Microsoft Teams for Learning

Dear ND-BG Community,

First allow me to extend a heartfelt “thank you” to those who were with us last year when we were forced to make a rapid transition to online learning. We learned much from this experience, what worked well, and more importantly, what did not work at all.

Our current plan is to reopen for in person instruction in September 2020. However, we do understand that there may be members of our community who due to medical considerations do not feel currently comfortable with in-person instruction. This year our faculty and staff will be using Microsoft Teams, with which we can now offer live, real-time video instruction of our classes, if necessary, for these individuals.

Microsoft Teams combines all the methods of communication utilized by our staff last year in one location: secure video conferencing, chat, messaging, and a class notebook to receive, complete, and send work directly to the teacher for assessment. Students can log into Teams using their ND-BG e-mail accounts (which have been created for new students & updated for those returning) through an internet browser on a PC or the free app for cell phones or tablets. using their ND-BG e-mail accounts. Much of our first few days back will be used as an orientation to help our students feel comfortable with this system. Should the pandemic force the school back into online learning, Teams will be employed to offer a virtual schedule that the student body will be required to follow.

While we were quarantined, the ND-BG administrative team began planning for all possible learning scenarios in the Fall of 2020. All agreed that Remind, while useful for communication, did not meet our needs for sending and receiving work. After much deliberation, we have decided that our teachers and students will use Microsoft Teams as a tool to communicate and receive/send work for the 2020-21 School Year and to reiterate, also for in-person virtual instruction if necessary.

There will be further communication as we move towards September and information for students on how to log-in for the first time and how to reset their passwords if necessary. The form for this is located below: 

In the meantime, please view the attached PDF to get a sense of how Teams will look and work for our student body. A video overview can be found here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/i0TlQXmFGdQ

We again thank each of you for your support and continue to pray for the health of you and your loved ones.

Sincerely,

The ND-BG Administrative Team

Mr. Patrick Moran, Principal

Mr. Sam South, School Counselor