Program Deadlines and Kids – Aug 11

NH Agriculture COVID-19 Relief Program Expansion

Additional Funding Round Application Available
Application Deadline: August 31, 2020

Concord, NH — The Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief & Recovery and the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food announce that the New Hampshire Agriculture COVID-19 Relief Program has been expanded to include farms that did not qualify initially, or missed the registration deadline (“Expanded Farm Program”). The Expanded Farm Program supports smaller farms with less than $50,000 of 2019 gross sales which were ineligible initially.

Governor Chris Sununu has authorized the allocation and expenditure of $2.5 million from the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund (“flex funds”) to support non-dairy farms, in order to ease the burden of substantial new COVID-19-related costs like extra cleaning and sanitizing, ensuring social distancing, and lost sales. This includes $1.5 million previously allocated to specialty crop producers that had at least $50,000 of 2019 gross sales and registered for the program by June 22, 2020, and an additional $1 million to allow the Expanded Farm Program. https://nhpublichealth.force.com/nhgoferr/Proposal_Core_Listing_Page

Back to School

Updated Aug. 10, 2020 NY Times

The latest highlights as the first students return to U.S. schools.

It has been a comforting refrain in the national conversation about reopening schools: Young children are mostly spared by the coronavirus and don’t seem to spread it to others, at least not very often.

But on Thursday, a study introduced an unwelcome wrinkle into this smooth narrative. Read more at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/health/coronavirus-children.html

NH National Guard delivering PPE to polling stations

https://www.wmur.com/article/nh-national-guard-delivering-ppe-to-polling-stations/33568737

NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – August 10th, 2020

On Monday, August 10, 2020, DHHS announced 13 new positive test results for COVID-19. There have now been 6,840 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in New Hampshire. Several cases are still under investigation. Additional information from ongoing investigations will be incorporated into future COVID-19 updates. Of those with complete information, there are three individuals under the age of 18 and the rest are adults with 46% being female and 54% being male. The new cases reside in Cheshire (2), Merrimack (2), Strafford (2), Coos (1), and Hillsborough County other than Manchester and Nashua (1) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (4) and Nashua (1).

Hospitalizations

Three new hospitalized cases were identified for a total of 704 (10%) of 6,840 cases.

Community Based Transmission

Three of the new cases had no identified risk factors.

Deaths

No additional deaths were reported by DHHS.

Cumulative Positive Tests by County

countylist

New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report

(data updated August 10th, 2020, 9:00 AM)

Map of Cumulative Positive CasesMap of Current Positive CasesSummary

NH Persons with COVID-191 6,840

  • Recovered 6,095 (89%)
  • Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 419 (6%)
  • Total Current COVID-19 Cases 326
  • Persons Who Have Been Hospitalized for COVID-19 704 (10%)
  • Current Hospitalizations 20

Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories,

  • Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) 174,278
  • Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Antibody
  • Laboratory Tests 28,046
  • Persons with Specimens Submitted to NH PHL 38,692
  • Persons with Test Pending at NH PHL 720
  • Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) 2,875

Number of Specimens Tested by Date of Report to NH DHHS

Information above, and archived daily updates are available here: https://www.nh.gov/covid19/news/updates.htm

Regional Information (total positive test results, deaths)

Look-back period is 1 week.

NH: 6,840 positive test results 419 deaths  (1 week ago: 6,660 positive test results 417 deaths) (+180/+2)

MA: 121,315  positive test results 8741 deaths (1 week ago: 118,657  positive test results 8648 deaths) (+2658/+93)

ME: 4,049 positive test results 125 deaths (1 week ago: 3,970 positive test results 124 deaths)

VT: 1,462 positive test results 58 deaths (1 week ago: 1,427 positive test results 57 deaths)

CT:  50,567  positive test results 4,437 deaths (1 week ago: 50,062  positive test results 4,437 deaths)

RI: 19,934 positive test results 1015 deaths (1 week ago: 19,246 positive test results 1010 deaths)

NY:  426,046 positive test results 32,361 deaths (1 week ago: 421,550 positive test results 32,413 deaths) (+4,496/-51)

 

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Aug. 8 Update

Remote Learning Progress Report: The barriers to taking attendance

By JOHN BASSETT Granite State News Collaborative
Published: 8/9/2020 8:00:26 PM

When Sunapee Middle-High School’s attendance rate is published in the fall, principal Sean Moynihan expects that despite the switch to remote learning, his school’s numbers might be even higher than they were last year. This is a bold statement: The school’s 2018-19 attendance rate was 96.1% – one of the highest in the state.

But Moynihan said that the numbers coming out this fall are probably misleading. Not only are they likely to be artificially high thanks to the district’s relaxed attendance policies during remote learning last spring, the numbers obscure a bigger issue – how much harder his teachers, staff, and guidance counselors had to work to stay in touch with students during remote learning, even with the benefit of laptops and internet. More at https://www.concordmonitor.com/Granite-State-News-Collaborative-35615222

Remote Learning Progress Report: Broadband proves to be major issue

By EMILY DUGGAN Granite State News Collaborative
Published: 8/8/2020 1:12:58 PM

Before COVID-19, the Kajeet hotspots on Rochester’s school buses were a nice-to-have item on long haul trips for athletes and others going to and from various extracurricular events. In the spring, however, they became the vital connection some students needed to continue their education.

“I was at a conference years ago and a superintendent from Kentucky would park his buses throughout this town during snow days so his students in rural areas could be connected to the internet to access curriculum,” said Superintendent Kyle Repucci in an email to the Granite State News Collaborative earlier this year, speaking of how the idea came to Rochester. More at https://www.concordmonitor.com/Granite-State-News-Collaborative-35611795

NHDOV-032520-R-COVIDbuses1t.jpg

The Rochester School District is deploying buses with WiFi hotspots throughout the city to help residents who need a connection. [Deb Cram/Fosters.com]

NH employment officials seek more information following Trump’s executive orders

https://www.wmur.com/article/nh-employment-officials-seek-more-information-following-trumps-executive-orders/33557000

New safety protocols in place as Saint Anselm College students begin returning to campus

https://www.wmur.com/article/new-safety-protocols-in-place-as-saint-anselm-college-students-begin-returning-to-campus/33553935

Rural New Hampshire broadband expansion gets $16 million boost

https://www.nhbr.com/rural-new-hampshire-broadband-expansion-gets-16-million-boost/

NH DHHS COVID-19 Update – August 9th, 2020

On Sunday, August 9, 2020, DHHS announced 14 new positive test results for COVID-19. There have now been 6,831 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in New Hampshire. Several cases are still under investigation. Additional information from ongoing investigations will be incorporated into future COVID-19 updates. Of those with complete information, there is one individual under the age of 18 and the rest are adults with 43% being female and 57% being male. The new cases reside in Strafford (4) and Rockingham (3) counties, and in the cities of Manchester (3) and Nashua (4).

Hospitalizations

One new hospitalized case was identified for a total of 701 (10%) of 6,831 cases.

Community Based Transmission

Three of the new cases had no identified risk factors.

Deaths

No additional deaths were reported by DHHS.

Cumulative Positive Tests by County

  • Belknap 115
  • Carroll 94
  • Cheshire 97
  • Coos 17
  • Grafton 103
  • Hillsborough – Other 1,242
  • Hillsborough – Manchester 1832
  • Hillsborough – Nashua 776
  • Merrimack 464
  • Rockingham 1691
  • Strafford 358
  • Sullivan 40

Map of Cumulative Positive CasesMap of Current Positive CasesSummary

New Hampshire 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Summary Report

(data updated August9, 2020, 9:00 AM)

NH Persons with COVID-191 6,831

  • Recovered 6,063 (89%)
  • Deaths Attributed to COVID-19 419 (6%)
  • Total Current COVID-19 Cases 349
  • Persons Who Have Been Hospitalized for COVID-19 701 (10%)
  • Current Hospitalizations 23

Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories,

  • Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) 172,585
  • Total Persons Tested at Selected Laboratories, Antibody
  • Laboratory Tests 27,975
  • Persons with Specimens Submitted to NH PHL 38,527
  • Persons with Test Pending at NH PHL 1,138
  • Persons Being Monitored in NH (approximate point in time) 2,875

Number of Specimens Tested by Date of Report to NH DHHS

Information above, and archived daily updates are available here: https://www.nh.gov/covid19/news/updates.htm

Regional Information (total positive test results, deaths)

Look-back period is 1 week.

NH: 6,818 positive test results 419 deaths  (1 week ago: 6,634 positive test results 417 deaths) (+184/+2)

MA: 120,711  positive test results 8721 deaths (1 week ago: 118,458  positive test results 8638 deaths) (+2253/+83)

ME: 4,042 positive test results 125 deaths (1 week ago: 3,958 positive test results 123 deaths)

VT: 1,459 positive test results 58 deaths (1 week ago: 1,426 positive test results 57 deaths)

CT:  50,320  positive test results 4,441 deaths (1 week ago: 49,810  positive test results 4,432 deaths)

RI: 19,738 positive test results 1014 deaths (1 week ago: 19,022 positive test results 1007 deaths)

NY:  425,568 positive test results 32,354 deaths (1 week ago: 421,008 positive test results 32,401 deaths) (+4,560/-47)

 

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VLACS Information

These questions are geared towards students who enroll without it being part of district curriculum, but it may help. ~ Steve

Answers To Your Frequently Asked Questions About VLACS!

We’ve gathered some commonly asked questions to provide you with the latest information regarding our programs. We hope you find these answers helpful as you prepare for the upcoming school year!

Q:  I’ve heard you are no longer accepting students?

A:  We are accepting student enrollments.  Some courses have waitlists, and we are hiring and training new instructors to increase our capacity.  We are experiencing an unprecedented rate of growth and may reach a limit due to budget constraints, but we are not at that point now.

Q:  If there is a waitlist for a particular course, can I still enroll?

A:  Yes. As seats become available, students will be assigned based on the order in which the enrollment was received.

Q: How long will it take before a waitlisted course is opened?

A:  It’s hard to know given the historic number of enrollment requests we are processing. Please know that we are working hard to meet the needs of students.

Q:  What if a course enrollment is not available on the opening day at my local school?

A:  Please contact your local school for an answer to this question.  One option is that students can work at an accelerated rate in courses in which they are enrolled while waiting for seats to open in another course.

Q:  Are you hiring new instructors to expand your capacity?

A:  Yes, we have hired 60 new instructors since July 1, and we are now advertising for another group of elementary, middle, and high school instructors.

Q:  Is there a limit to the number of courses that a student who is full-time at another school or homeschooled can complete at VLACS?

A:  Yes, part-time VLACS students (i.e., students not enrolled as VLACS full-time students) may earn up to six credits between July 1 and June 30.

Q:  Does VLACS follow a traditional academic year calendar?

A:  No, students may enroll in a course at any time, can work throughout the year, and progress at a pace that meets their academic needs.

Q: Can students withdraw from a VLACS course?

A:  Yes, at any time.

What Are My Student’s Options at VLACS?

VLACS currently offers part-time enrollment options for K-12 students. Our learning catalog includes a wide variety of robust and rigorous, competency-based courses taught by certified and experienced instructors. We also have a full-time program available to middle and high school students. The full-time admissions process is outlined here.

While you explore our programs, discover all of your student’s options here.

If you have any questions about our programs, or would like to receieve one-on-one support, please contact us at 603-778-2500! You can also attend any of our informational sessions –

Full-Time Program Webinar Registration 

– August 11 @ 7:00 p.m.

– August 17 @ 11:30 a.m.

– August 24 @ 7:00 p.m.

Exploring VLACS – A 360 View Webinar Registration

– August 12 @ 11:30 a.m.

– August 18 @ 7:00 p.m.

– August 26 @ 10:00 a.m.

Elementary Education Webinar Registration

– August 10 @ 10:00 a.m.

– August 19 @ 7:00 p.m.

– August 25 @ 7:00 p.m.

A GUIDE FOR PARENTS 18 Questions about online learning

A Guide For Parents: 18 Questions About Online Learning

Download our Ebook and discover answers to 18 commonly asked questions about online learning.

vlacs

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