On Wednesday, I had the privilege of working alongside my colleagues at Mistral Elementary to help serve meals to families, hand out homework packets and sign up students for Chromebooks and internet access. (
see the video here ). In all my years in education, both as an educator and as a student, I’ve never had an experience similar to this one. Having schools closed in an effort to slow COVID-19’s spread is disorienting and anxiety-producing, both for students and adults. Still, I saw a lot of smiles as families got what they needed, and I was filled with gratitude for all that we still have and all that we are doing together to keep even our most vulnerable community members safe and healthy.
Wednesday highlighted that teachers and schools play a vital role in our community and society as a whole. They provide a sense of normalcy and continuity to our students. Teachers and schools provide our students with adults who care. And most importantly, they allow our students to reach their full potential.
As we move into our second week of school closure, we want to ensure that our students and families have access to resources for instruction and learning, as well as access to their teachers. While we are not expecting students to complete work and turn it in, we do want students and families to have flexible learning options to keep students’ skills sharp.
Please take advantage of these resources as part of MVWSD’s Flexible Learning Options
Optional student school work packets
Online learning resources
A sample daily schedule (includes Spanish)
In addition to the work packets, Chromebooks, and online resources we’re providing, we believe that it is important for teachers to continue to connect with their students and families on a regular basis. Teachers can also provide comfort and consistency during these unprecedented times.
Starting next week, all MVWSD teachers, while working at home, will do the following for their students and families.
1. Send personal messages to our students and families at least two times per week (This includes Special Education teachers, case managers and STEAM teachers). The format can be video, email, or audio.
2. Share weekly activities on Mondays on Google Classroom, Zearn, email and/or other platforms that are designed for their students, as well as serve as resources for parents.
3. Set up daily virtual office hours for families to assist with questions, concerns or other items. This will be a two-hour block of time each day that you can connect with teachers.
We are all doing our best with this new normal of staying home. We know you are your child’s first teacher, and that you need our help to keep life moving right now. We will continue to partner together to get through these trying times. Please look for an email next week from your child(rens) teacher with more information about how they're going to stay connected to our students. If you do not hear from your child’s teacher, please reach out to your principal.
We know you are juggling teaching, working and caring for others during this surreal time, and that is not easy. We, like you, are doing our best to keep up with the changes and the impact on our students’ ability to learn. Short of reopening schools, there is no perfect answer with these current limitations to providing the best education possible for our students, but we will continue to evolve our approach as time passes. Thank you for your flexibility, support, and patience.
Respectfully,
Dr. Ayindé Rudolph
Superintendent
Updates on recent questions from parents:
State testing: The State has suspended all state testing, (CAASPP, ELPAC, CAST, physical fitness test) that was originally scheduled for the rest of the school year. As all districts are, we are awaiting further guidance from the California Department of Education.
Length of closure: Gov. Newsom said in a recent press conference that being closed until the end of the school year is a possibility for California schools, but we don’t know yet for sure. Health officials are closely tracking the COVID-19 situation. We’ll continue to work with the Santa Clara County Office of Education and the County of Santa Clara Department of Public Health, the lead agency in health-related emergencies, and will update you as more information becomes available.
School year length: This week, the Legislature and the Governor took special action to support agencies grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, including passage of SB 117, a bill providing relief to school districts. This bill waives Education Code provisions regarding instructional day and minute requirements for schools closed due to COVID-19. As a result, we don’t expect that any days will be added to the end of our school year.
Closure’s effect on next year: We don’t anticipate that this closure will have any effect on students' grades or promotion to their next grade level. All Districts are waiting for further guidance from the California Department of Education on this topic. In August, MVWSD will use beginning-of-the-year assessments, like i-Ready, to measure students’ academic levels. We’ll use assessment data to develop instructional plans to meet students’ needs, including any remediation needed because class time was missed this spring.