Paly Community Update
Friday, September 4, 2020
Dear Paly Families,
I hope that you were able to join us in our virtual Back to School Night yesterday evening. If you were not able to watch the opening program or view teachers’ videos of introduction, you will be able to access the recordings, which are available on our website--www.paly.com
Both the presentation video and individual teacher videos will remain available through the end of Tuesday, September 8, 2020. Most importantly, I would like to share my sincere gratitude for the additional time teachers put into the creation of their individual class videos.
I know that we continue to stretch our expectations of our teachers during our distance learning experience, and I am continually impressed by all of our teachers desires and abilities in making the best of a very challenging start to the school year. I encourage you to reach out directly to our teachers and express your gratitude for all of their hard work this year. It would be great, that as an entire Paly community, we fill our teachers’ email inboxes with messages of appreciation. I am going to start my messages of thanks today, please join me!
As we conclude our third week of school, it is my hope that your student and entire family have been able to successfully make the adjustment to distance learning. I know that we are all learning as we go, and I am continually reaching out to staff, students, and families alike in order to obtain perceptions of our current schedule. On that note, I have had several members of our Paly community reach out to me with perceptions and suggestions, regarding our current class schedule. Specifically, I have received several forms of communication regarding the 7-period day, from our students. It is important to me to provide all of our students at Paly with opportunities to share their experiences, which is why I am working on a student survey, asking for students’ opinions with the 7-period day. The data we collect from our students will help me better understand our schedule from the students’ perspective, which will help guide any improvement efforts with our current schedule. I hope to get this survey out to students by next week.
Finally, I would like to wish everyone in the Paly community a restful Labor Day Weekend. I know that all of us at Paly deserve an extended break, since this has been one of the most labor intensive school start-ups in our history. As a reminder, there is no school on Monday and school will resume on Tuesday, September 8 with the regular schedule of Period 1 beginning at 9:00 am.
NEW - PAUSD Distance Learning Survey
PAUSD’s first survey is available for parents and secondary students. The survey process will evolve over time and will narrow when necessary. This is our first attempt and expect to receive some information to inform future decisions about our program. The district survey can be accessed here.
Paly Library Update Reminder
Read, Research, Create & Connect 24/7
Pick-up/Drop-off of print materials begins Tuesday, September 8, 2020!
When: Every Tuesday and Thursday from 3-4:30pm
Where: The Performing Arts Center (PAC) ticket office facing the parking lot (see map)
Steps:
Book Reservation
Students reserve books online at https://pa.opals.pausd.org/bin/home
Check out this video tutorial if you want to learn how to reserve a book, and this video if you want to learn how to know if your desired book is available in the library.
Students await e-mail notification alerting them their books are ready for pick-up. Limited numbers of notices will be sent out to enable physical distancing safety.
Book Pick Up
Contactless pick-up
You must wear a mask to pick up your books. If you are feeling unwell, please do not come. Instead, email sthomas@pausd.org to make other arrangements.
Arrive at the front of the parking lot facing the PAC ticket window, hold up an 8x11” sign with your name, receive book(s) from library staff wearing mask and gloves through the ticket window
Have books to return? A book cart/bin will be waiting for your books in front of the ticket window. The books will be quarantined for 72 hours before being checked in by masked/gloved library staff.
Questions?
Can’t make it on to campus to pick up your library book? Email librarian Mrs. Thomas at sthomas@pausd.org to schedule an alternate option.
Note:
The Paly Library is providing a contactless pick-up/drop-off program modeled after the Palo Alto City Library plan and approved by site administration and the PAUSD District Office.
Paly Attendance--a reminder
Attendance procedures are the same as pre-COVID-19. If you are going to miss a class for any reason, contact: palyattendance@pausd.org (preferred) or 650 329-3711 with the periods you will not be attending. If you think you have been marked absent in error, contact your teacher directly.
When contacting the Attendance Office, please provide the following information (if leaving a voicemail message, please speak slowly and clearly and spell the first and last name of the student):
First and last name of the student
The Grade level of the student
Provide your name and state your relationship to the student
Give the reason for the absence and the days/periods missed (if no reason is given, it will be unexcused)
Please only call OR email. Doing both is unnecessary
Parents/Guardians have 72 hours to excuse an absence. After 72 hours, documentation is required to excuse the absence
Parent Support with Schoology
Would you like to learn a bit more about Schoology? PAUSD offers a parent training course on ‘How to use Schoology’, please check out "PAUSD Schoology Backpack”. All parents are automatically enrolled. If you are unable to access the course, please ask them to submit a Let's Talk ticket. PAUSD Schoology Backpack Link
Paly Administrative Contact Information
Brent Kline, Principal bkline@pausd.org
Jerry Berkson, AP--12th grade jberkson@pausd.org
Tom Keating, AP--11th grade tkeating@pausd.org
Margaret Reynolds, AP--10th grade mareynolds@pausd.org
Michelle Steingart, AP--9th grade msteingart@pausd.org