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Alvord Unified School District was recognized and honored this week for some of the great things going on around the district. Watch the 4-minute video below featuring Cathy Blanke, an extraordinary teacher from Foothill Elementary School. She was featured on the Today in LA Show this past Friday. Mrs. Blanke shows how she set up her classroom and explains to the television audience how she teaches in this challenging hybrid environment. It's fabulous!

AUSD was also recognized by Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Edwin Gomez, in his annual State of Education address this past Thursday. He highlighted our California Department of Education Attendance Recognition Award, our National Power of Hope Award, and our County-level Educator of the Year Award winner, Aven Callahan from S. Christa McAuliffe Elementary School. We are very proud of all of the people and the work that's behind these three prestigious recognitions.

Also this Thursday, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond announced Alvord as among the distinguished 2021 Model School Attendance Review Board (SARB) school districts. This year's award was based on attendance strategies employed during distance learning. Alvord was among the 20 districts (out of 1,037 in CA) recognized for creating and implementing an exemplary Learning Continuity and Attendance Plans that focused on these four approaches to meeting the needs of students during distance learning:

1. Shifting staff roles and responsibilities to meet the needs of distance learning students.
2. Supporting virtual attendance of pupils with unique needs.
3. Providing for the mental health and well-being of students during distance learning.
4. Pupil and family engagement and outreach.

The entire Student Services team, led by Ms. Sandy Fielding, and the SARB team, led by Mr. Ian Fish and our school site's attendance teams, are to be commended for their outstanding work.

We are conducting an interest-survey starting tomorrow. Look for an email from your principal with instructions. The purpose of the survey is to determine interest in a virtual program when the 2021-22 school year begins on August 6. It's simply an interest survey to provide us with an idea of what our families are thinking about for next school year. Thank you in advance for completing the survey.

Join our resident artists this coming Wednesday, April 21st, from 4 to 5 pm for our next collaborative Family Engagement and Equity & Access Office virtual workshop. Students and families will participate in an art lesson on the beautiful imagery and significance of the sun and the moon throughout Spanish speaking and indigenous communities in the Americas. Find detail below in the News section.

On the COVID front, this week marked the first week since February that the case rate did not decline, instead increasing from 3.0 to 3.6. However, we remain firmly in the Orange Tier and other indicators continue to trend in the right direction. We will continue to plan for an in-person graduation, in-person summer school, and fully in-person instruction in 2021-22, following the California Department of Public Health and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s safety guidelines.

Riverside County is collecting feedback from residents to better understand the public sentiment toward vaccination, and experiences so far. Your input is vital and could help inform policy decisions. Your participation is greatly appreciated and all answers are confidential. Provide your feedback in English or Spanish here.

On behalf of the Board of Education, thank you for your education partnership. It's a privilege for us to serve your children and our community.

Sincerely,

Allan Mucerino