With the school year underway, our elementary and secondary schools have begun hosting virtual Back-to-School Nights (BTSN). BTSN is an important event that presents parents with the opportunity to learn about the upcoming school year and ask your child’s teacher any questions you may have. Your child’s teacher(s) will explain their goals for the class and your child and share information about their teaching style and methodology, grade-level curriculum, and other relevant information. Attending this important event shows your child that you are a partner in their education. Research shows that a parent’s involvement with their child’s education helps students be more successful in school.
Orange Unified School District has prided itself on being one of the first districts in Orange County to open to in-person instruction in the Fall of 2020 and remained open the entire time. Not all OC districts opened, and many remained closed for over a year. OUSD followed – and continues to follow – all necessary safety guidelines to open schools for in-person instruction as soon as it was permitted to do so.
As we continue to focus on the health and safety of our students and staff, we are pleased to share that Orange Unified will begin offering voluntary COVID-19 testing four times per week to all interested students starting on Monday, September 13. This type of surveillance testing program is recommended by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The intent of the OUSD COVID-19 Testing Program is to continue to maximize our school community’s good health and safety.
EVENT DATES/TIMES: Every Monday through Thursday, 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM
EVENT LOCATIONS:
- Canyon High School
- El Modena High
- Orange High School
- Villa Park High School
- OUSD District Office
ONLINE REGISTRATION: https://hipaa.jotform.com/LivingFit/OUSDAug26Students
To keep COVID-19 transmission out of our schools, we continue to work with public health officials to implement the latest guidance in alignment with our 2021-2022 Safety & Health-Driven Plan: Transition to Phase 3, which includes:
- Sanitizing and deep cleaning classrooms daily, utilizing the Victory Sprayer nightly as an extra precaution
- Applying Bac-Shield quarterly
- Adding individual hand sanitizing units to each classroom
- Replacing all on-site HVAC filters quarterly
- Supporting four additional hours of daily custodial support for disinfecting touchpoints
- Making handwashing stations available around the school grounds for students to use while outside (in addition to the restrooms)
- Enforcing mask-wearing indoors and highly recommending it outside
- Encouraging the use of hand sanitizer as students enter and exit the classroom
In addition to our current remediation strategies and in response to the CalOSHA and CDC guidance related to filtration and ventilation, the Board of Education voted at their meeting on September 9 to approve the procurement and installation of portable, medical-grade High Efficient Particulate Air (HEPA) filtration systems throughout the district to further mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission at our sites.
The Board of Education also passed an emergency resolution to allow staff to provide enhanced safety measures and support schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling schools to continue to operate in person. This added emergency measure allows the Superintendent to work with the Board of Education to implement actions to promote safety in school operations and is a positive measure in securing the use of resources to keep schools in person to support the social/emotional and academic learning of all students.
While we focus on keeping our students and staff healthy on our campuses, we need your partnership to help keep illness out of our schools. Please limit exposure while not on campus by following the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and wearing a mask, avoiding crowds, getting vaccinated if you are able, and adhering to quarantine protocols if necessary. As a reminder, students and staff should not attend school/work if they are feeling unwell or experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19.
