Reopening My School
School Board Hears Update on School Reopening
Parents have observed their children genuinely happy to be back at school since Redwood City School District’s (RCSD) reopening on January 19. An update on students, teachers, and staff back on school campuses was part of the staff report to the Board of Trustees during the public School Board meeting on Wednesday, February 11, 2021.
School Reopening
The school principals of Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School, Henry Ford Elementary School, Hoover Community School, and Kennedy Middle School presented to the Board and spoke about the teachers and students who are safely back on school campuses participating in in-person teaching and learning. Teachers and parents also spoke before the Board with their school principals. Parents expressed their appreciation for their children being back on campus as they said the students are genuinely happy. While they would like for their children to be at school full time, they appreciate the Hybrid Learning Model and understand that the district continues its work to help bring back students to school. The Board will hear from other school principals in upcoming meetings.
Since January 19, RCSD has added more learning cohorts throughout the district and plans to continue that work into the spring, which includes the reopening of classes and grade levels at other schools. The district plans for additional students and employees to be back on campuses this spring and for the new school year.
“The Board of Trustees and I appreciate the invaluable work all employees have performed in the last year,” says RCSD Superintendent Dr. John Baker. “We will continue to support our students and employees to help them be back on campuses by the start of the 2021-22 school year.”
The district is looking into a summer of 2021 school program and a virtual option for families who prefer to continue with the Full Distance Learning model in 2021-22.
RCSD has been able to safely and successfully reopen its school district after implementing the Four Pillars (Health & Hygiene, Face Coverings, Physical Distancing, and Limiting Gatherings) in the San Mateo County Office of Education’s Pandemic Recovery Framework for Schools as well as the testing and tracking and tracing system.
February Break
There is no school Monday, February 15-Friday, February 19 as the district will be on February Break. The School Instructional Calendar was approved by the Board of Trustees in March 2019. This February Mid-Winter Break is new to RCSD but has been in place in the school community for many years with the Sequoia Union High School District (SUHD) and many of the neighboring PreK-8 feeder districts.
During the break, public health officials advise to stay home; it is the best way for a person to protect themselves and others from the spread of COVID-19.
The California Department of Public Health recommends:
Avoid High Risk Activities. High risk activities include: Large social gatherings (such as weddings, funerals, or parties), mass gatherings (such as sporting events, or parades), being in crowds, or traveling to areas experiencing high levels of COVID-19.
Avoid Non-Essential Travel. Avoid non-essential travel to any part of California more than 120 miles from home, or to other states or countries. Avoiding travel reduces the risk of virus transmission or introducing new strains of the virus to the community.
Self quarantine if choosing to travel. All persons arriving in or returning to California from other states or countries, should self-quarantine after arrival. Watch carefully for any symptoms.
Vaccine Administration
San Mateo County announced on Thursday, February 11 that the State’s Phase 1B for vaccine administration will begin on February 22. Phase 1B, essential workers, includes teachers and child care providers, first responders, and food and agricultural workers.
San Mateo County education leaders have developed a prioritization and logistics plan for school employees. The stages of this prioritization process are as follows:
Priority 1a: All in-person special day class (SDC) teachers and instructional aides
Priority 1b: All teaching and support staff required to report in-person interacting regularly with students and their families. In RCSD, it includes teachers and instructional assistants; child nutrition staff; maintenance, facilities, and operations staff; psychologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists; support staff working on campus such as office personnel and yard duty staff; and school site leaders such as principals and assistant principals.
Priority 2: All staff reporting in-person at sites or district facilities who are not required to interact with students, but who interact with the public and are required to and are reporting for work in-person. This includes the District Office staff.
Priority 3: All teaching and support staff who are currently not reporting to work in-person at this time including teachers in the full distance model.
RCSD encourages employees to register for the State’s “My Turn” vaccination alert or San Mateo County’s vaccination notification system.
RCSD employees who are able to be vaccinated at any time by any provider, such as residents of Marin and Alameda counties where educators are already being vaccinated, are encouraged to take that opportunity.
Redwood City School District
Website: www.rcsdk8.net
Location: 750 Bradford St, Redwood City, CA
Phone: 6504822200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedwoodCitySchoolDistrict/
Twitter: @RWCSchools