Superintendent Message
Cambrian School District, August 9, 2021
Dear Cambrian Families,
I hope you enjoyed a wonderful, restful summer with family and friends. As many of you know, I stepped in as Cambrian’s Acting Superintendent last month. I am honored to be entrusted with my new role at Cambrian, and eager to dive in to help guide our district’s many facets.
Our staff and I can’t wait to welcome our students back to school on Thursday, August 19th! Our goal is to provide the most engaging, challenging instruction to educate and inspire our nearly 3,100 students in a healthy, welcoming environment. Be assured that the health and safety of our students and staff are our top priority. We will follow the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) K-12 Guidelines. Principals will be communicating additional information with site-specific processes and procedures for the safe return to school.
No matter what, our staff is committed to serving the needs of the whole child, with appropriate academic, physical and social-emotional curriculum. A few highlights of the CDPH guidance include:
Masks: TK-12 students and staff regardless of vaccination status are required to mask indoors. Masks are optional outdoors, but encouraged in congested areas.
Physical Distancing: There are no distancing requirements for classrooms or schools. Recent evidence indicates that in-person instruction can occur safely without minimum physical distancing requirements when other mitigation strategies (e.g., masking) are implemented. Physical distancing will be implemented to the greatest extent possible as an additional mitigating layer of safety.
Other Safety Strategies:
We will continue to routinely replace MERV-13 filters in all HVAC systems.
We will continue to emphasize frequent and proper handwashing as well as provide hand sanitizer in each room.
We will continue to have students eat outside as much as possible.
We will continue to regularly clean frequently touched surfaces.
We will continue to offer COVID-19 testing for staff and add an option for students.
Volunteers: We will start the school year by limiting visitors to essential business only and no classroom volunteers. We will evaluate volunteers in classrooms after the first six weeks of school.
At least 24 hours have passed since the resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications; and
Other symptoms have improved; AND
A negative COVID-19 test OR a healthcare provider has provided documentation that the symptoms are typical of their underlying chronic condition (e.g., allergies or asthma) OR a healthcare provider has confirmed an alternative named diagnosis (e.g., Streptococcal pharyngitis, Coxsackie virus), OR at least 10 days have passed since symptom onset.
The vaccination rates for individuals 12 and older in Santa Clara County are impressive. In order to slow and stop the spread of COVID-19, we encourage everyone who is able, to get vaccinated. By working together we can ensure a safe and healthy environment for everyone.
Free School Meals
Cambrian School District is pleased to offer all students complimentary breakfast and lunch meals. Meals will be available for pickup in the cafeteria during scheduled meal periods. Please consider taking advantage of our FREE school meals. It extends your grocery budget, saves time planning and preparing meals, and is comforting and familiar for kids to have school meals. In addition, every meal served is reimbursed by the USDA and funds go toward Child Nutrition staff wages. Please note that you are not taking food away from someone who needs it more – we have plenty to go around!
Welcome TK and Kindergarteners!
We are thrilled to welcome our new TK and Kindergarteners to Cambrian. It is important to prepare for this new, exciting adventure, and parent engagement can make a significant and positive difference for our TK/Kindergarten children. Getting off to a good start and having regular, consistent attendance in TK/Kindergarten sets a strong foundation for future learning.
As you look forward to the coming weeks, a few preparation tips can help families on their new journey.
Establish bedtime routines. Resume the regular bedtime routines about a month before school starts to help ease the kindergarten transition. Talk to your child about why the change is necessary and how it will help their back-to-school transition.
Establish a morning routine. Engaging in multiple new morning routine "dry runs" to help with time management. See how much time it will take. Whether juggling other household member's morning schedules or driving to the new school, school preparation almost always takes more time than you think. Be ready and expect the unexpected.
Plan for breakfast. Making time for breakfast before or upon arrival at school is important. Be sure to adjust your morning schedule to account for the extra time for your child to enjoy breakfast. As I mentioned earlier in this letter, Cambrian School District is pleased to offer all students complimentary breakfast and lunch meals. Meals will be available for pickup in the cafeteria during scheduled meal periods.
Several books encourage family reading time while also preparing your child for the transition to school. The titles below are just a few of our favorites. For more about these titles, or other options, be sure to contact your local library.
- A Place Called Kindergarten by Jessica Harper
- Countdown to Kindergarten by Alison McGhee
- David Goes to School by David Shannon
- Kindergarten Rocks! by Katie Davis
- Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come! by Nancy Carlson
- Preparate, kindergarten! Allavoy! by Nancy Carlson
- Off to Kindergarten by Tony Johnston
- School's First Day of School by Adam Rex
- Welcome to Kindergarten by Anne Rockwell
- Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolf
Here are two videos for you to enjoy books auditorily:
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, read by Dr. Bergeron
First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg, read by Amanda Bryans
With some advanced preparation, the transition to TK/Kindergarten can be very positive for children and parents.
I am available to each of you and eager to hear from you during this coming school year. It is my privilege to serve as your Acting Superintendent, and I am committed to leading our team to provide your children with a rich education here in Cambrian School District.
Again, you will be hearing from your child’s principal very soon with additional helpful information regarding the 2021-22 school year. Thank you in advance for what I know will be extraordinary efforts on your part to serve the children of our District and continue to make CSD great. I look forward to seeing you all very soon. We are CAMBRIAN!
CAMBRIAN SCHOOL DISTRICT
Email: klavond@cambriansd.com
Website: www.cambriansd.com
Location: 4115 Jacksol Drive, San Jose, CA, USA
Phone: (408) 377-2103
Facebook: facebook.com/CambrianSchoolDistrict
Twitter: @CambrianSDist01