Dear Parents and Guardians,
Pax et bonvm!
We hope that you and your families are in good health and spirits.
Thank you for attending the Parents’ Orientation on Saturday, August 1, 2020. Your enthusiasm and support for your children’s education despite the unique challenges we are all facing at this time continue to inspire us to do more to ensure that this health pandemic does not derail our students’ continued education.
As previously announced, our OFM Schools for the new school year 2020-2021 will open on August 3, 2020, on a digital campus model which will allow our students to follow the normal course of their education from the safety of their homes with the help of information technology. We seek your continued patience and understanding as our teachers and staff work tirelessly on this migration to the digital space despite their own personal difficulties under these exceptional circumstances.
In preparation for the start of regular classes on August 17, 2020, we are conducting the following orientation sessions in the next two weeks:
1. Homeroom Class Orientation
On August 3-7, 2020, we will conduct a Homeroom Class Orientation for our students who have received enrollment confirmation. This session will have two (2) parts: one is accessed in the Classroom, and the other in the Convention Center. Enrolled students must log-in to the Classroom at the appointed schedule posted earlier in our Facebook page for their respective class advisers’ announcements and/or assigned activities. Students are also encouraged to join their class advisers for a meet-and-greet at the Convention Center, where they can get to know everyone and everything about the new digital campus. The session will be open 9:00AM – 12:00NN and 1:00PM – 3:00PM.
To access the Convention Center, please log-in to your Student Portal account. Go to Convention Center, where you will see “Homeroom Class Orientation” meeting ID and password. To join the meeting, click “Join”. Alternatively, if you have Zoom app installed in your device, you can join the meeting by entering the meeting ID and password in the Zoom app.
2 Subject Classes Orientation
On August 10-14, 2020, we will conduct a Subject Classes Orientation for our students who have received enrollment confirmation. Enrolled students are encouraged to join this session with their teachers so they can watch together “How To Use The Classroom” which will explain how learning will be facilitated via The Classroom, and get an introduction to the various resource modules available in the Student Portal including the Library, Video Library, e-Book Shelf, Student Welfare Services, etc. Please stay tuned for further announcements regarding this session.
We would also like to inform you about mobilization activities we have deployed and continue to deploy as part of our OFM Schools’ digital transformation.
1. New Website
Our new OFM Schools web portal is live. For announcements and updates, please visit https://ofmschools.com/
2. Admission Portal
New students can now apply for admission online via the web portal. Guidelines are also available in the web portal.
3. Student Portal / Enrollment Portal
All registered students (including newly admitted students) can now enroll for the new school year via the enrollment module of the Student Portal. Guidelines are also available in the web portal.
Beginning August 17, 2020, registered students can access the Student Portal to view their subjects, ask teachers questions, check and borrow books from the School Library, access the Video Library, build their Book Shelf, read e-Books. Students will also be able to access online student welfare services. Multiple synchronous face-to-face meeting modes will also be available at our teachers’ disposal in the Student Portal.
4. Student Portal Mobile App (Android)
All registered students will also be able to access the Student Portal Mobile App (Android). Please stay tuned for further announcements and guidelines on how to access and use this app.
5. Learning Portal
Classes in our OFM Schools for the school year 2020-2021 will be conducted via our online learning platform called the Classroom. Our students will need to regularly log on to the Classroom where they can view the syllabus, access course materials, participate in discussion forums and other online activities, communicate with their teachers and classmates, submit assignments, take quizzes and exams, and complete other coursework. Please note that, unless required for synchronous learning sessions, students do not need to connect to the internet for extended time periods. They can connect to the internet to log in and view course materials, then download course materials for offline reading or course work at a later time.
You will find the guidelines on how to access the Classroom in a separate post in the web portal or our Facebook.
6. Tech Support
We are fully aware that our students (and parents) may have different abilities to navigate new technology, and that everyone, including our teachers and staff, will have different learning curves. Please rest assured that our teachers and IT staff are available to help you. Many of you must have one time or the other used the Online Chat Support offered in our web portal. Please feel free to reach out to us for any tech assistance you may need.
We would also like to remind everyone that, as we transition to the digital space, data privacy becomes of utmost importance for everyone. Everything you want to know about your OFM School is in the web portal, which can be accessed only through your user log-in account. You are responsible for all activities that occur under your user account and for maintaining the confidentiality of your user account and password.
More than ever, we are committed to providing the best choice for adapting to the “new normal” for our students’ education. Please bear with us as we transition to our new digital campus that will support our collective goals of remaining safe and offering our students the flexibility to keep learning in the face of the health pandemic.
Very truly yours,
Fr. Marlowe A. Rosales, OFM