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Volusia Online Learning Community Brief

Monday, September 23, 2024

Dear Mark,

There are now just three weeks left in the first quarter of the school year. While we tend to worry more about overall success in a semester class, progress towards completion is important, and the quarter mark is one of the indicators we use to gauge student success thus far. My question for you is, do you know where your child is in their classes? Students should be somewhere around 40%-50% through their first semester course by the end of the first quarter, or around 30% at this point. 

We have been implementing a new progress monitoring tool this year and sending letters out to parents and students to ensure that everyone is aware when a student is behind pace. This process has admittedly been hit and miss at this point. I want everyone to know that any notification you get is designed to inform you and support you and your child. We are working on refining our formulas and processes to be more precise and therefore more accurate in our assessment of student progress. If you do get a notification of being a pacing concern, please contact your child’s teacher and they will help you and your student find the best path forward in their class. 

We also recently completed our first round of progress monitoring assessments. As a reminder, all Full-Time students in grades K through 10 are expected to participate in standardized testing. If your child has yet to test, please be on the lookout for emails about make-up testing.

I bring all of this up to remind all parents that Full-Time VOL students are expected to remain on pace in their classes, attend weekly live lessons, and participate in all state testing. As a school, we analyze student progress and performance data weekly for every class and work with teachers to identify students who are in need of additional academic support. Our goal is to accurately determine a student’s strengths and weaknesses, so we then provide appropriate supports designed to help them grow as a learner. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”

The expectations for Full-Time students are designed to help VOL fulfill that goal and help your child find meaningful success. Please help us by ensuring that your child is attending live lessons, participating in state testing, and remaining on-pace in their classes.

Thank you for reading. Please continue scrolling to find important updates about our full-time programs and spotlights on some of our outstanding faculty and students.

Dr. Serianni

September 11th – 27th – FAST Assessment PM1 Make-up testing (virtual) 

September 17th – October 1st - Dominos Slice the Price Fundraiser  

Monday, September 30th – Picture Day 8am-4pm @ VOL Headquarters and 9am-4pm Dean Stewart 

Friday, October 11th – Last day of the First Quarter 

Monday, October 14th – Student Holiday/Teacher Duty Day 

Friday, October 25th - Trunk or Treat @ VOL Headquarters 

One week remains with our Domino's Pizza card fundraiser. Thank you for supporting VOL and our students.

We have already raised $410 (online) towards our $1,000.00 goal! 

Every VOL student should register for the fundraiser! https://register.dominos.cards/44766 Once you register you will get your own personal link to share with friends and family. You will also be able to pick your child’s prize and the prizes go all the way up to $600 cash!

If you choose not to register, you can still support the school by sharing our general online store, where friends and family can purchase a Buy One, Get One large pizza card for just $20! Here is the link: https://store.dominos.cards/44766

Also, once you register you will have a chance to earn a $50 Amazon card!

For questions, please call the hotline number: 866-252-6103 

Thank you again for participating and supporting our school!

VOL Clothes Bin:

Online Apparel Store:

Fall Pictures:

Senior Spotlight: Katherine Andrews

THIS WEDNESDAY! Senior Meet & Greet:

Have you started thinking about next year? What do you want to do? 

• Go to college
• Join the military
• Go straight to work

Keep your eyes open for upcoming information. Start thinking about your future today! 

VOL Graduation Calendar: 

• VOL Senior Awards Ceremony – Tuesday, May 27th @ 7:00 PM

• VOL Graduation Rehearsal – Thursday, May 29th @ 12:30 PM

• VOL Graduation Ceremony – Friday, May 30th @12:30 PM

Senior Information:

https://www.volusiaonlinelearning.com/student-life/senior-class-2025

Although virtual instruction provides flexibility for students and families, studies have shown that students do better in school when adhere to a daily routine. Parents can create a daily or weekly schedule to help their child stay on pace and keep up with their assignments. 

We are rapidly approaching the end of the first nine weeks. Please ask your child where they are in their courses to ensure they will complete all required assignments by 3:00 PM on Friday, October 11th. Please have your child schedule their required DBAs early to ensure they are complete prior to this deadline. Report card grades will be issued based on student’s progress or lack thereof for each course listed on their schedule (this includes special area and elective courses).  

If your child is struggling with a concept or lesson, please book a tutoring session with your child’s teacher so that she/he can assist them now before they get too far behind. 

Parents, did you know that you can create a parent/guardian account in FLVS to monitor your student’s progress in their FLVS courses? If you need help creating your account, please reach out to your student’s teacher or contact the VOL office for assistance.

Parents can also access their student’s progress in their Edmentum courses through the Edmentum Sensei system. For students who are taking any courses in Edmentum, invitations to access the Edmentum Sensei were sent out to the parent/guardian email address that we have on file. If your child is taking an Edmentum course and you did not receive an email invitation for Edmentum Sensei, please contact the VOL office for assistance.

Congratulations to Lily Luers! She was recently recognized by the Commissioner of Education for achieving a perfect score on her Civics EOC Assessment. We are very proud of her!

Testing Communication: It is important that full-time VOL students and parents check their email accounts regularly for important information regarding state testing, which occurs at various times throughout the school year. State testing information is communicated through each student’s VCS Outlook email address and the primary contact email address that we have on file. Participation in state testing is a condition of enrollment at VOL. 

PM1 Remote FAST Testing Make-up Sessions: Full-time VOL students in grades K-10 had remote state testing during the week of September 9-13. Students who missed their original test sessions have been assigned to make-up test sessions. 

Additional Upcoming Testing:

• Fall EOC and Retakes: September 23-October 4
• PERT: October 7-11
• ACT-NCR: October 15-17
• SAT SD and PSAT NMQT: October 24

Please reach out to Dr. Markell by emailing bgmarkel@volusia.k12.fl.us or by calling (386) 734-7190 ext. 72701 if you have any questions about state testing.  

Mrs. Beasley

Mrs. Beasley has a B.S. - Exceptional Child Education, UCF; M.Ed. - Educational Leadership, SEU. She currently teachers High School English (currently English 1 & English 4) and Speech. During her free time Mrs. Beasley enjoys watching movies, reading and playing at the beach.

Big Congratulations to Mrs. Beasley for Volusia Online Learner’s Teacher of the Year for 2024!

Fun Fact: I've known my husband since I was eight.

Inspirational Quote: “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer” – Albert Einstein

For the month of September, we want to recognize these wonderful students at Volusia Online!

Elementary:

Paisley Mazzella, a 1st grader at VOL, was nominated by her teacher, Mrs. Heidi Kochis.

“Paisley is a dedicated first grader. She excels in her module work and during live lessons. Paisley comes to class prepared to learn! Paisley engages and participates in live lessons. She shares her learning and supports everyone in class with kindness. Paisley does her best in all ways and on all days. Paisley has learned the virtual platform very well. She has transitioned into virtual learning like a champion. She tries her hardest and never gives up on learning new skills. Paisley is kind and she perseveres! Paisley is happy to learn new things and it shows! She is a treasure in our virtual class.” Congratulations, Paisley!

Middle School:

Jace Lytle, a 6th grader at VOL, was nominated by his teacher, Mr. Temple.

“Jace is always one of the first to volunteer in our live lessons. He sang for the group and did one of the best submissions for their assignments, a video of his workspace. He is always very energetic in conversations and live lessons and always adds something unique and personal in his assignments.” Congratulations, Jace!

High School: 

Rebecca Duff, a 10th grader at VOL, was nominated by her teacher, Mrs. Shawna Moore.

“Rebecca is an honors student and is excelling in all her courses. She is on or above pace with an "A" average in all courses. Rebecca is a very respectful and responsible student. She takes the initiative and is well organized and plans ahead. She attends all Live Lessons and is an active participant, offering insight and input when discussing topics. She is more than willing to help her fellow classmates and offers clarification and insight during live lessons. Rebecca plays violin and piano in her free time.” Congratulations, Rebecca!

FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED

Nestled in the quaint town of Deltona, Italiano’s Pizza offers New York Style pizza, pasta, salads, subs and fresh never frozen wings.

Offering dine-in, takeout and delivery

1229 Providence Blvd, Deltona FL 

386-860-5688

Grades 9-12:

Grades 6-8:

Grades 3-5:

Grades K-2: