Gunn Together Times
November 12th, 2020
Good Evening Titan Families!
If you have any issues receiving or submitting the Learning Model Survey for Parents, please use this Let's Talk link: https://pausd.zoom.us/j/94494598165
Please read the following information regarding instructional models, learning at home, traveling over the holidays, and our Principal’s Coffees.
Board Meeting Update
If you haven't heard already, on Tuesday night, the PAUSD School Board approved the proposal to reopen secondary schools in January by providing students and families with the choice between Distance Learning or Hybrid Learning options. PAUSD families received an email yesterday that explained the options and directed families to commit to either Distance Learning or Hybrid Learning Options no later than Wednesday, November 18 at 5:00 PM.
For your review, here is a link to the instructional models proposed. Please feel free to reach out with any additional questions you may have.
PAUSD Board Meeting Video - November 10, 2020 - Midpen Media Center
Friday and Saturday Night Only!
Gunn Theatre is proud and excited to invite you to our powerful fall show, The Laramie Project, which opened last Friday, November 6th, and runs for two weekends. You can access links to our first-ever live-streamed production at Gunntheatre.org; thanks to the generosity of the Gunn Theatre Boosters we've decided that each performance of The LaramieProject is completely free to the public. Our Opening Gala at 7 pm this Friday, November 6th, will be introduced by the legendary Tim Farrell, Gunn English teacher emeritus, and the embodiment of all that is truly great about Gunn High School.
Upcoming performances: Friday 11/13 at @7pm, and Saturday 11/14 @ 7:30 pm. Again, the access to these performances is located at gunntheatre.org.
More about the play in these strangest of all years:
The story of Matthew Shepard broke headlines in 1998. A gay college student, he was kidnapped and beaten by two men, tied to a fence, and left to die on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. The LaramieProject is a play based on more than 200 interviews with Laramie residents conducted during the year immediately following the crime by playwright Moises Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project. The Laramie Projectasks how America can make sense of a hateful and violent act and offers itself as a sublimely compelling answer to its own question.
With a cast of 17 performers playing more than 75 roles, Gunn’s powerful online production is an exciting exploration of essential and innovative story-telling in this age of the pandemic.
New York reviews in 2000 called The Laramie Project “the most significant new work of this theater season…”; “magnificent - a thrilling and adventurous blend of story-telling, documentary journalism, and spellbinding theatrical showmanship.” This show is one you will never forget and is not to be missed!
All performances are completely free to the public. Tickets are available at Gunntheatre.org; ticket holders will be sent a link for the live-streamed performances running from November 6th through the 14th.e
New York reviews in 2000 called The Laramie Project “the most significant new work of this theater season…”; “magnificent - a thrilling and adventurous blend of story-telling, documentary journalism, and spellbinding theatrical showmanship.” This show is one you will never forget and is not to be missed!
All performances are completely free to the public. Tickets are available at Gunntheatre.org; ticket holders will be sent a link for the live-streamed performances running from November 6th through the 14th.
Return To Learn: One Pager to Inform Decision Making
Principal Coffee Slide Deck
UPDATED PiE CHALLENGE GRANT
Generous donors have offered a second and final challenge grant this year and will match donations up to $210,000 through November 16. Every donation at any level will be doubled!
Support our students by donating to PiE. If you have already given or pledged, thank you so much. Every dollar makes a difference.
Dear Gunn Families,
Funding from PiE makes a great impact on the entire Gunn community. Not only does it enable me to increase staffing in electives, counseling programs, and college and career counseling, it allows me to focus other funds on our core academics.
If you have already donated to PiE this year, I appreciate your support. If you have not, I ask you to please consider making a donation now. If you donate or pledge by November 16th, your donation may be matched by a Challenge Grant.
A donation, in any amount that is meaningful for your family, makes a difference to our community and our school. You can find out all the ways to make a contribution to PiE's website at https://papie.org/donate/
Thank you for being an important part of the Gunn community.
Warmly,
Wendy Stratton, Gunn Principal
Holiday Travel Guidance
The Santa Clara County Department of Public Health Guidelines includes the following directive.
Do I need to quarantine or get tested when I return from traveling outside of the County?
Currently, there is no legal requirement that you get tested or quarantine just because you traveled outside the state or country. But the COVID-19 virus is still circulating across the region, country, and globe, and if you are returning to Santa Clara County after travel, you should ask yourself the following questions:
In the areas you visited, were the COVID-19 case rates higher than in Santa Clara County?
Did you engage in any activities that would increase your risk of exposure? (examples include attending events with people outside your household, having contact with people who are not wearing face coverings, or attending large in-person events.)
If you answered yes to either question, you are strongly encouraged to protect yourself and others in the Santa Clara County community by:
reducing your contact with people outside your household for 14 days after returning;
getting tested during this 14 day period, ideally sometime between four and seven days after your return;
taking extra care to always wear your face covering when you’re in public.
For more information, please visit this link.
On Monday, November 9, Health Officers from 10 Bay Area counties issued joint recommendations for staying safe during the holidays. Their recommendations cover gatherings and travel, with recommended steps to reduce risk including:
Keeping gatherings small, short, stable, and outdoors
Choosing not to travel if Nonessential
For those who are traveling outside the Bay Area, tips are provided to help avoid catching COVID-19 or spreading it to fellow travelers
A 14-day self-quarantine is strongly recommended after a return from traveling if your activities while traveling put you at higher risk of COVID-19
For more information, please visit this link.
Supporting Learning at Home
Supporting Learning at Home: Resource for Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers
Earlier this fall a short-term Parent Education/Advisory Committee engaged in dialogue around what would be helpful to parents for supporting learning and wellness at home. The committee, which included parents and teachers on special assignment (TOSAs), discussed the following guiding questions:
- What support is needed for families to use Schoology, Seesaw, and Zoom?
- What support is needed to help your student in distance learning?
- What support is needed to help students become independent learners?
The parent group provided feedback and recommendations that informed the development of a new resource for parents, the Supporting Learning at Home website. The website houses videos, articles, and information related to educational technology “how-tos”; instruction; affective impacts of learning; social and emotional resources; and strategies for fostering independence. Resources on the website are aligned with the professional learning provided to teachers, the SEL summer course for students, and ongoing work to support parents with educational technology. Feel free to explore the website and watch for information about each section in future newsletters!
Gunn Site Council
Gunn 2020-2021 Site Council
Although it is an understatement to call this a unique school year, the mission of our Gunn Site Council is to have a big picture view of our future school structure, with an emphasis on continuous improvement. This important leadership group is the only one comprised of students, parents, teachers, classified staff, and administrators. We have just begun focusing our time and energy on identifying and synthesizing the core issues of our major site goals: High-Quality Teaching & Learning, Equity & Access, and Wellness & Safety. For those more deeply interested, please explore the School Reports which guide our process—SPSA, WASC, and CAASPP reports.
There are many ways all stakeholders can be involved, and we welcome you to ponder these big issues and share your constructive solutions with your representatives found on our Gunn Site Council web page. You are also welcome to send your thoughts in through our Gunn Site Council Parent Feedback form.
Under the Site Council Meeting Materials tab, you will find meeting dates/times, zoom meeting links, agendas (both archived and upcoming), and approved minutes. Meeting agendas will be posted no later than 72 hours in advance and we do provide an opportunity for feedback on non-agenda items in our open forum. As always, please discuss important classroom issues directly with your student’s teacher, counselor, departmental instructional leaders, and administrators, and bring us feedback you feel is relevant to our over-arching site goals. There is no perfect school, but with a diversity of viewpoints, we can make it the best possible for everyone.
Upcoming Events
November 12-14
Gunn Fall Play: The Laramie Project
November 12
5:30 PM, Principal's Chat with Principal Stratton
November 13
8:30 AM, Principal's Chat with Principal Stratton
November 18
7:00 PM, "New to the USA Night" with College Counselor Linda Kirsch
November 19
9:00 AM, 10th Grade Parent Network Coffee
November 19
6:00 PM, The Social Dilemma on Zoom
ELAC: Parents/Guardians and Families of English Learners
We invite all parents/guardians who have English learners at Gunn in their families to watch this linked video.
The video includes valuable information about the EL Program, the initial testing, and the reclassification process.
Our second ELAC meeting will be a Zoom meeting on October 7 at 4PM.
Advanced Placement (AP) Exams
AP registration is ready! To complete registration students must be registered on Total Registration and the College Board. Please see the Gunn AP Webpage for more information. The plan is to have AP exams in-person, but this may be subject to change based on county public health regulations. If you have questions please reach out to Bridget Johnson bjohnson@pausd.org.
Support for Gunn Families
Parents Support Webinar Series: Families Connecting Across Generations Workshops
A parenting support webinar series on Families Connecting Across Generations Workshop sponsored by Palo Alto Unified School District’s Wellness and Support Services in partnership with Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) will start this Tuesday, October 13th.
This is a 9-week workshop that will be led by AACI counselors in Mandarin. While parts of the workshops are tailored specifically to families of middle school and high school age students, it is open to families of K-12 students. The series will focus on educating families on preparing for their children's future with culturally focused parenting and offer guidance under these uncertain times. Contact Yifan Wang, AMFT for more information, 650.329.3999 ext. 6975 or by email at ywang@pausd.org. Please register at Eventbrite. Once registered,
Quick Links
Quick Links
Parent Networks
| 12th Grade Class | 2021pncoordinator@gunnpta.org
Nisha Datta, Julie Dubrouillet & Laura Wingard
| 11th Grade Class | 2022pncoordinator@gunnpta.org
Claire Kirner, Leena Gill, & Gunjan Gupta
| 10th Grade Class | 2023pncoordinator@gunnpta.org
An nie Bedichek, Lili Nova-Roessig, & Mana Uchino
| 9th grade Class | 2024pncoordinator@gunnpta.org
Elizabeth Lam, Naomi Wang, & Michelle Chen
| Special Ed/Inclusion Rep | specialed@gunnpta.org
Momo Yanagihara & Yael Uziyel Navel
Palo Alto Partners in Education
PTSA
Gunn Foundation
Support Gunn Students via the Gunn Foundation
Since 1968, the Gunn Foundation has been granting need-based scholarships to college-bound seniors in the Gunn community. Scholarships fund essential expenses— deposits, textbooks, fees, and college costs that are often unmet by aid packages. Especially now with the impact of COVID, Gunn Foundation scholarships can make a huge difference in the future of a Gunn student.
Look for the Gunn Foundation on Step 4 of the online back-to-school packet or visit our website (gunnfound.org) and consider making a donation to support a Gunn student. Your support, at any level, will truly make a difference.
Henry M. Gunn High School
Email: wstratton@pausd.org
Website: gunn.pausd.org
Location: 780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Phone: (650)354-8200