Novato Unified School District Superintendent's Weekly Update - December 17, 2020

Novato CA

18 December, 2020

10:13 AM

Description

Press release from the Novato Unified School District: December 17, 2020 En español Dear NUSD Family, The end of this week marks the end of our first semester, the year 2020, and the conclusion of the strangest nine months of my life and my 29-year career in education. I want to thank each of you for your ongoing support of NUSD and our staff through these challenging times. While challenges have abounded, there have been many positives and today I am going to focus on them including some that I've collected from my experiences and from our administrative staff. Topics included in today's update are: Signed memorandum of understanding with our teachers Some positives as captured by our principals Development of an NUSD COVID Dashboard Middle school schedule beginning January 4, 2021 High school schedule beginning January 5, 2021 Some closing thoughts Signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with our teachers After three sessions with a State appointed mediator, NFT and NUSD agreed to an MOU regarding a return to hybrid learning. This is a great step in bringing clarity to the expectations for teachers and managers as we continue to navigate this pandemic. We appreciate all of the time and energy that went into this agreement. Some positives as captured by our principals Last week, I asked our principals to share success stories from the fall semester. Here are some of their thoughts: All students TK-12 now have devices. Schools reopened! Kids excited to be with other kids. Students are beginning to feel a sense of normalcy in life even though school looks and feels a bit different. Teachers are doing an exceptional job and giving students and families their all. Huge shift in online instructional practices from March 2020 to know students are learning, growing and making gains! All of the team members who do the work behind the scenes. We couldn't reopen schools without their hard work. Students getting meals. Every day, hungry students and families have been fed. No one is taking the in-person education for granted. Students are so much more engaged in learning on campus. Families supporting other families by picking up meals, donating funds, offering resources, creating virtual pods during asynchronous days. Education Services showing leadership in the transition to remote. Community Liaison efforts! Constant phone calls and outreach throughout this pandemic Hard work of our teachers. They have gone above and beyond in serving students. School closures have prompted high levels of parent engagement. Parents have risen to the occasion and are true partners in their child's education Parent engagement has a direct correlation to student success. Many more positives can be found here! It is my belief that this long list only touches the surface of all of the good things that have happened in this very different fall semester. Development of an NUSD COVID Dashboard NUSD is currently developing a COVID dashboard to be launched in early January. This dashboard will contain data around NUSD Covid cases. The dashboard will communicate the number of students on campus, the number of positive cases on each campus by month for staff and students, and the criteria for tracking cases. We hope this will help the community to accurately track COVID cases on our campuses. Middle school schedule beginning January 4, 2021 Beginning January 4, middle school students will be on the same schedule whether they are sixth graders in hybrid learning or seventh and eighth graders in remote learning. The middle school schedule can be found here. High school schedule beginning January 5, 2021 Beginning January 5 (January 4 is a professional development day for high school teachers to prepare for a return to hybrid learning), high school students will shift to the following schedule. This schedule is for both Flexible In-Person and Virtual Learning Academy students. Your high school will provide additional information on this schedule and how it will work for your student. The high school schedule can be found here. Some closing thoughts As we head into Winter Break, I want to remind you that each member or our community plays a key role in the factors that impact NUSD's decisions moving forward. Please follow the guidance of the local stay at home order and, specifically: Refrain from all gatherings with members of other households, indoors or outdoors. Stay home except as necessary to conduct activities associated with the operation, maintenance, or usage of critical infrastructure. Practice the three W's… Wear a mask, Wash your hand, Watch your distance. If you must travel, follow the quarantine rules you can find here before coming back to work or returning your child to on campus learning. I wish each of you a very happy Holiday Season. Sincerely, Kris Cosca www.nusd.org/COVID This press release was produced by the Novato Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.