Archive for month: August, 2021

Dear Harmony Families,

Today, we would like to share some important news regarding a potential virtual learning option at your child’s school.

This weekend, a new bill to fund virtual learning in Texas public schools like Harmony cleared a major hurdle in the Texas Legislature. In its current form, schools such as Harmony Public Schools would be allowed to provide virtual learning for up to 10 percent of its student body throughout the remainder of the school year.

While the bill has not received final approval and specific details may change before being signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, it now appears very likely that schools like ours will be able to offer virtual learning in some form to students in the near future and we are looking forward to offering comprehensive virtual learning to our student population during 2021-2022 school year.

Currently, in your child’s Skyward account is a form asking your family’s interest in virtual learning. We ask that you please complete this virtual learning application form as soon as you are able. While we may not be able to accommodate every request due to potential new legal restrictions on the number of students who can participate, by understanding your preference we will be able to more quickly assign students to virtual learning should it become an option.

We will continue to share important updates with you as new information becomes available.

Thank you.

Estimadas familias de Harmony,

Hoy, no nos gustaría compartie algunas noticias importantes sobre una posible opción de aprendizaje virtual en la escuela de sus hijos. Este fin de semana, un nuevo proyecto de ley para financiar el aprendizaje virtual en escuelas públicas de Texas como Harmony eliminó un obstáculo importante en la Legislatura de Texas. En su forma actual, las Escuelas Públicas de Harmony podrían proporcionar aprendizaje virtual para hasta el 10 por ciento de su cuerpo estudiantil durante el resto del año escolar.

Aunque el proyecto no ha recibido la aprobación final y unos detalles específicos pueden cambiar antes de set convertida en lay por en gobernador, Greg Abbott, ahora parece muy probable que las escuelas como la nuestra puedan ofrecer aprendizaje virtual de alguna forma a los estudiantes en un futuro cercano y esperamos ofrecer un aprendizaje virtual integral a nuestra población estudiantil durante la escuela 2021-2022 año.

Actualmente, en la cuenta de Skyward de si hijo o hija hay un formulario que pregunta el interés de su familia en el aprendizaje virtual. Le pedimos que complete este formulario de solicitud de aprendizaje virtual tan pronto como pueda. Si bien es posible que no podamos atender todas las solicitudes debido a posibles nuevas restricciones legales sobre la cantidad de estudiantes que pueden participar, al comprender su preferencia, podremos asignar estudiantes más rápidamente al aprendizaje virtual si se convierte en una opción.

Continuaremos compartiendo actualizaciones importantes con usted a medida que haya nueva información disponible.

Gracias.

Dear Parents and Guardians:

Today, we would like to inform you of important education option for your family if you believe your student may have experienced significant academic losses during the 2020-2021 school year.

This summer, the 87th Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 1697, which allows parents and guardians to elect for a student to repeat a grade or retake a high school course.

This gives parents or guardians the right to opt for their child to:

• repeat pre-kindergarten or enroll in pre-kindergarten if the child was eligible to enroll in pre-kindergarten in the previous school year and has not yet enrolled in kindergarten;
• repeat kindergarten; or enroll in kindergarten if the child would have enrolled in kindergarten in the previous school year and has not yet enrolled in first grade; and
• for grades one through three, repeat the grade the student was enrolled in during the previous school year.

For the 2021-2022 school year only, parents or guardians have the right to opt for their child:

• for grades four through eight, repeat the grade the student was enrolled in during the 2020-2021 school year; and
• for courses taken for high school credit, repeat any course in which the student was enrolled during the 2020-2021 school year.

When determining whether these options may be right for your student, here are some things which may be helpful to consider:

• For children in grades 1-8, repeating may be right for your child if he/she struggled learning while remaining virtual most of the year.
• For students who took high school courses, repeating one or more courses may be right for your child if he/she struggled in a foundational course (e.g. Algebra I or computer science) and is worried about being successful in higher-level courses.
• If a high school student received a passing grade for the course they are requesting to repeat, they will keep their original grade on their transcript.
• For children interested in high school interscholastic competition, parents and guardians should review eligibility rulesbased on student age.

According to the new law, parents or guardians are required to notify the district in writing (letter or email to school principal) if they elect for their child to retake a grade level or course.

By law, if a district disagrees, the district must convene a retention committee and meet with the parent or guardian to discuss the proposed retention.

After the parent/ guardian has participated in the retention committee meeting, the parent or guardian will decide if the student will be retained.

For more information or to request retention for your student, please contact your campus administration.

Thank you.

• Harmony Public Schools

Additional information is available at: https://tea.texas.gov/repeatgrade and https://tea.texas.gov/restartkinder