Ceremony: June 13, 2020 
Rain Date: June 14, 2020 

As you may know, commencement exercises for the Class of 2020 will be unlike any commencement exercises ever held in the history of Wilton High School.  While the pandemic and social distancing requirements have changed the format of the ceremony, we look forward to a memorable, celebratory event that honors our graduates.  The ceremony will include a processional car parade that passes Middlebrook and Cider Mill enroute to Wilton High School.  For more information, please follow this link.

• WHS 
  Students will earn a quarter four mark of either “Met Standards” or “Did Not Yet Meet Standards.” All students will have the opportunity to raise their overall course grade by remaining engaged and meeting the quarter four standards.  If a student meets standards in quarter four, the student will increase the cumulative grade the student had earned at the end of quarter three by one notch in the WHS grading scale.  To provide two examples, a student whose grade after three quarters was a (C) would have the cumulative grade raised to a (C+) and a student whose grade after three quarters was a (B+) would have the cumulative grade raised to an (A-) if the student were to meet quarter four standards.
   
• Middlebrook
  Each course has a compressed curriculum focused on the most critical standards for the quarter. Instruction is focused on those few standards. Report cards will reflect if the student  “Met Standards,” “Did Not Yet Meet Standards,” or if there is “Insufficient Evidence” to grade. These will be holistic scores based on the preponderance of the evidence. Teachers will continue to provide comments for each student as well. The teacher comments provide an opportunity to celebrate students' persistence and effort during eLearning.  Cumulative grades will be based on the first three quarters of the school year. The quarters will be equally weighted.
   
• Cider Mill and Miller-Driscoll
  Students will develop an electronic portfolio of work (Portfolio of Pride) including reading, writing, math, specials and social emotional learning.  Prompts will be provided to focus entries on the major work of the third trimester, and staff will provide support to students near the close of the year.  The column for third semester grades will be grayed out on all elementary progress reports. Teachers will add comments related to engagement and progress toward standards on the progress reports.

Due to the impact of social distancing and remote work environments for most job placements, the internship has been replaced by a senior interest project.  Participants will focus their projects on topics or ideas that interest them. Projects may involve some or all of the following: engaging in research, acquiring or learning new skills, creating something by hand, producing art, authoring a written piece or pieces, and engineering or inventing, among other things.  

For more information, please visit this page.  If you have questions, please contact the senior internship instructional leader, Scott Durkee at durkees@wiltonps.org

As you may know, we require families to verify and update registration information annually to be sure we have accurate information in our student management system. Returning student registration will not be open until this summer. As a point of clarification, the registration portals we currently have open are only for new students.

Today we learned that the online AP exam will be accepted by colleges and universities for credit and placement in the same way exams administered in person have been accepted.  This is good news for any families that were concerned about the acceptance of the online exam.

The assessments listed below have been cancelled.

• SAT School Day*
• PSAT School-based Administration*
• AP School-based Administration*
• Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC)
• Next Generation Science Standards Assessment (NGSS)
• Measures of Academic Progress Assessment (MAP)

*Please visit the College Board Website for other information on the SAT, PSAT, and AP exams.

This topic is, naturally, of great interest to many high school students and their parents. While conversations about spring 2020 grading and standardized testing and their impact on the college application process are just beginning, we have some preliminary information to share. Staff at the Connecticut State Department of Education are currently working with higher education institutions to develop grading guidance for Connecticut schools. We have also received information that colleges recognize and accept that student transcripts for 2020 will look different.

If you are interested in reading a local resident’s recent article on this topic, follow this link. Please note that sharing this link does not reflect an endorsement of the businesses found therein; we are simply providing you with information you may find helpful.

The College Board announced recently that the SAT School Day administration has been cancelled for the 2019-2020 school year. That means that the test originally scheduled to be administered during the school day at Wilton High School has been cancelled. For more information, please visit the College Board website.

We learned today that Connecticut has been granted a waiver from the federal government and is not required to administer state assessments this school year. This waiver means that students will not be taking Smarter Balanced Assessments or the Next Generation Science Standards Assessment this spring.  

The College Board announced that beginning on March 25, free, live tutorials will be offered to students who are preparing for AP exams. Please visit the AP website for a full schedule of offerings.

The College Board recently cancelled both the March 28, 2020 SAT make up exam and the
May 2, 2020 exam.  No decision has been made yet for June. We will keep you updated as we
learn more. Interested families should also check the College Board’s website periodically.

The ACT recently cancelled the April 4, 2020  administration of the ACT exam nationwide.
Those who registered for this exam will receive an email from ACT about rescheduling for a
future test - either the June 13 date or a later date.  Families are advised to consider registering
for July or later. Fall dates will be available in July. Please visit the ACT website if you are
interested in more information.

Today, the College Board announced significant (and we believe positive) changes to how AP tests will be administered this spring. Here are announcement highlights taken directly from the College Board website

"For the 2019-20 exam administration only:

• We're developing secure 45-minute online free-response exams for each course.
• The exam content will focus on what most schools were able to complete by early March.
• You'll be able to take your exams on any device you have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone. You'll also have the option to write your responses by hand and submit a photo.
• Colleges support this solution and are committed to ensuring that AP students receive the credit they have worked to earn. For decades, colleges have accepted a shortened AP Exam for college credit when groups of students have experienced emergencies.
• We know that not all students have access to the internet or a device. We’re working on solutions to help students get what they need to show their best work. If you need mobile tools or connectivity or know someone who does, you can reach us directly to let us know.

The exams will be secure. We're using a variety of digital security tools, including plagiarism detection software.”

For more information, please visit the AP website.

As noted in earlier messages, we have cancelled our administration of the test.  We alerted the College Board about this cancellation and were told that the College Board would be reaching out to families via email or U.S. mail with any steps families might take to pursue taking the SAT at an alternate location.  It is likely that any emails families received about printing out their entry ticket for this weekend were automatically generated in error.  In addition, it is likely that the College Board has not fully updated its information in response to the unprecedented number of closures nationwide.  At this time, we ask that you direct all questions related to the SAT to the College Board.

While all of our students and courses are important, we are very cognizant that Advanced Placement (AP) students may feel additional pressure because the dates for the exams are already set.   Please know that our AP teachers are also very aware of this dynamic and we are engaged in ongoing discussions about how they can reasonably move students forward with the required learning outcomes and exam preparation under the current circumstances.  AP teachers met this afternoon to plan learning activities that will be meaningful for their students in the event of an extended school closing. Should we face such a closing, we will provide more information on how these activities will be shared electronically.  Know that we are all committed to preparing the students well for these important exams.

Grading is a complex process even when students are on-site, so naturally, the remote learning environment presents additional complexities. We are in the process of determining what grading will look like during our eLearning period and will keep you apprised of our progress moving forward.