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Good morning Lincoln High, and welcome to LinksLIVE! The Lincoln High morning news show.

I’m Mr. Keller still guest anchoring during the school closure and keeping you updated on the latest news about school and the coronavirus situation. Hope you’re all doing well. Strap in, because we’ve got a lot to share.

On today’s show we’ll be talking about remote learning, grades, prom, graduation and other senior issues, as well as updates on mental health services and food distribution. See the transcript below for quick reference.

A reminder that links to weekly updates with all of this information are also available on the lps home page at lps.org including translations in Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, Karen, and Arabic.

Thanks to those of you who have reached out to us with questions about what’s going to happen from here on out. Dr. Joel and the LPS administrative team released some updated information to students and families yesterday.
Here’s a summary:

ONLINE INSTRUCTION:
Review material is available the rest of this week through your Google Classrooms. Remote learning for new content will start Monday, April 6th, and it will continue until at least May 6th. That means no in-person classes or activities in the school buildings including sports during that time. A decision will be made for the rest of the school year as more information becomes available. Stay tuned for those updates.

GRADING:
So what does that mean for grades? You’ll be starting with your 3rd quarter grade as it was reported at the end of the quarter. During fourth quarter, all grades will either be Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory (sometimes called Pass or Fail) based on work completed. A special Coronavirus Pandemic Closure designation will be noted in student transcripts. For high school classes that run on a semester schedule, students will have the option of keeping the S/U mark or using their third quarter letter grade for their semester grade. To switch the grade to a letter grade, students will need to go to fill out the form found in their school counselor’s Google classroom.

Students have until April 10th to work with their teachers to turn in missing assignments from third quarter and work on improving their grades. If you ended the third quarter with an incomplete or an F, check with your teachers for those classes if they haven’t already reached out to you. They will support you in successfully completing course material.

Students enrolled in eLearning courses, can convert Satisfactory grades into letter grades if a letter grade is requested by the student.

There will not be fall academic honors (Honor Roll, etc.) due to the unique fourth quarter circumstances. This will be noted on student transcripts as due to the Coronavirus Pandemic Closure.

Prom has also been canceled at this point for all LPS schools.

GRADUATING SENIORS:
We know you have many questions. Here’s what we know so far:
● Courses that placed students in the community, such as Government and Politics required volunteer hours, work experience, and/or internship courses, will have those service requirements waived. That means you will still get credit for completing the class even without the community hours.

● School counselors will complete graduation checks and work individually with students. If you’re short on meeting requirements you can fulfill needed coursework through eLearning courses, summer school, or independent study as identified by your counselor, so check in with them.

● Final class rank will be the students’ Semester 1 rank. There will be no Semester 2 class rank calculated for seniors at the end of the school year.

According to the administration, if students remain engaged during this unique situation and put forth effort, they will be able to move on academically and graduate on time.

Speaking of GRADUATION CEREMONIES, what will that look like? At this point, according to Dr. Joel,
We haven’t ruled out graduation, but we’re not holding out any great hope for that based on the latest data that’s been circulated.

SUMMER SCHOOL is also up in the air depending on the recommendations from the governor and offices of public health. A final decision will be made as those dates get closer.

ONLINE SPECIAL EDUCATION MATERIALS will be available April 6, and can be accessed via the LPS Remote Learning website: lps.org/remote. Families should have received a letter from Dr. Fundus. You should receive an email from your school’s special education coordinator and case manager by April 1. If you have questions about the letter, please email your child’s case manager or the special education coordinator.

CONNECTIVITY:
If you’re having issues getting connected to all of these services, there are a number of internet service providers in Lincoln that have special offers or considerations for families of Lincoln Public Schools students. See the link in the transcript below for more information.

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES:
Does all of this seem overwhelming and stressful? You’re not alone. Zoom conferencing is now available as a way for students and families to connect with LPS school counselors, school social workers, school psychologists, and psychotherapists. See the link in the transcript below or click on the link on the LPS Home page at lps.org

FOOD DISTRIBUTION:

Meals will be distributed weekly on Mondays from now on from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the following LPS locations: (see the transcript for more detailed information)

Belmont, Arnold, Calvert, Hartley, Huntington, Clinton, Saratoga, and West Lincoln Elementary Schools:
Culler and Park Middle Schools
and at Northeast High School and Lincoln High School where you’ll enter the circle on 21st and J streets and follow staff directions.

Each child will continue to receive five breakfasts and five lunch meals.
The meals are for children only, and all children 18 and younger are eligible for meals.

For more information, click on the Changes to Grab-and-go Meal Distributions link at LPS.ORG.

The Food Bank of Lincoln is also offering free prepackaged bags of food this week. Please see these below in the transcript or Visit the Lincoln Food Bank website at LincolnFoodBank.org for times and locations and for additional information about their services.

And now here are a couple more messages from Lincoln High staff members to let you know that we’re still thinking of you.

Video: Karen Thacker and Lisa Kiely (and Carl)

Remember that just because we’re distancing, it doesn’t mean we can’t still connect. The Advocate, LinksLIVE! and Yearbook staffs are still on the job keeping a record of these historic times, and we want to hear about your experiences during the closure. Send us messages, photos, or videos of how you’re coping with this new situation by filling out the form at the Jump Code: PBYZ. We want to hear from you. 

If you have questions or comments for us, email us at LinksLIVE@lps.org and we’ll do our best to answer your questions or get you to someone who can.

We miss you all. Really. And we hope this situation gets resolved soon.

In the meantime, please follow CDC guidelines and stay home as much as possible and stay away from others in public, Wash Your Hands, Don’t Touch Your Face, and Cover Your Cough.

Take care, keep supporting each other, and stay connected with us.

That’s all for today. Remember that you can see all past episodes of our show on The Advocate Online website at LHSAdvocate.com and a list of all jump codes through the Master Jump Code YZYR.

Thanks for watching our broadcast, and we’ll see you again next time on… LinksLive!