Novato Unified School District Update: Info On Reentry, Quarantine, FANS & More - February 5, 2021

Novato CA

06 February, 2021

12:46 PM

Description

Press release from the Novato Unified School District: February 5, 2021 Dear NUSD Family, I am hoping that February will mark the beginning of big changes with tremendous impacts on California, Marin County, and NUSD. Together, we made big progress on bringing Covid case rates way down over the past month. I hope that each of you will consider your own personal responsibility in continuing this trend as we get closer to Super Bowl weekend and mid-winter break. Individual actions will drive the changes we see in our schools. Topics included in today's update are: February 9 Board Reentry Plan Discussion Proficiency Based Education in NUSD Quarantine Protocols Food and Nutrition Services Update Virtual Academy Newsletters February 9 Board Reentry Plan Discussion Over the course of the last few weeks, the Board and I have heard many pleas regarding a need to bring our students back to on-campus learning more quickly and expanding the time students are learning on campus. I acknowledge the challenges associated with distance learning and with hybrid learning. With this in mind, I share the following. On February 9, 2021, I will bring NUSD's October 6 reentry plan back to the Board of Education to review how we got to where we are and the statewide changes to guidance since it was approved. Staff will recommend that the Board give direction to revise the October 6 reentry plan to stay aligned with current guidance, particularly as it pertains to middle and high school return. Additionally, staff will, in closed session, ask the Board to direct me to work with our team to resume honest conversations with our labor partners about where we are with hybrid learning. We could specifically explore what's working well for our teachers, staff, and students; and what opportunities exist for us to collaboratively explore expanding the teaching and learning conditions of our current hybrid schedule. Through this effort, we can also begin sharing our thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and needs that will move us towards the eventual full return of students to our campuses, whether that occurs this spring or in the fall. I know this work can be challenging, passionate and delicate. We have proven our ability to come together to overcome our differences; and I look forward to that same outcome as we share this dialogue together. If staff's recommendations are approved, staff will bring the Board an updated reentry plan with revised timelines at our next Board meeting on March 2, 2021. Proficiency Based Education in NUSD As the only TK-12 school district in Marin County, NUSD has the unique opportunity to monitor and build on student learning from the first day they step into a classroom until they walk across the graduation stage. With this in mind, teachers have been engaged in an ongoing process to implement Proficiency Based Education (PBE) to develop a more consistent and coordinated progression of learning across the district. Proficiency Based Education (PBE) is a system of instruction, assessment, grading, and academic reporting that makes learning goals and expectations clear and easily understood by teachers, students, and families. This transparency ensures that all students and their support teams have access to monitor progress towards proficiency and offer appropriate supports as needed. Our teachers, led by the Teacher Leadership Team, have identified the essential standards for each grade level and content area. The essential standards are the 10-15 key standards in each content area that are most important for students to master in order to be successful in the next grade level. In addition, a proficiency scale has been developed for each essential standard. A proficiency scale is a tool that outlines the progression of knowledge and skills that must be mastered in order to meet proficiency. To learn more about NUSD's work towards Proficiency Based Education, go the PBE landing page on NUSD website https://nusd.org/pbe-for-parents/. Quarantine Protocols We often get asked if a child needs to quarantine. To help families with this question, we developed an infographic of the procedures in partnership with elementary teachers, middle and high school administrators, and members of our communications engagement team. These procedures follow Marin Public Health and are posted on the NUSD website. The links are below: Quarantine Procedures for Elementary Schools Quarantine Procedures for Secondary Schools Food and Nutrition Services (FANS) Update FANS will be providing at each elementary site an 8-day breakfast kit on Friday, February 12, for the mid-winter break. Students not on campus on that Friday can pick one up at the community service pick up sites: Hamilton, Lynwood, Lu Sutton and Hill Education Center. FANS recently received welcomed feedback from the community about some of its menu items. They tested some new items that were not popular and as a result will not be part of the menu moving forward. Additions and changes to the menu after mid-winter break will include increasing the fresh fruit and vegetable offerings and adding one side salad each week to start. Currently each week, FANS includes carrots, cucumbers, celery and broccoli. They will start to include: More vegetables both in the dishes listed below and as sides, much like what students would get when accessing the salad bars at school. Fruits include apples, oranges, pears, bananas, additionally raisins, cranberries and apple sauce and more as they come back into season. In addition, they are bringing back dishes like the deli sandwich, chicken tostada with shredded lettuce and beans, mandarin chicken and rice, pulled pork carnitas with beans and cheese, fresh local made pico de gallo and whole grain tortilla, and teriyaki chicken rice bowl. For the second year, FANS received a grant in partnership with the Life Time Foundation to work towards serving healthy meals, the removal of the harmful 7 and increase the clean label offering. At the completion of the 2019-2020 school year, the FANS department increased the clean label offerings to almost 90% as reviewed by the Life Time Foundation and will continue to close this gap with our partnership. Another update are the modernization projects for FANS. Over the summer, Lynwood and Olive are scheduled to have modernization projects to enhance the food service areas. Up next will be Pleasant Valley and Sinaloa! As a reminder, meals are free to anyone under 18 through the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year. Virtual Learning Academy Newsletters Here are links to the Virtual Learning Academy newsletters: Elementary – February 4, 2021 Middle School – February 4, 2021 As shared at the beginning of this letter, our reentry plans are based on NUSD exiting the Purple Tier. I hope that you and yours will do all you can to ensure that Novato Covid data continues to move in the right direction and that you quarantine if you leave the State, if your family participates in a multi-family gathering, or have a potential Covid exposure. Sincerely, Kris Cosca This press release was produced by the Novato Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.