The Villages Early Childhood Center ("ECC") and The Villages Little Buffalo Learning Center ("LBLC") are owned and operated by The Villages Early Learning Company, LLC, a Florida limited liability company ("VELC"). ECC and LBLC are not operated by The Villages Charter School, Inc. (TVCS), however, in an effort to provide continuity and seamless integration for students who advance to The Villages® Charter School, TVCS provides certain administrative services under contract with VELC.
It is imperative that every student is prepared EVERY DAY with their own supplies, as the sharing of materials will not be allowed. Students will also not have space to store materials in my classroom.*
Periods 1 & 2 - tissues
Period 3 - Post-it Notes
Periods 4 & 5 - hand sanitizer
Periods 6 & 7 - Lysol/Clorox wipes
ENG I Honors (9th grade) & AP Language and Composition (11th & 12th grade)
Plastic three-pronged folder
One-subject notebook OR filler paper for the folder
Blue or black pens
Pencils with erasers
Colored pencils
Post-it Notes
Chromebook (fully charged EVERY day)**
Chromebook compatible headphones/earbuds
*Whenever possible, students are encouraged to minimize the amount of things in their backpack. This year, due to COVID and storage space, no student materials will be left in the classroom, so please be smart and organized with your purchases.
**I anticipate a lot of digital work this year to minimize the amount of paper handling, therefore I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a completely charged Chromebook each day. With that said, students will still be asked to take handwritten notes in a notebook from time to time and print some materials for their folder.
Grade 9 Textbook Access (Digital)
Please use Pearson EasyBridge to access your textbook online. The instructions are as follows:
Access Pearson EasyBridge from your TVCS.ORG bookmarks folder in the upper left-hand corner of your browser
Log in using the following: Username: villagesschool\your skyward ID Password: your Skyward password
Your textbook is teal and black with a surfboard on the front, "Pearson Literature Grade 9"
A Note About Skyward & Grade Turnaround
I try to keep Skyward as up-to-date as possible by posting assignments for the upcoming week. This helps students and parents plan accordingly. However, at times we find we need to slow down, or perhaps pick up speed, during which I will adjust due dates or combine classwork assignments, as needed.
Some assignments are quick and easy to grade within 24-48 hours, but this is not the case with longer writing assignments. I do try my very best to grade in an efficient, timely manner. However, when writing assignments are turned in, please note that it does take time to assess the number of skills students are applying. Assignments of this nature might take up to two weeks for grading.
Looking for resources to practice? You will find Free ACT Practice Tests here. There are a number of practice tests here for you to use to practice Grammar and Reading skills this summer. The bonus? You get ACT/SAT/FSA practice at the same time!
Quill.org is another great grammar tool useful for working on sentence structure (building compound and complex sentences, working with parallel structure, etc.)
Grammar Bytes is a good site to use to practice grammar skills
A wonderful writing resource is the Purdue Online Writing Lab, also known as the Purdue OWL. I will refer to this site often in class. Here is a great link for what your MLA formatted paper must include/look like.
Writing Commons is another helpful writing and speaking (presentation skills) site. While the site does say it is for college-level writers, there is plenty of information on the site that we review in class. I think you will find that it is easy to understand and navigate.
The State Exam (FSA) website shares valuable information for students and parents/guardians and includes a training test and guide.
The Center for Online Education has an Academic Writing Guide that has helpful advice on various types of academic writing, common grammar pitfalls, citations, and more.
The Villages Charter School (VCS) is committed to ensuring that its website is accessible to people with disabilities. If you use assistive technology and are experiencing difficulty accessing information on this site, please contact patrick.murphy@tvcs.org to gain access to inaccessible content or functionality of online content. To file a formal grievance under Section 504 and Title II with VCS please contact Patrick Murphy, Instructional Technology Supervisor at 352-259-2350.