Laptops, mobile bus hot spot, student hotspots, helpdesk sessions and a remote learning lab!

Hello Southwest!

I wanted to give you an update on a few items. First, we have our last live helpdesk session for this week, this evening from 6-8 pm. Within this blog is the link for tonight's session. 

 A few things to know:

1. Very easy to log into from a computer or phone
2. Participants do not have audio or video capabilities
3. Questions are not public until we publish
4. You really need two people per day to make this successful
1. Producer - In the background controlling what the viewer sees
2. Presenter(s) - Live on-screen personalities
5. Cannot make the event repeat, so a new link has to be made for each event
6. We think it's best to share just one day's link to start.  If it goes well and we think this is the best format, we can share the rest of the week's link.  
7. The video is available pretty much immediately for download as well as the Q&A report

Thursday August 21 6pm-8pm - click on "Thursday" - Kristina Palacios is presenting, Amanda Cook is producing    

Additionally, GCS is waiting on devices to arrive. In the meantime, if you would like to donate any lightly used laptops, you may bring them to 712 North Eugene Street, or here to this school and we can make that delivery. More than 5,000 in Guilford County Schools students have no access to a device & consequently to education while we await delivery of 60k+ devices amidst a national backlog. Again, please consider donating a device - 712 N Eugene St. You can also donate up to $300 to the Guilford Education Alliance that will go towards purchases. As Southwest receives laptops, I can assure you we will distribute them in order of the requests received.

What a wonderful opportunity we will have at Southwest High....We will have learning centers starting on August 31st. They will be supervised rooms while following health and safety protocols so students can use GCS connection and desktops to complete their remote learning. It will be Monday to Friday from 9am-1pm.  Parents will need to provide transportation.  Cafeteria breakfast and lunch are available and will be free for students who qualify. Students can register either by completing the REGISTRATION LINK (which can be done on a smartphone), or by filling out a paper copy and returning it to the school.  Paper registration forms are available in multiple languages.  Parents will receive a call confirming their child’s registration on August 27 or 28.  

Please have your student request a hot spot if they DO NOT have internet, and do not live in any of the areas listed below (They have mobile bus wifi):

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdmPC3P5Fcq59XElF-E-mdCH42NlbxkEhBCYobvINgp_MaVkQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

 Mobile Bus Hot spots:

 Confirmed

•Carson Stout

•JCMorgan

 Potential

•New Gate Garden Apartments

•LakeRoadApartments

Remember, you are always able to access this message on our school website under School News and titled Principal's Weekly Updates or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Please follow Southwest High School at SouthwestGHS for Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! This is a great way for us to communicate and stay connected. 

We are in it it together. We got this. We are... Southwest!

SWGHS Help desk session and technology resources

SW community, 

Here is the link for our LIVE Q&A help desk sessions: 

 A few things to know:

1. Very easy to log into from a computer or phone
2. Participants do not have audio or video capabilities
3. Questions are not public until we publish
4. You really need two people per day to make this successful
1. Producer - In the background controlling what the viewer sees
2. Presenter(s) - Live on-screen personalities
5. Cannot make the event repeat, so a new link has to be made for each event
6. We think it's best to share just one day's link to start.  If it goes well and we think this is the best format, we can share the rest of the week's link.  
7. The video is available pretty much immediately for download as well as the Q&A report

Monday August 18 6pm - 8pm cklick on Monday - Jeff Aguiar, Presenter and Amanda Cook, Producer -   Recorded Link

 Tuesday August 19 6pm - 8pm - Click on "Tuesday" -  Kristina Palacios presenting, Jeff Aguiar producing

Wednesday, August 20 6pm - 8pm - click on "Wednesday" - Amanda Cook is presenting, Lisa Whitestone is producing

Thursday August 21 6pm-8pm - click on Thursday" - Kristina Palacios is presenting, Amanda Cook is producing     

We got you SW!

In the meantime during the day, you can e-mail helpdesk@gcsnc.com

Tech help for students

Hotspots for connectivity

Smart bus schedule for connectivity

Tech help for employees

- Mr. Hettenbach

SWGHS Principal's weekly message for the first week of remote

Good evening everyone! This is Mr. Hettenbach, Principal at Southwest Guilford High School 

Tomorrow, we start day 1 of remote learning. If your mail has been delivered and you have yet to receive your student's schedule, please reach out to your counselor or grade level administrator if the schedule has not been delivered yet. What does a typical day look like?  Here is the schedule. This starts tomorrow.

MONDAY through THURSDAY

Time of Day	Duration	Activity
8:30am – 9:00am	30 Minutes	Breakfast
9:00am – 10:00am	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 1
10:00am – 10:10am	10 minutes	Break
10:10am  - 11:10am	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 2
11:10am – Noon	50 minutes	Lunch
Noon – 1:00pm	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 3
1:00pm – 1:30pm	30 minutes	Physical Activity Break
1:30pm – 2:30pm	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 4
2:30pm – 3:00pm	30 minutes	Advisory time, teacher “office hours”, check in on discussion boards (Students receiving Special Education and English Learner services should check teacher canvas pages)

 Advanced Placement (AP) classes will continue to use college Board resources such as AP Classroom and AP Video Lessons, as directed by their teachers. AP teachers will share these resources

FRIDAY

Staff and Students

Staff will be engaged in mandatory, content specific district-wide Professional Development. Staff will share specific Friday office hours for student and parent conferencing. Additionally, teachers will work with small groups, individuals, assessments, and more. Parents/students should take full advantage of Fridays to work with your student’s teachers. EC/EL teachers will meet with students on their caseloads.

All live instruction lessons will be recorded for reference at any time. In addition, there will be supplemental resources for students to access (i.e. pre-recorded instruction, discussion board posts, video links, etc.). Friday is an opportunity to get all items turned in for the week.

*We have an expectation that all communications will be responded to within 24 hours.

** Schedule subject to change

We are heading into the school year with many unknowns, barriers, high demand for remote learning devices, and more. However just like the end of this past year drive through graduation, when everyone thought it was going to be horrible, we made the best of it. What an exciting. memorable day that was, that started with the class of 2020

Tomorrow, Monday, August 17^th, students will log on to Canvas, Click on their Course Name and then…“Meet Your Teacher”,” Getting started”/ “Live Teaching Times” . Getting Ready for the First Day of Remote!  Within the blog are multiple short videos and documents that will guide you.  We will also be holding SW Helpdesk Virtual meetings starting Monday through Thursday from 6pm-8pm. We want to provide you with any help we can and believe these sessions will let you walk away with a better understanding and ease that anxiety.  We will post those meeting times as soon as we create them. 

Logging into NCEd Cloud

Canvas Overview video (4:21)

Dashboard Overview video (4:41)

Paring Code for Parents video (4:40)

Canvas Parent Observer App (video 3:30)

Student Canvas App (video 4:56)

Check out a visual on what the Canvas template looks like.

Also, within this blog, are many links for your reference, as well as a SWGHS Student/Parent Remote Learning Handbook.

Please have your student request a hot spot if they DO NOT have internet, and DO NOT live in any of the below areas (They have mobile bus wifi):

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdmPC3P5Fcq59XElF-E-mdCH42NlbxkEhBCYobvINgp_MaVkQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

 Mobile Bus Hot spots:

 Confirmed

•Carson Stout

•JCMorgan

 Potential

•New Gate Garden Apartments

•LakeRoadApartments

Freshmen!!! (or some who are absolutely new to Southwest Guilford High School) A link to a video orientation from Mr. Miller, 9th grade administrator has been embedded. I highly recommend you to watch it and get to know us a little better.

 Watch HERE!

If your child is in need of a laptop, please complete the Google form on the website under the Student tab or contact the media specialist Mrs. Virginia Hunt at huntv@gcsnc.com. As we begin the distribution process, we will contact parents to fill requests to inform them of the date, time, and pick up location. As we start to receive laptops, we will distribute the current ones we have based on priority needs. We have currently requested laptops from the district and will communicate once they arrive. We do plan on having devices for the entire district within 120 days. That's pretty impressive considering the high demand of electronic devices at this time.  Thank you for your patience as we prepare for our school year and remote learning. 

More helpful Links:

NCedCloud, Canvas and Discovery Education Helpful tips

Students Getting Started with Canvas in 10 Steps 

Spanish - Parents Need to know HS for the first nine weeks (Lo que los padres deben saber sobre las primeras nueve semanas)

Parents Need to know HS for the first nine weeks

 Access MicrosoftEMAIL….ONEDRIVE and all apps including TEAMS! 

Within this blog is a link regarding the required immunizations for Kindergarten, 7th and 12th graders, Please reach out to our school nurse, Jennifer Conrad if you have any questions pertaining to these immunizations. 

• Kindergarten Flyer 
• Seventh Grade Flyer 
• Twelfth Grade Flyer 

Any seniors who are interested in purchasing Senior shirts, you can visit the Spirit Store at www.cowboysports.org

Documents to peruse as we continue to navigate.....

Student Symptom Screening 

Hygiene and Cleaning Protocols 

Just a friendly reminder  that lifetouch is still accepting scheduling appointments for seniors to be photographed. The link is embedded.   Lifetouch Scheduling 

• Schedules were mailed this past Tuesday. There was an enclosed letter from us with your student's schedule as well. Please understand that schedules are subject to change as counselors get new information from the school and district that affects scheduling 
• We will offer schedules changes for 5 days. The first two days August 17th - August 18th. Priority will go to holes, new students, and repeated classes, GTCC, Virtual enrolled students.  The following 3 days, August 19th - 21st will focus on any remaining request that are valid.  Please fill out this FORM and e-mail it to your assigned counselor. 
• If you enrolled in complete virtual, counselors will begin reaching out to you to create your new/revised schedule. 
• If you are taking an online class, you must complete the contract in which your counselor will e-mail you with.
• If students want to change a class, they need to submit the above form via email to the counselor no later than Friday. The only exception is with GTCC  because they are adding more late GTCC classes and students that qualify can sign up starting Monday August 17th. 
• If you are wishing to remove your student from the self paced virtual enrollment, please Click on the unenrollment process link within this blog. Students can not unenroll mid semester. Only at the end of the semester or the end of the year?
• Counselors are currently working extremely hard and long hours so please allow time to reply back to emails and calls. Our contact information is listed on the website, email is preferred for faster response.
• Counselors' caseloads are as followed: Ms.Graves A-D 10th-12th, Ms.Campbell E-L 10th - 12th, Ms. Graham M-R 10th - 12th, Mrs. Hudgens S-Z 10th - 12th, Ms.Compton 9th grade counselor. 

As it relates to Athletics, Coach Christman, the Cowboys Athletic Director will keep us up to speed. In the meantime, you can look at the revised schedule from the NCHSAA in how sports will run this year.

Southwest, while I have my own anxieties traveling through this new school year upon us, I am also very excited. I truly believe great things come out from tough times like we are currently experiencing.  The amount of growth I have seen in less than a week is absolutely unbelievable. It is my hope that we all work well together understanding the barriers, while also communicating to us with your needs. I plan on seeing continuous growth from all stakeholders as we navigate these waters together.  

Remember, you are always able to access this message on our school website under School News and titled Principal's Weekly Updates or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Please follow Southwest High School at SouthwestGHS for Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! This is a great way for us to communicate and stay connected. 

We are in it it together. We got this. We are... Southwest!

Mr. Hettenbach

SWGHS Principal's mid week message - what to expect day 1

Good evening Southwest, this is Mr. Hettenbach with a Friday night message. While I will also send you my routine Sunday message that will include so much more information, I want to reduce any anxiety for you and your family at this item. This information will be transferred to the Principal's Weekly Message tab on the website. 

First, as we approach Monday, I am including a link for all of you to review on some items to to get ready for the first day, Monday. Getting Ready for the 1st day of remote.docx

Attached is another link on What do Parents need to know about the first 9 weeks?

Next, within this blog is what the daily schedule looks like at SWGHS High School. 

MONDAY through THURSDAY

Time of Day	Duration	Activity
8:30am – 9:00am	30 Minutes	Breakfast
9:00am – 10:00am	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 1
10:00am – 10:10am	10 minutes	Break
10:10am  - 11:10am	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 2
11:10am – Noon	50 minutes	Lunch
Noon – 1:00pm	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 3
1:00pm – 1:30pm	30 minutes	Physical Activity Break
1:30pm – 2:30pm	1 hour LIVE instruction	Block 4
2:30pm – 3:00pm	30 minutes	Advisory time, teacher “office hours”, check in on discussion boards (Students receiving Special Education and English Learner services should check teacher canvas pages)

 Advanced Placement (AP) classes will continue to use college Board resources such as AP Classroom and AP Video Lessons, as directed by their teachers. AP teachers will share these resources

FRIDAY

Staff and Students

Staff will be engaged in mandatory, content specific district-wide Professional Development. Staff will share specific Friday office hours for student and parent conferencing. Additionally, teachers will work with small groups, individuals, assessments, and more. Parents/students should take full advantage of Fridays to work with your student’s teachers. EC/EL teachers will meet with students on their caseloads.

All live instruction lessons will be recorded for reference at any time. In addition, there will be supplemental resources for students to access (i.e. pre-recorded instruction, discussion board posts, video links, etc.). Friday is an opportunity to get all items turned in for the week.

*We have an expectation that all communications will be responded to within 24 hours.

** Schedule subject to change

Additionally, there is a SWGHS Remote Learning student and parent handbook that we created and ask for you to review with your student. 

As I finish this short message in hope that it alleviates a little bit of anxiety, I would like us all to understand that, as the rest of the world is also in this predicament, we are starting from the ground up, and without precious funding from the local, state and federal levels. I will tell you that I am proud of all the collaboration I have experienced with GCS staff, parents, students around the county to make this start the best we can under these conditions. As the Principal of SW, I will tell you up front that it is not going to be easy, however, as we continue to build upon the distance learning resources, receiving and distributing devices, learning about all the newly developed resources over the upcoming time, and more, I believe we will look back and be in awe of how far we have come. 

We are all in this together, we got this, we are... Southwest!