Letter to cyber parents 2001

March 9, 2001

Dear Cyber School Parents.
We would like to congratulate you on allowing your child the opportunity to be part of the cyber school alternative. The Internet enables education to occur in places where it normally does not. It extends resources where there are few, expands the learning day, and opens the learning place. We experienced how the Internet connects people, communities, and resources to support learning. We witnessed how the Internet adds graphics, sound, video, and interaction to give teachers and students multiple paths for understanding. The cyber school developed by the Saskatoon Catholic School System has met with rave reviews. However, one of the reoccurring questions we get asked is:

"What is the role of the parent of a cyber school student?"

Some helpful suggestions are for parents to:
• be directly involved in the daily supervision of their student's time on task.
• assist their child with time management.
• establish an appropriate computer workstation that is semi-private.
• maintain communication with your child's teacher/teachers when resolving problems.

The next question that will come to your mind is:

"How do I, as a parent, do these things?"

Parents should be aware that there are on-line assists provided by SCCS to help. If you require assistance, please contact your child's teacher or Mr. Cannell at the address below.

• Parents should use the student's username and password to access student information on SCCS.
• All classes will post calendars which can be viewed by parents when discussing a student's schedule for the day/week.
• Students can add private items on this same calendar, which can be viewed only by that student.
• Parents and students can see current marks and completion status attained by the student in SCCS as well.

Parents are the primary educational facilitators for their children. Parent support is a significant factor in students being successful with this alternative type of education.

We are here to help!