Principal's Newsletter
September 28, 2020
Principal's Message
Dear Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion families,
I hope everyone is being safe and taking advantage of the recent good weather. I want to call your attention to the news that at last week's COVID-19 update at the School Board meeting an initial discussion was held regarding the possibility of bringing back preschool-1st grade students to in-person learning. San Mateo County is currently at a level of COVID-19 cases deemed by the Health Department to be acceptable for schools to start bringing back students. If our county maintains at or below this level of cases for 14 consecutive days, until October 6th, then we can move forward with bringing students back. We would still have to follow the 4 pillars around safely returning to schools which includes cleaning protocols, wearing masks, and the 6 feet of physical distancing requirements. Therefore, we would only be able to have 12-14 students in each classroom at a time. The district is looking at options of AM/PM cohorts of 12-14 students with the AM times of 8:00-10:30am and then the PM group from 12:30-3:00pm. Another option would be the Hybrid model of Cohort A on Monday/Tuesday and Cohort B on Thursday/Friday. The district has sent out surveys to staff to find out how many would not be willing or unable to return to teaching in-person due to medical reasons. They have also sent out surveys to the Preschool-1st grade parents to determine how many families would be willing to return to in-person learning. This is important information to plan and determine next steps. There is a possibility that due to the scarcity of bilingual, BCLAD credential holding teachers, in-person learning may not be available for all students here and those families would have to decide to send their child to an English-only school if they want in-person teaching or remain in Distance Learning for Immersion. I understand this possibility may cause anxiety, but we want to be fully transparent. During the presentation they indicated that October 26th would be the start date for returning if the plan is approved for PreK-1st graders. They talked about phasing in the other older grade levels, but no details were given. The School Board will have another discussion about the plan and survey results in a special meeting this Wednesday, September 30th, and again on October 7th prior to approving the plan on October 14th.
This week teachers will receive professional development about Zoom so they can begin transitioning away from Google Meets. The 4th grade has already started to use Zoom and 5th grade is beginning this week. As with all technology, we know there will be some issues. So far, the most common problem is that students need to close the Zoom tab to see the Zoom Meet and sometimes close other apps so they do not get "kicked out" of the Zoom meeting. Our teachers can definitely use your help with the younger grade level students for the first few Zoom meetings and I am sure they will communicate with you via Class Dojo. Some teachers may feel more comfortable using Google Meet for now with their classes, but we will be using Zoom with the required grade level Meets with myself, Leslie and Danny G starting on Wednesday, October 7th. The teachers put the Wednesday Meeting links in their Google Classroom or email you the links in Class Dojo: The schedule for the Wednesday Grade Level Meets with Danny G is:
- 5th grade: 8:30am
- 4th grade: 9:00am
- 3rd grade: 9:30am
- 2nd grade:10:00am
- 1st grade: 10:30 am
- TK/Kinder: 11:00am
Recently, Elizabeth Wolfe, our District Assistant Superintendent, attended a great Distance Learning workshop by Douglas Fisher, a well-regarded educator. Fisher, along with other educators, has recently published a resource for parents called, The Distance Learning Playbook for Parents: How to Support Your Child's Academic, Social, and Emotional Development in Any Setting by Rosalind Wiseman, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie. Copyright © 2021 by Corwin Press, Inc. Please click this link to see a free excerpt about the importance of reading widely from many different genres in order to build schema and knowledge. Lots of reading, and reading widely, builds background knowledge and propels students learning forward. This is crucial for improving students reading comprehension and building vocabulary, as a person’s knowledge is a great predictor of how readily they’re able to understand what they’re reading.
Speaking of the importance of reading, the deadline for 2nd-5th graders to place school Library books on hold is this Wednesday, September 30th by 12:00pm. Students in these grade levels need to put their books on hold using the Alexandria App via Clever on their district Chromebooks. Watch this video for tips on how to reserve books using the Alexandria App. Students can only have up to four books out at a time. If students still have library books overdue from last year, please contact our Librarian, Diane Ocon at: docon@rcsdk8.net The next Library Book Distribution day is Wednesday, October 7th, 9:00- 11:30; 12:30-2:30pm. The TK, Kindergarten, and 1st grade students/parents who have told their teachers that they would like to come to school to pick up Library books will also come on October 7th at those times. Those students will receive 4 pre-selected Library books--two in Español and two in English. Please don't return the books in the brown paper bags on October 7th. You will drive up, we'll take the books and place in a bin and then you will get your new books.
I want to bring your attention to the appropriate use of technology and online content of some of our apps which may be distracting students and objectionable for some families. Recently, a family let me know that their 2nd grader had been browsing the BrainPop app and accessed content on the history of World War II which is not appropriate for a 2nd grader. They were understandably upset as their child was too young to read about the atrocities of war by himself. We have removed the Brain Pop app from the K-2 devices and students can only access Brain Pop, Jr. now. I have also had parents concerned that their child was "surfing" on YouTube in lieu of doing their asynchronous work for their teacher. YouTube is not wide open for our students and is restricted through the district filter, but there still may be content that is objectionable to some families and also can distract students from completing their actual assignments. The best deterrent is for students to be monitored as much as possible when using the devices. Please set ground rules with your children's use of technology and remind them that they should only be accessing apps and doing work on district devices that is assigned by their teachers.
Please join us for Coffee with the Superintendent for Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School parents:Oct 7, 2020, 08:30 AM Join Zoom Meeting https://rcsdk8-net.zoom.us/j/82770931239?pwd=MjJQbnN6U3h4S1lzWDJDOU9wZmxEdz09
Meeting ID: 827 7093 1239 Passcode: SpanishImm
A reminder that the district has set up an informational resource for parents and the community on the district web page called the Roadmap to Reopening of Schools.The district has also included a Parent's Guide to Distance Learning and in Spanish: Guía de Aprendizaje a Distancia para Padres to help support families.
We know there continue to be some specific issues with devices and the school district has told us that if you have a device that does not function, you should go to the district office to exchange it between 8:00-4:00pm. If the device functions, but is missing an app or extension, please use the tech support forms below:
- If parents need technical support for apps on iPads or extensions on Chromebooks, they can use the Tech Support Form to request assistance:
- English Tech Support Form - http://bit.ly/RCSDtechsupport
- Español Tech Support Form - http://bit.ly/RCSDtechsupportSP
The first step is phone support. If the issue cannot be resolved over the phone, they will make an appointment for families to come to the district office for an exchange.
it is important that all families please visit the Unidos WebPage and take a few minutes to fill out the Membership Toolkit. Unidos supports a number of important programs at our school as well as coordinating volunteer efforts. They also provide communication to our community on a regular basis and need families updated information in the toolkit to do so.
I am happy to report that we will continue our partnership with the San Carlos Children's Theater this Fall, along with Maestra Rita Melton and Danny G, in order to provide opportunities for our students to participate in a play. Only students from Adelante Selby School may participate. The students in grades 3-5 will make up the main cast and the students in K-2 will make up the Chorus. Some of the songs will be pre-recorded by the cast and included in the live shows. The K-2 chorus numbers will be pre-recorded and shown at the beginning of the live shows.
REHEARSALS
Main Cast – Mondays & Wednesdays, September 30 – November 9, 3:00-5:00 pm
K-2 Chorus – Wednesdays, September 30 – October 29, 2:30-3:15pm
If you are interested, please register here:
Student breakfast and lunch drive through pickup here is now on Mondays and Thursdays 11:30-1:30, or at Roosevelt, Henry Ford or Taft from 2:30-4:30 Learn more here
Office Hours
Our school office is open to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:00am-4:00pm. Please call to make an appointment if you need help. All staff and visitors to campus must:
- wear a mask
- use hand disinfectant when entering the office
- have your temperature taken in the office at the kiosk so we can screen you
- complete the visitor Wellness Screening From using the QR code in the office
- keep 6 feet of social distancing at all times
Please note that the school playgrounds(including play structures and swings) and field are closed. The general public should not be on the school campus.
I have included a number of photos from the last few weeks of school below. Please send me an email of a photo of your child learning at home or a screen shot of their project and I will try to include it in upcoming newsletters. We also have two vacancies on our School Site Council. If you are interested in the serving on School Site Council, please email me ASAP.
Please visit our school website , Adelante Selby Facebook Page and our PTO/Unidos webpage and social media accounts: unidospto.org, Facebook and Instagram for more information.
Regards,
Director Warren
Important October Dates
- October 6, Early Dismissal: all online/ live classes finished by 11:45am for teacher training
- October 6, Unidos Parent Meeting 7:00pm
- October 7, Superintendent's Coffee, 8:30-9:30am
- October 7, School Library Book Pick up, 9:00-11:30; 12:30-2:30
- October 12, No School Indigenous Peoples Day
- October 19, English Language Advisory Meeting, 4:00pm
- October 22 Food Distribution, 4:00pm
- October 21, School Site Council Meeting, 3:00pm
- October 22 Food Distribution, 4:00pm
- October 28, School Library Book Pick up, 8:30-11:30; 12:00-3:00