Iroquois School District - Home of the Braves

A message from VLN: We understand how challenging the system performance issues we have experienced over the last week have been for the district and your cyber families and we sincerely apologize for the difficulties and frustrations they have caused. While we worked hard to anticipate and prepare for the impacts of a significant increase in enrollments in our programs due to the pandemic, we were unable to predict the effects certain aspects of this growth would have on our system. Over the last several days our Technology Team has worked tirelessly and we have taken significant steps to restore system performance, including the following actions: • Increased server capacity – processing and memory • Optimized core performance for main student interface during heavy workloads • Separated application and file servers for increased performance and scalability • Offloaded textbook downloading to a separate sever Specific to the past 24 hours, we’ve added a second server to handle the higher volume of system service calls. This additional server appears to have greatly improved traffic flow to and from the database. Additionally, we’ve also offloaded the textbook downloading to a separate server to resolve slowdowns in the system created by this functionality and to prevent download timeouts. We’re continuing to monitor traffic and system performance in both of these areas and will respond quickly to make any additional adjustments that are needed. We intend to provide daily updates on the system status moving forward to keep you well informed. As always thank you for your patience and support as we work to make this right for you, your students and your families.

ISD Cyber Families: We share in your frustration with the VLN technical difficulties. To accommodate our students, we are moving the due date for Modules 1 & 2 to Sunday September 27th at midnight. Work for module 3 will begin on Monday, September 28th. All due dates for future modules will now be Sunday nights at midnight. Thank you for providing us with feedback on your cyber experience.

A message from VLN: Our Software Team has been working diligently throughout the weekend and we have made significant progress in restoring access and performance throughout the system for students. The team continues to work on a detailed review of our entire code and additional adjustments will be made as we find it necessary to improve the user experience. Students will notice that in an effort to further streamline the system, we have temporarily removed the Progress Indicator Gauge and Individual Status Indicators that appear below each course. These tools will be added back into the platform in the future. We apologize for the frustrations caused by last week’s system issues and we want to assure you that we are fully committed to providing a successful learning experience for your students and families.

You can view the live stream of tonight's Iroquois football game against the Eisenhower Knights here: https://youtu.be/AsOFaFi3hLU Kick off is at 7 PM......GO BRAVES!!!

A message from VLN: We resolved initial capacity issues with the system earlier this week, however as many users have continued to experience significant issues and slow response times, we have brought in a team of outside consultants who are working around-the-clock with our team to complete a full code review to identify redundancies and inefficiencies that are impacting user access and system performance. We will be applying a set of initial fixes throughout the day today with the expectation that this will significantly improve performance and user access. We will then continue to review and apply additional fixes to further improve performance moving forward. We recognize the impact this has had on your district, staff, students and parents and we are committed to bringing this to a resolution as expeditiously as possible. Thank you for your continued understanding and commitment to the success of your students.

Check out Iroquois' live-stream of tonight's volleyball match against Corry at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=788Wh_9UKeU JV match starts at 6 PM followed by Varsity at 7 PM

I.H.S. SPORTING EVENTS – It is mandatory that anyone attending a sporting event at I.H.S. or I.E.S. must wear a mask and social distance. This is even true at outdoor events. No one will be permitted to watch an event unless they are wearing a mask and sitting at least six feet apart. Exceptions to social distancing will be made for families but masks will be required by all spectators on school grounds. Those individuals not incompliance will be asked to leave the school grounds. This is a mandate set forth by the Governor of Pennsylvania. Junior high students will not be permitted at events unless accompanied by a parent.

From VLN: We are currently experiencing a technical issue with the VLNStudents.com site which is causing login errors and in some cases slowness in loading of pages within the portal for students who are able to get in. Our Tech Support Team is working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and I will provide more information on the resolution once I have an update. I know issues like these are disruptive and frustrating for everyone and I can assure you we are working hard to resolve the root cause of the problem.

Tonight's Iroquois Braves Varsity Football game will be live streamed on our IROQUOIS SD YouTube CHANNEL​. Grab a seat and enjoy! This link will also be available on the Iroquois Braves Athletics main page for future events. Go Braves!

SPORTS SPECTATORS - As per the recent regulations set forth by the state, spectators at sporting events will be very limited. There are very few tickets available for the home Football games. These tickets will be distributed to only the families of our seniors for football, cheerleading, and band. The number of tickets will vary with each game. With our other outdoor events, entrance to the event will be capped at 250. There will be no spectators at our indoor events such as Volleyball and Jr. High girls’ basketball due to that number being set at 25. In an effort to allow of the fans to see the events that are limited to spectators, we will be live streaming Iroquois Football, Volleyball, and Jr. High Basketball on our Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyosU9W0Sl0mOHVF5urOV_g

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL CHANGES -FIRST DAY CHANGES – We are all so excited to see the students return on Tuesday, Sept. 8th. There are a number of changes that you should all be aware of for the first day of school – • The hallways will be directional and mark as one-way. Directional hallways will only be in place during class changes. • Students will be permitted to carry backpacks and bookbags during the day. Lockers will only be used before 1st period, before & after lunch, and after tutorial. • Students will be expected to take laptops home daily in the case of an unexpected closure. • Students will have assigned seats in lunch and breakfast. The seat that students choose on the first day of school will be their seat for the immediate future. • Student lunch period and location are listed on their schedule during 5th period. • Students will not use bathrooms during class transitions. Students must get a pass during class for contact tracing purposes.

SPECTATORS AT SPORTING EVENTS - due to new changes at the state level, a minimum number of spectators will be permitted at outdoor events. The Administration is reviewing these changes and will be developing a plan to meet the new recommendations.

Bus routes for this 2020-2021 School Year have been posted to the Transportation page on our website! OR go to our News for the link! Changes or adjustments to the routes will always be made to our website! Have a safe and successful school year!

Meals for Iroquois Cyber Learners Available! Must submit application for service. For all info and application, see the ISD website's COVID-19 News and Updates page.

SPECTATORS AT SPORTING EVENTS - Please be aware the spectators will not be permitted at sporting events an Iroquois for the immediate future. This is not an Iroquois decision. Please see the note released yesterday from PIAA in their Newsletter: The PIAA continues to receive numerous questions regarding event capacities and allowing spectators. This is not a PIAA rule but is stated in the Governor’s target mitigation order: The Order applies to school sports.· Indoor sporting events and gatherings of more than 25 persons are prohibited.· Outdoor sporting events and gatherings of more than 250 persons are prohibited. Sports-related activities at the PK-12 level are limited to student-athletes, coaches, officials, and staff only. Band and cheer are also allowed in a sports setting, but individuals involved in such activities count towards gathering limitations and must comply with face covering order and social distancing guidelines. Visitors and spectators are prohibited from attending in-person sports-related activities.

Good morning families! It's not too late to fill out the survey for PreK- 7th grade students to earn an incentive for their hard work. If your student participated in one of the following summer opportunities, he/she will be rewarded! The enrichment opportunities were: Summer Tutoring with AmeriCorps, Summer STEM Club, Summer Enrichment Packets, and/or Storybook Summer Camp. Survey Link: https://tinyurl.com/iessummerenrichment

The Iroquois School District is offering COVID-19 Testing for interested District employees and Iroquois students on August 31st. For all details and link to schedule your appoint, go to /o/iroquois-school-district/page/covid-19-district-info

Good afternoon families! We are pleased to announce that students who participated in summer enrichment programs have the ability to earn an incentive for their hard work. If your student participated in one of the following summer opportunities, please fill out the survey at the following link so he/she can be rewarded! The enrichment opportunities were: Summer Tutoring with AmeriCorps, Summer STEM Club, Summer Enrichment Packets, and/or Storybook Summer Camp. We can't wait to celebrate your hard work! Survey Link: https://tinyurl.com/iessummerenrichment

A Meal Distribution Update has been posted to the district websites. Provision of meals has been extended through August 28th. For all details, refer to the NEWS articles on all district websites. www.iroquoissd.org

Last chance to support our students by making a contribution on 2020 Erie Gives Day today between 8AM and 8PM! The ISD Foundation is a participating non-profit and your contributions will benefit our own community. www.eriegives.org​​ All donations qualify for a tax deduction for 2020. Thank you!!