Fammatre Newsletter
March 23, 2020
Principal Message
I hope you and your loved ones are safe and well.
Gratitude, access, flexibility, and creativity are the four words that come to mind as I reflect back on our first week of "remote school". Thank you to staff and leadership district-wide for the incredible effort to ensure every student has access to food, shelter, resources and remote connectivity. I deeply appreciate you, our Fammatre families, for the strong partnership, support, and patience you've exhibited as we come up to speed with distance learning.
We will continue to define and refine remote teaching and learning practices. To that end, we have four main goals at Fammatre this week:
1. Maintain connections with all students. If you or your child have not had any email communication with your child's teacher yet or joined their Google or Seesaw classroom please email your child's teacher right away to get started. Here is a list of each teacher's email address and the platform they are using Remote Teacher Classrooms. I am asking teachers to please call any student they have not yet heard from electronically by end of day Tuesday.
2. Ensure every student has access to a device and wifi in order to participate in distance learning. You may request a Chromebook using the following form. Parents who request a Chromebook will be able to pick it up at the district office between 8:30am and 10am on Fridays. If you do not have WiFi Access, below are two potential options.
Comcast free Wi-Fi hotspots called xfinitywifi (https://wifi.xfinity.com/faq.php).
You may also qualify for 60 days of complimentary Internet Essentials service from Comcast. Please see https://www.internetessentials.com for more information.
3. Identify training needs for staff and provide the professional development necessary so they can deliver meaningful distance learning opportunities. Our dedicated teachers are spending a significant amount of time learning and collaborating in addition to guiding their students through distance learning and juggling the demands of caring for their own loved ones. They are all leaning into this new challenge wholeheartedly and with unwavering determination to continue providing an excellent education to all of our students.
4. Develop distance learning routines and provide continuity of education to every student while maintaining quality and flexibility. We are working to further establish guidelines and clarity of approach for each remote classroom. We will keep you informed as things evolve. We continue to look to our district leadership for direction and work closely with our colleagues across the district to ensure we are using vetted tools and materials that allow us to maintain student privacy, safety, and high-quality learning. To help guide us, here is Cambrian's “Tips for Distance Learning at Home” https://www.cambriansd.org/Page/3536.
We will continue to keep families informed as any new developments unfold. Together we will rise above the current challenges to ensure our students continue to thrive.
With Gratitude,
Jackie Smith
Principal
Technology: Stay Safe, Responsible, Respectful, and Caring Online
Did you know? In a classroom setting, teachers are able to monitor student activity online to ensure students are safe and responsible. In our current distance learning model, we will need to work as partners to ensure our students are making responsible choices online. Please consider reviewing the Student Technology Agreement your student signed at the beginning of the year as a reminder of student online expectations.
Common Sense Media is also an excellent resource for supporting digital citizenship and literacy. Please refer to the following pages to get started. Look for more to come on this topic in the following weeks.
If you have borrowed a Chromebook, and you need technical assistance, please use the following link to submit your request: http://bit.ly/39PmbSj. Using this form will enable us to respond to your request more quickly.
show our Fammatre pride by doing all things Disney this Friday. The possibilities are endless!
Fammatre's chickens are thriving - thank you Kristi, Sienna and Mr. Dave for taking such good care of them!
A snapshot of a few activities from Fammatre's remote classrooms:
Fammatre LCAP Parent Survey - we need your input!
COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Resources
Cambrian School District COVID-19 (Coronavirus) webpage: https://www.cambriansd.org/Page/3515
Free breakfast and lunch daily Monday through Friday from 11- 1 PM. A drive-up food pickup service is available at Price Middle School, 2650 New Jersey Avenue, San Jose, CA 95124.
Reaching Out Food Center, 2315 Canoas Garden Avenue, San Jose, CA 95124, (408) 267-4691.
- Governor's Executive Order (3.19.20)
- Santa Clara Public Health Department COVID-19 FAQ
- SCCGov Covid-19
Santa Clara County Public Health Website http://sccphd.org/coronavirus
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Coronavirus COVID-19 Information www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV
California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Coronavirus COVID-19 Information www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/nCOV2019
World Health Organization (WHO) Coronavirus COVID-19 Information www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
Fammatre Elementary School
Website: www.cambriansd.org/Page/11
Location: 2800 New Jersey Avenue, San Jose, CA, USA