A collaboration of district faculty and Bellport High School students have developed a new and invaluable resource to assist parents and the community with navigating through the online world. Under the advisement of the guidance department and with assistance of students enrolled in Sophia Black’s video production class, the Virtual Parent Help Center, located under the Resource tab of the district website, contains links, videos and tutorials to help parents grasp further understanding about topics such as the Parent Portal, Student Portal, Google Classroom and much more.
Director of Guidance and Counseling Programs Jenna Restivo explained that this important resource is in line with the Board of Education’s priorities to increase parent involvement and communication within the schools and learning community and to assist parents in supporting their children’s accountability and success with remote learning.
“Instead of sending a letter to parents, they can now look at a video or link, which is much more helpful,” Ms. Restivo said.
Furthermore, Ms. Black talked to her students about areas of assistance parents needed the most help. She then asked the video production class to research each of the topics and, using their newly acquired screen recording skills, to record videos and voice overs using green screen technology.
“The students needed practice editing, so this was the perfect opportunity for the students to use their skills to help the community,” Ms. Black said.
To access the Virtual Parent Resource Center, viewers need to click on the district website’s Resources tab > Parent Resources > South Country Parent Resource Page. There, viewers will be able to access social media sites, school websites and staff directories and administration information. The Resources and Tutorials page also contains videos about the portals, Google Classroom tips, student videos and more. There is also an invaluable tab, “What do I do if…” which answers frequently asked questions and the persons to contact in case of an issue with a Chromebook, getting locked out of Google Classroom, how to reset a Naviance account and more.