current Courses Term End on 3/7/25 (Block) or 5/16/25 (Traditional)!
• Early Graduates must be finished with courses May 2, at 4:00 PM

Enrollments at Other Support Centers

LOG HERE

Some students may be enrolled in a section created by another Support Center.

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Look at the Section Number of the course:

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If the section begins with M, your student is enrolled in a section supported by the Madison City Support Center.

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If the section begins with T, your student is enrolled in a section supported by the Troy University Support Center.

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If the section begins with U, your student is enrolled in a section supported by the University of Alabama Support Center.

LOGO HERE

UPDATES

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Click on the course, and you will land on the Updates page.

Your ACCESS teacher should be posting weekly Updates with announcements and expectations for the week.

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Next, click on Materials from the menu on the left.

*Note: See the calendar display with the list of upcoming due dates.*

SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS

Click on the Assignment to submit the completed document:

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1. Click Submit Assignment.

2. Upload documents by clicking on the file.

3. To Submit a recording or video, click on the microphone.

TROUBLE SHOOTING

Is your student seeing the following error message?

This error typically occurs for 2 reasons:

1. Student Orientation is incomplete.
2. Student tries to access a test from Grades or the Calendar. Students must access their tests from the Materials Page.

SUPPORTING YOUR VIRTUAL STUDENT

Successful Students…

• Complete Student Orientation the first day.
• Login and complete work daily.
• Interact with the content before completing assignments.
• Message the teacher in Schoology with questions about assignments or grades.
• Contact facilitator or Support Center with technical support questions or issues scheduling tests.
• Contact teachers and Success Coaches (ELA, Math, Special Populations) for additional help with content.
• Keep track of assignments and due dates.
• Are aware of ACCESS policies (end date of courses).

COMMUNICATION

• Parent/Guardian-Student:
• Ask your student to show you their ACCESS course.
• Discuss their progress in their course.
• Ask if there is anything you can do to support your student.
• Encourage your student to complete the Student Information Sheet during the Student Orientation. This is the only way ACCESS teachers have your contact information.
• Parent/Guardian-Teacher:
• ACCESS teacher emails should be posted in the course Syllabus and Teacher Information. You are welcome to reach out to the teacher via their email ending in @accessmadison.org.
• Parent/Guardian-School:
• Talk to the Counselor about your student’s enrollment.
• Communicate with your student’s facilitator

about your student’s progress in the course.

VirtuOwl Tutoring Platform

• We are piloting a new platform this year called VirtuOwl.
• Students can schedule or attend on-demand virtual sessions

with their ACCESS teachers.

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Watch this short video with your student to help them get started with VirtuOwl!

VirtuOwl Tutoring Platform

Your student can access this platform by…

1. going to https://virtuowlschools.com/
2. logging in with their ACCESS Credentials:

Username: 10-digit SSID

Password: same as ACCESS Schoology

3. Once logged in, students will go to Create Session to schedule/access their teacher.

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Select Content Area.

Select Class.

Search for your teacher.

Self-Advocacy

Help your student advocate for themselves!

Encourage your student to…

• Message the teacher in Schoology with questions about assignments or grades.
• Remind a teacher what accommodations and strategies work best for them.
• Keep track of assignments and due dates.
• Be aware of ACCESS policies.

SUCCESS COACHES

• We now have 3 success coaches available for students needing assistance with Math and English courses and students in

Special Populations.

• Students can message our Success Coaches in Schoology.

1. Click on envelope at the top right in ACCESS Schoology.

2. Contact our Math Success Coach, Charlene Deakyne, OR

our English success coach, Kim Holmes, or Macie Couey

by typing their name after To:

*Select the account with “Madison City ACCESS Support Center”*

Charlene Deakyne

ckdeakyne.ne@madisoncity.k12.al.us

Kim Holmes

kaholmes@madisoncity.k12.al.us

Macie Couey

mlcouey.ne@madisoncicty.k12.al.us

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Parent Meetings held quarterly.

Next Meeting:

May 7, 2025

@12 PM

Meeting Links, Presentations, and video of past meetings can be found at our website:

ACCESS Virtual Learning: Parents

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Please complete the following Parent Satisfaction Survey so we can better support you and your student:

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2024 Parent Satisfaction Survey

THANK YOU!

Contact us for assistance!

mcaccesshelp@madisoncity.k12.al.us

256-774-4609

Monday-Friday

7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

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