This week is the last week of the first semester. The last day of school for students is this coming Thursday, December 16. Remember, it's a minimum day. The week will be filled with lots of learning and lots of activities too. Students return to school on Monday, January 3, 2022. First semester report cards will be available in the Aeries Parent Portal on Friday, January 7.

When students return to school for the second semester, all of the current policies and practices related to our COVID-19 safety protocols will remain in place. Regarding vaccinations, this past week, Governor Newsom said. “The mandate that we put in place for the state of California includes personal exemptions, not just religious and/or medical exemptions, so there’s plenty of latitude for families to make decisions."

Gisselle Hernandez, a Norte Vista AVID Alumni and current AVID tutor, created the Christmas Shoebox Project. Gisselle’s program provides nearly 100 foster students in the Alvord Unified School District with gift boxes filled with stocking stuffer gifts for the holiday season. Gisselle seeks donations from either their Amazon wish list registry (see below) or simply bought and dropped off at Norte Vista before December 15th. Please keep in mind shipping deadlines. Packing day with the AVID team and AVID students is on December 15th, 2021, at Norte Vista High School at 12:30pm. Everyone is welcome to be part of this wonderful event.

Want to help? Please email the AVID department at Norte Vista here if you are interested in donating, packing, or delivering.

AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a nationally recognized college preparatory program that is committed to closing the opportunity gap.

Amazon Wish List: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1HMPNTCPNB1RZ?ref_=wl_share

Our progress page and Thank You list: https://sites.google.com/alvordschools.net/norte-vistaavid/christmas-shoebox-thank-yous?authuser=0

Backstory of our project page: https://sites.google.com/alvordschools.net/norte-vista-avid/christmasshoeboxes?authuser=

The gift of giving.

Thank you La Sierra Little League and Alvord mom Mrs. Ana Maldonado for donating toys that were collected through the League's annual campaign. The gift of giving.

Join experts from Riverside University Health Systems this coming Tuesday, December 14, from 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM and learn how to recognize the signs of suicide and depression and how to support students suffering from anxiety and depression. Register here to attend via Zoom or in-person at the Family Engagement Center at 5891 Rutland Ave, Riverside, CA 92503.

Our recent increase in positive cases continues. We had 42 students test positive this week. That's the most we've had in a single week this school year. Thank you for continuing to screen your children for symptoms everyday before sending them to school. Home-testing kits are free and available at all of our schools or from the COVID Help Center.

With the holidays season underway and California confirming our nation's first reported case of the Omicron variant a couple of weeks ago, public health officials are cautioning Californians to get vaccinated, wear masks in indoor public spaces, get tested immediately if symptoms appear, and stay home until test results are confirmed and symptoms significantly improve or resolve completely.

Positive Cases from the previous week:

• 42 students (Up from 29 last week and 25 the prior week)
• 4 staff members (down from 8 last week and 5 the prior week)

Students Identified Through Contact Tracing:

• 218 students assigned modified quarantine (which means they can continue to attend school in-person as long as they don't develop symptoms and test twice weekly for two weeks)
• 53 students assigned full quarantine (home for at least 10 days)

Overall, we have been serving students in-person for 85 school days. As of Friday, December 10, we have had 126 staff members and 485 students report a positive test for COVID-19. Stay current with our case rate by regularly tracking our COVID-19 Data Dashboard and FAQ here. Cases recorded on the Dashboard are confirmed by Riverside County Public Health officials and remain on the Dashboard for 14 days.

This past week in Riverside County, there were 550 new cases (0.1% increase) equating to 18.9 cases per 100K (7-day average), 4 new deaths (0.1% increase), and 5.8% test positivity (7-day rate). There are currently 305 COVID-19 hospitalized patients, 3 more patients hospitalized since the prior day total (1.0% increase). This data is as of December 10, 2021 as reported on the State's tracking web site.

On behalf of your Board of Education, we wish you a joyous holiday and a peaceful time with your loved ones. For those of us who have experienced loss and are dealing with grief, we hope you will be surrounded and overwhelmed with the spirit of love this holiday season.

Happy Holidays! Stay healthy.

Sincerely,

Allan Mucerino

Our two after-school programs are HALF-Time (K-5) and PRIME-Time (6-8). They are available M-F from school dismissal until 6:00 PM. The programs provide FREE academic support, homework assistance and enrichment activities like art, crafts, music, sports and STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, and Math) along with a nutritious meal. Please register your Kindergarten through 8th grade students soon as space is limited. Sign up here in English and here in Spanish.