Sherwood Schools: District Updates
October 16, 2020
Family Comprehensive Distance Learning Survey Follow Up
The District recently sent a survey to families to learn more about how Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL) is working this year. We appreciate the effort families put into completing the survey and wanted to circle back to you with results. Although there are certainly many areas in which there is room to improve, there was also a sense that most families that took the survey had positive thoughts about CDL so far this year. We are so proud of the hard work of our teachers to deliver the best education possible given the challenging situation. We are also grateful for the hard work of our families who are giving so much time and effort to supporting their students -- it’s a true testament to the strength of our community!
We will continue to analyze the data and the comments provided by families as we strive to continuously improve. To see the results of the survey, click here.
Community-Wide Learning Support and Child Care Grant (CWLSC)
The Sherwood School District is excited about a grant opportunity through Washington County utilizing CARES Act funds. This grant is designed to help provide child care supports for families in our community that have been impacted by COVID-19 and distance learning. The District will have approximately 100 slots available for these subsidies. Funds will be available to families of essential workers (including Sherwood School District staff) for child care services provided from October 12, 2020 to December 18, 2020. See below for the qualification tiers and maximum subsidy.
The subsidies are available to families with children from infants to 12 years old that have their child in a licensed child care center that is supporting Comprehensive Distance Learning. If you are interested in receiving this benefit, please fill out the application linked here (for Spanish application, click here). Applications received by October 21, 2020 will be considered on a priority basis and applications received after this date will be considered on a first come first served basis.
The District has partnered with Champions, a local child care provider that is offering full day services for students ages 5-12 for SSD staff and the community. If you are interested in enrolling your child/children, please visit the link for your elementary school below to enroll:
Enrollment does not automatically qualify a family for this subsidy.
The District has additionally partnered with the YMCA, a local child care provider, who is offering full day services for students ages infant (6 weeks) to 12 years old for SSD staff and the community. If you are interested in enrolling your child/children that are school age (5-12 years old), please visit their website to register. For children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old please visit this website. Enrollment does not automatically qualify a family for this subsidy.
Subsidies for all child care providers will be on a reimbursement basis to the families. Proof of payment and income verification may be required.
Return to In-Person Instruction in Grades K-3 -- Update
Several weeks ago, we shared with you information about the possibilities of returning our K-3 students to school for in-person instruction in a hybrid model. To do so, we are required to meet certain data-based metrics set forth by the Governor for three weeks in a row. Washington County met those metrics for the week of September 7th, but has failed to meet the metrics since that time as case rates continue to rise. This is disappointing news, and we hope that case rates will begin to fall in the weeks to come so that we can bring our youngest learners on campus as soon as possible. We will continue to update you regularly on these metrics.
For more information on this topic, please see the original communication on this topic sent several weeks ago by clicking here. School metrics from the Oregon Health Authority are generally released early each week and can be found here.
Clarification on Guidance for In-Person Activities
Some of you may have noticed sports teams conditioning on our school campuses and wondered why sports teams are able to practice, but students are not able to attend school. The simple answer is that sports and activities are governed by one set of rules and regulations; bringing students into schools for in-person learning is governed by a different set of rules and regulations.
To this point, the District has worked to bring students to our campuses when we meet the conditions set forth in the rules and regulations created by the experts. We believe it is important to offer our students those opportunities for connection and engagement when we are able to do so within adherence to the health and safety guidelines. Currently, we are allowed to have sports teams practice (in addition to some activities, such as marching band) if they meet certain conditions, but cannot open our schools for in-person learning in a hybrid model.
The regulations covering both athletics and in-person instruction are listed below if you are interested in more information.
Sports and activities are governed by the Oregon Schools Activities Association (OSAA). OSAA is following guidance directly from the Governor’s “Statewide Reopening Guidance – K-12 School Sports, Limited Return to Play.” OSAA released an abbreviated version of the guidance that you can read by clicking here.
Guidance regarding conditions for in-person instruction is issued by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). That guidance is largely contained in Ready Schools, Safe Learners and numerous other guidance documents that can be found here.
Please note that you may also observe other organizations or groups -- such as youth sports or community members -- using our outdoor facilities, which are open to the public at this time. We ask that all community members using our facilities adhere to health and safety guidelines for social distancing and the use of masks or face coverings.
Sherwood Middle School Media Center Coordinator Carol Duncan Wins Celebrate Literacy Award
SHARE Center Open in New Location
SHARE is open Monday-Friday, 8:00am-3:00pm daily. Services available to families and students include direct resources (food, school supplies, toiletries, etc.), referrals and information about community resources, and on-site services such as Spanish interpretation or internet access. For more information about the SHARAE Center, please visit our website here.
Sherwood School District
Website: http://www.sherwood.k12.or.us/
Location: 23295 Southwest Main Street, Sherwood, OR, USA
Phone: 503-825-5000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherwoodschooldistrict88J/
Twitter: @SherwoodSD