Boxer Bulletin
Eastwood Academy HS Newsletter - March COVID 19 (3/24/2020)
Hello, Eastwood Family!
These are unprecedented times and I am so thankful to serve a community as loving, compassionate, and understanding as you all. The next several weeks will be filled with changes and unknown circumstances, but I have made it my personal goal to keep you all as informed as possible. I hope you will visit this site often to get the latest updates for both our campus and the district.
As you all know, HISD has closed all schools until April 10, 2020. This includes all events that were scheduled through April. We will be following guidelines from the school district regarding any further closures. Most importantly, virtual instruction will resume on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 via Distance Learning. While we will not be coming in physically, our faculty and staff will be working from home. Please use this week (March 23 - March 27) to become familiar with the online platforms and make sure you gain access to your HISD email accounts. This will be the primary means of communication to students.
We have been preparing for this possibility and are confident that we will be able to continue our high standards of curriculum and instruction during this time. Each teacher has a plan for communicating with students, providing instruction and assignments, assessing understanding, and providing timely feedback on your performance.
All this being said, this begins a new chapter in public education. We all have a new learning curve ahead of us. As we navigate our way through uncharted waters together I ask that you exercise compassion and understanding for our teachers. I have asked the same from them towards our students and parents. We all need to practice patience and assume positive intentions with one another. We can make the best of this challenge ahead of us, but we can ensure a positive outcome if we commit to working together towards the common goal: preparing our students to qualify for entrance into a four-year Texas university system.
Superintendent's Survey
Missed Principal Lira's Virtual Meeting?
Here are the highlights:
Please know that cancellations and other decisions are made in compliance with the CDC and government officials' directives. While we understand the special occasions that will be impacted, Eastwood Academy and HISD will not break any laws or ordinances. Once we know definitely when all these restrictions are lifted, we can then begin to make decisions about rescheduling so that students have their moments. Until then, we will adhere to all mandates from our government and the school district.
- All events scheduled for March and April have been cancelled.
- Prom has been cancelled (scheduled for May 1).
- School Day SAT and Saturday SAT scheduled face-to-face at Eastwood have been cancelled.
- Class of 2021 Juniors will take the School Day SAT on October 14, 2020.
Testing
- TELPAS: Test administration has been extended until May 29, 2020.
- STAAR: All exams have been suspended by the Governor.
- SAT: Cancelled for March & April
- AP Exams: Will be online administration from the students' homes and two dates will be available for all exams given. The exam is condensed to include only the coursework that should have been covered up until schools closed. The exam will only include free response items and no multiple choice. Please refer to the College Board website for the latest updates by clicking the button below:
- We want to be as streamlined as possible with our communication to you all. I have been posting on all social media sites and on Living Tree, our in-house communication platform. I understand some of you may not have access to social media, so we are building a special page that will be available from our school website. This special site is called "Eastwood@Home." On this site you will find the most important and relevant posts from our social media sites and additional resources to help you through the online learning time period. I will add the link below this section.
- Teachers have been tasked with submitting to me plans for how they plan to communicate with students/parents, where students will access instructional materials, how students can submit assignments, and how they plan to give feedback on student performance. Once these are collected, you will be able to find all teachers using our special site "Eastwood @ Home."
- Students MUST gain access to their HISD email address before Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Detailed instructions on how to do this will be posted on the Eastwood@Home site under the "Technical Support Toolkit" section.
Click the button below to access our Eastwood@Home site.
- All teachers will provide instruction remotely. For some teachers this involves joining a live virtual lesson at the time period you would have been in class with that teacher. For other teachers, this might involve signing into an online tool like APEX or the HUB to access lesson and submit assignments.
- You can learn how your teacher will deliver instruction by visiting the Eastwood@Home site and clicking "Eastwood Teachers" from the main menu. Here, all teachers are listed and when you open the teacher's category, you will see details about how to reach them, how content will be delivered, and how to submit assignments.
- I ask that you keep in mind that what you put into the work while at home is what you will get out of it. If you make the irresponsible decision to sleep in until noon and not engage with the learning activities, you will begin to fall very behind and you will not be ready for the next level of expectations upon your return.
Social Media Sites
Stay Connected!
Principal Lira's Email: blira2@houstonisd.org
Email: eastwoodacademyhighschool@gmail.com
Website: www.eastwoodacademy.org
Location: 1315 Dumble Street, Houston, TX, USA
Phone: 713-924-1697
Facebook: facebook.com/eastwoodacademyhighschool
Twitter: @eastwoodboxers