Angela Cusaac 
Certified Career and Technical Education Teacher 
Phone: 252-430-6000 Best contact method (email): 
acusaac@vcs.k12.nc.us 
 
Dear Parent/Guardian:
Welcome to the Spring 2018 semester! I am very happy to have your student in my class. 
I have two broad expectations for your student. First, I want them to make a serious and 
determined effort to achieve in this class. Research indicates that effort is the number 
one determinant in achievement and I expect your child to stay on task every day, 
contribute to the learning process, complete all assignments, and be accountable for the 
work that they do. Second, I want to provide every student a classroom environment in 
which they can make their best effort and share in their accomplishments. To make this 
happen, each child has to respect their classmates and teachers enough to abide by 
classroom procedures and expectations. Parents please review the expectations with your 
child and call or email me with questions or concerns. 
 
Sincerely, 
 
Angela Cusaac  
 
Course Overview 
The fashion merchandising course is designed to simulate a comprehensive experience of 
the business of fashion. The experience should bring alive the economics, distribution, 
promotion, and retail of fashion. The topics of study include the fundamentals of fashion, 
fashion merchandising, forecasting of fashion, and essential strategies of promoting and 
selling fashion. Upon completion of the course, students should be ready for the retail of 
fashion at the entry level of work or post-secondary education. English, mathematics, 
social studies, and technology are reinforced. Work-based learning strategies appropriate 
include cooperative education, entrepreneurship, internship, mentorship, school-based 
enterprise, service learning, and job shadowing. Apprenticeship is not available for this 
course. DECA (an association for Marketing Education students) and Family, Career and 
Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) competitive events, community service, and 
leadership activities provide the opportunity to apply essential standards and workplace 
readiness skills through authentic experiences and may be offered during this course. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
   
 
Expectations 
● Be on time, task, target, and prepared
● Be responsible and always show integrity
● Be respectful to the space, people, and around you
● Keep a positive attitude and have fun!
● No food or drink (other than water with a capped container) are allowed during class 
 
Bring Your Own Device 
Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, is a program through which students who opt in will be
allowed to bring their own technology device to school for academic use. Students are not
required to bring in a device, but if they choose to do so, they must follow the technology policy
set forth by individual teachers. My class is housed in a computer lab and students are expected
to dock their phones daily in what we call pockets. Each student will be assigned a pocket
number on the 11th day of classes. This is where all devices will be housed throughout the class
period. If students fail to comply with the rules set forth there will be consequences as outlined in
the cell phone policy.

Vance County Schools Grading Policies and Procedures 

In the Vance County School Schools, we are committed to maintaining rigorous performance
and achievement standards for all students and to providing a fair and consistent process for
evaluating and reporting student progress that is understandable to students and their parents and
relevant for instructional purposes.
At Southern Vance, we believe that a grade is a fair and consistent measurement that gauges
student mastery of learning objectives.

There are two types of assessment: formative and summative. 

Summative assessments​ are designed to evaluate students’ academic achievement at the end of
a sequence of instruction/Units.
Formative assessments​ are designed to provide the student with direction for improvement and
to provide the teacher with direction for instruction. All formative assessments which may
include, but is not limited to quizzes, exit tickets, observation, participation etc. will receive
feedback, and performance on formative assessments will be reflected in the student effort and
behavior grade.

The following is the classroom expectations for ​extra credit​:

 ● Extra credit will not be offered to students. I am committed to assigning students
meaningful, purposeful work to facilitate learning. All of it is essential to mastery of
learning objectives. If additional practice is needed for mastery, it will be assigned
however, students are to maintain accountability in completing all assignments.
The following is the classroom expectations for ​missed work​:
● If the absence is approved in advance and/or if the work is assigned by the teacher in
advance, all make-up work, including tests assigned for the day of return, is due upon the
student's return to school. I will use discretion and may make exceptions in the case of
students whose excused absences were not planned in advance, were beyond the student'
control, and the nature of which would not support make-up work the day of return.
● If the make-up work has not been assigned in advance, for absences of one (1) to three
(3) days, the student will have one day for each day absent. For absences exceeding three
(3) days, the student may have two (2) days for each day absent to make up work.
Special consideration will be given in the case of extended absences due to injury or
chronic illness.

The following are classroom expectations for missed work: 

● If the missed work is not related to absences​, students will have up to five (5) days to turn
in the assignment.
● For each day a summative assignment is late, 10 points will be deducted from the earned
grade.
● Power School, by default, does not calculate missing work in the grade. I will enter
missed work as a zero throughout the quarter to indicate that it is missing. At the end of a
grading quarter, any missing work will be recorded as a zero (0).

The following are classroom expectations for ​calculating grades​:

● Grading Scale for Summative Assessments:
● Summative Assessments (Unit Tests): 40%
● Formative Assessments (Quizzes +): 25%
● Classwork (Daily Participation): 25%
● Homework (Effort/Behavior): 10%

Range of ​Summative Assessments​ in a Quarter:

● In order to maintain consistency in calculation, all teachers will include a minimum of 2
assessments per quarter as part of the student’s grade.
 ● All formative assignments will receive feedback and will be reflected in the student effort
and behavior grade.
● Teachers are committed to updating their grades in PowerSchool at a minimum of every
Tuesday.

All students are now on the following 10 point grading scale below. 
A = 90 – 100 I = Incomplete
B = 80 – 89 WF = Withdrawal with an F
C = 70 – 79 FF = Failure due to absences/tardies
D = 60 – 69
F = 59 – 0

E-mail Guidelines 
When sending an e-mail message, an e-mail message with an attachment of student work, or
sharing a Google Drive link, students should use their ​school provided e-mail account
(firsname.lastname@vcs.k12.nc.us)​. Students should ALWAYS write a short, professional
message that includes:
1. a subject with your class period and communication category,
2. a greeting,
3. the purpose of the communication, and
4. a closing that includes your full name.

Communication Category Examples Possible Greetings Possible Closings

Question About Thank you,

(assignment name) Ms. Cusaac Mary Sheets

Absence on (date) Good morning, Ms. Have a nice day,

Cusaac Egypt Bryant

Clarification Regarding (classroom Good evening, Ms. Sorry for the

policy) Cusaac confusion,
Stephen King
E-mail communications that do not comply with this policy may not receive a reply. When you
send me an e-mail communication check your inbox regularly for a reply, or ask me about it the
next time you see me in person.

Classroom Honesty Policy 

Students will receive a ​zero​ for cheating. Cheating includes copying assignments (this includes
any homework, projects, etc.), plagiarizing (intentional or unintentional) from any text including
the Internet and the work of others, discussing test and quiz questions with fellow students who
have not yet taken the test or quiz, and talking during a formal assessment situation.
 
**It is my hope that your student will leave my class encouraged to learn more about the 
business of fashion while having built lifelong relationships. At the end of this course 
your student should be able to take the marketing skills they have learned and apply them 
in the real world as a long term benefit.   
 
I look forward to guiding your student through the challenging world of fashion. 
 
 
 
(Tear and return) 
 

NEED ACCESS TO ​REVIEW GRADES AND CHECK STUDENT 

ATTENDANCE?​ CALL MRS. GUPTON AT 252-430-6000 FOR 
INFORMATION ON HOW TO GAIN PARENT ACCESS. 
 
 
Parent/Guardian Promise 
I have read and discussed this information with (child’s name) ________________________. 
As a parent/guardian, I promise to be involved with my child’s education. I promise to ask 
them questions about what they are learning in class as often as possible. I promise to hold 
them accountable and to encourage them to do well every day. This I promise to my child. 
 
__________________________________________ ____________________________ 
Print Name Email Address 
________________________________ ____________________________ 
Telephone Number Best Contact Time 
 
__________________________________________  ______________________ 
Parent Signature Date