[HELLO NEW STUDENTS AND COACHES!] 2012-2013
Welcome to the Hoosier Academy family! I will be trying to reach all of you by phone to introduce
myself. If there is a more convenient time to reach you or a better number to call, please respond to
this kmail with that information.
It is hard for me to believe, but this will be my twelfth year of teaching! Time flies when you are having
fun! I have a wonderful husband and three beautiful children. I love scrapbooking, cooking, and
decorating. Previously, I have taught first grade, second grade, third grade, and grades 3-6 reading.
This is my second year at Hoosier Academies, so I understand how it feels to be new here. If you
get confused, I am here to help! I feel very lucky to be a teacher at Hoosier Academies, and I know
you will grow to love our school as well.
It is my goal to ensure that every child and learning coach is successful this year. I will be here
to listen, offer support, and to help problem-solve. I learned the basics of teaching virtually last year,
and I will expand and improve upon those skills this year. I want to develop a personal connection with
each of my families. That is why I became a teacher!
Each month, we make conference calls to our families to touch base, so it is very important that I have
the best number and time to reach you. I apologize for the length of this email, but I have loads of info
for you. Grab a cup of coffee, sit down in a cozy chair, because this email is going to be lengthy but
very important.  If you are a returning family, most of this may be a review, but there is some new
information as well!
Are you overwhelmed? If you are feeling overwhelmed, please know this is very normal. This program
is a big adjustment, even for families who come from a homeschooling background. Don’t be too hard
on yourself in the beginning, if you don’t do everything perfectly, do not worry! No one does! .
Kmail me anytime you have questions, and I will either reply or call you back. I would much rather you
ask questions than have you sitting at home feeling frustrated.
What is kmail? Hopefully you know what kmail is, because you are reading this email.  Kmail is email.
We call it kmail because its email that is sent to you within our K12 OLS (online school) Email is
sent to your private personal email address. Kmail is email you send or receive through the K12
website (www.k12.com)
[HELLO NEW STUDENTS AND COACHES!] 2012-2013
What is K12? K12 is a global virtual education provider. Hoosier Academy uses their curriculum
which is our OLS .
What is the OLS? Our school uses a lot of acronyms such as OLS, which stands for online school.
The OLS was created by the K12 company and is designed for schools all over the country. Think
of K12 as our “parent company” that provides the curriculum for us. Anytime you have technical
issues with your OLS you will need to contact K12 customer support because your classroom
teacher cannot help with that. The number is 866-YOUR K12.
Are we different than the other K12 schools throughout the world? Yes, Hoosier Academies uses
the K12 curriculum in our own way. Sometimes certain things apply to us; sometimes they don’t. For
example, many of you received an email stating that your child would take a placement test before
starting school to see what grade level he/she will be placed in. Hoosier Academy does not do that.
We do not have a placement test like some of the K12 schools. If your child shows tremendous
growth and is a gifted learner, we can talk later about more challenging work for him/her. If your child
struggles with the grade level curriculum, we can talk about making a plan to help meet his/her needs.
Another difference is that we will provide you with Pacing Guides for each course.
What are pacing guides? These guides are calendars that show you what unit and lesson your child
should be doing each day. Your homeroom teacher will attach them to a kmail and you can print them
off or save them somewhere special. They will also be on your teacher’s website. You will receive a
pacing guide for each subject. You will refer to them each day to make sure you are staying on track.
Each day, you will log on to the OLS and then go to courses and find the appropriate unit and
lesson that coincides with the pacing guide/calendar I give you. The great thing about following the
pacing guide calendar is that there are daily virtual classes that go along with the lessons provided for
you.
What are Class Connect Sessions(formerly called elluminates)? These are live sessions with a
teacher and can be a tremendous help to your child. For example, if teaching math is not your strength
you can have your child attend the live math session each day. The teacher assigned to that subject
will present the material. Class Connect sessions are also an excellent way for your child to interact
socially. Our goal is that your child attends at least 4 Class Connect Sessions per month. We take
attendance at each session.
[HELLO NEW STUDENTS AND COACHES!] 2012-2013
What is the HAP ? HAP is an acronym (we use a lot of these) that stands for Hoosier
Accountability Plan. Each month, Mrs. Holley (ATL) sends out a new HAP sheet which is simply
a tracker that you can use at home to keep track of your points. Your child will get points based on
attendance in the OLS (online school where your child will do daily work)and progress (the amount
of work he/she has completed in the curriculum.) This plan is how we stay on top of our students and
make sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing, since we don’t see them every day face
to face. This is very beneficial, because if I notice that your child hasn’t logged on to our school for a
few days, I can call to check on you. I can also see how many lessons he/she has completed. At the
end of each week, the school will look at the attendance and progress to make sure that each student
is meeting our expectations.
Do you give grades? We do not give/keep grades at our school. We ask that each child gets at least
80% or better on each assessment before they are allowed to move on to the next unit. Instead of
grades, we track progress (what percent of the lessons they completed) and attendance.
What do you mean by progress? We expect students to make about 3% progress each week on their
online lessons. For our students who start in August, that comes out to 100% progress by the end of
the school year. By reaching the 100% progress at year end, we will know that you are child is fully
prepared to move on to the next grade level.
How do you monitor attendance since we are working from home? We have two different types of
attendance that we track: OLS (online school) and Collaborate attendance.
OLS attendance is the time that you log by tracking how much work your student does on a daily
basis. We ask that each student works for a MINIMUM of 5 hours per day, just as you would at a
traditional school. The system checks this attendance that you log each week to make sure you are
keeping up with the hours. PLEASE log these attendance hours online daily. It is much easier to
forget and get behind when you do not get in the habit of marking it each day. It’s a good idea to keep
a notebook in your work area specifically for logging attendance hours. That way, you will have it
ready to go when it’s time to log. Class Connect Sessions (live online sessions taught by a teacher)
are also counted as attendance hours, so be sure to log those as well. You will also be asked to log
PE hours, so be sure to keep track of anytime your child goes outside for a jog, walk, or just to play a
game of basketball. If he/she is involved in an organized sport, those hours can be counted toward
PE as well.
[HELLO NEW STUDENTS AND COACHES!] 2012-2013
What are links? Teachers have distinct links to their online classroom which are really just interactive
websites. In these virtual rooms, a host (normally the teacher) and the participants (students or
parents who attend) can talk back and forth and interact by using the tools. One example is the hand
that raises for a question or the whiteboard, which is like the chalkboard. The teachers will send you
the links which are simply a list of numbers and letters that are underlined. When you click on these
links it will take you directly into a session. Think of these as virtual classroom doors. If you click on
this link at 4am you will enter into an empty classroom. If you click on this link during the scheduled
time, you will enter and see names of a teacher and students who are actively engaged in a lesson. You
will need to log in before the link allows you to enter the room. The correct log in information was
mentioned earlier in this email for students. Every live session will be recorded. You can access those
recordings as well.
Does my teacher have a website ? Yes! Each teacher has a website. My website is
www.kmacfarlane.weebly.com Please get used to visiting it frequently!
You will find valuable information there such as my background, my virtual room link, weekly classroom
newsletters, etc. If you need to find a different teacher’s website address, go to
www.insidehoosieracademies and choose the appropriate school for that teacher. You should then be
able to click on the teacher’s name to go to his/her website.
What are the student guides? You will be receiving many textbooks and workbooks from K12. Many
times, the OLS (online school) will refer to a student guide or a student workbook. For example, our
phonics lessons are not online. Those lessons will be found in the Phonics workbook that was
shipped to you. It’s important to realize, that not all work will be done on the computer. Keep in mind,
for each lesson K12 provides MANY activities. You do not have to do all of them. It is best if the
learning coach takes a look at the lesson assessment first. After looking at what is expected to be
learned, the learning coach can guide the student on what activities he/she should do to master the
concept. For example, if you look at the lesson assessment and it is on adding fractions and you know
your child has already mastered that skill, it is ok to have them try the assessment. If they pass, they
can move on to the next lesson. If they don’t pass, they should go back and look at the lessons for
review and then try the assessment again. You can take the assessments as many times as needed to
get that 80% pass percent. Another example is in Science. You do not have to complete all of the
optional experiments that are listed in the lesson. Choose the ones that seem most interesting to you
and your student. Many times, you can learn about the experiment just by reading the text.
[HELLO NEW STUDENTS AND COACHES!] 2012-2013
Ultimately, the learning coach will need to make a judgment call on how many activities the student
does for each lesson.
What is Study Island? Study Island is an amazing website (www.studyisland.com) full of activities for
kids based on their grade level standards. We ask that our students work for a total of one hour each
week on Study Island activities. Each teacher can pull a weekly report to see the amount of time each
student spent on Study Island. The log on information for Study Island is: usernamestudentid#@HAVS password- all passwords are initially set to student
How do I apply for technology assistance? You may qualify for technology assistance and possibly
receive a loaner laptop and an internet stipend. If you would like to fill out the application, go to
www.insidehoosieracademies.com, then “Administration”, and finally “Forms and Information.” The
form you would fill out is called “Application for Free and Reduced Lunches.” You can fax the form
to our Administration Office at 317-495-6020.This fax number is found on the “Contact Us” tab
at the www.insidehoosieracademies.com website.
How do I contact my teacher? The best way to contact me is by kmail. I check kmail constantly during
the business day and some during the evening, so I can easily respond to you. If you would like me to
call you I can do that as well, just kmail me with a good time to reach you.
You can also call my business phone as well, but more than likely you will need to leave a voice mail
because I will be working online with students. To call my work number, you must first choose the
regional number that is closest to you. (see below) After dialing the regional number, you will be asked
to put in my extension which is 1031.
Regional Phone Numbers
Indianapolis (317) 493‐0388
Fort Wayne (260) 440‐3113
Evansville (812) 618‐3162
Gary (219) 359‐4274
Bloomington (812) 558‐2204
Lafayette (765) 588-0970
Muncie (765) 273-6033
[HELLO NEW STUDENTS AND COACHES!] 2012-2013
Again, I apologize for the length of this letter. I tried to cover all of the important topics. Please
contact me with further questions. I look forward to working with you and your child this semester.
Please send me a kmail to let me know that you received this!
Mrs. Kate MacFarlane