Superintendent's Newsletter

At this time of Thanksgiving, I want to express my gratitude to our parents, teachers, staff and students for their commitment to our schools, as well as the health and safety of others. This year has been full of challenges and together, we've been able to safely return our TK-3rd grade students back to our campuses! After our Thanksgiving Break, we are thrilled to begin welcoming the rest of our Blended Learning students back to our classrooms.

I'm grateful for everyone's flexibility at this difficult time. To give our families choice, we are running two programs with our Blended Learning model and our LASD Virtual School. We've had to work together as a community to adjust staff, cohorts and schedules to support all of our students' learning needs.

With grace and understanding, our parents and teachers have built an amazing community of learners by sharing our struggles and successes with our kids, learning together how to navigate this global pandemic. Our community's resilience and strength allowed us to overcome these challenges and move forward together with the best education possible for all students. Thank you, as always, for your partnership.

A pioneer in computer science education, LASD developed a program that is integrated into the curriculum across all grade levels. “Computer Science for All” is the philosophy that guides the program at LASD. We integrate computer science throughout the core program at every grade level and provide opportunities for all students to create personally relevant projects using their computer science skills to make art, animation or stories and games.

In our distance learning model, whether students are in Virtual School or Blended, they are continuing their Computer Science education and building new skills.

Learn more about our Computer Science program in this video: https://youtu.be/IeJnOf36gck

As COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the Bay Area and across the nation, local public health officials released important recommendations this month to prevent the spread of illness this holiday season.

If you travel outside the Bay Area, it is strongly recommended that you self-quarantine for 14 days after your return if your activities while travelling put you at higher risk of getting COVID-19. Please review this document from our public health officials if you plan to travel to reduce your risk of exposure and to prevent the spread of illness in our schools.

Abiding by the recommendations for safer gatherings is essential not only to staying healthy, but also to keeping our schools open for in-person learning.

Key recommendations are as follows:

• The safest gathering is one that is a small, stable group that meets outdoors for a short duration and uses face coverings, distance and other safety measures

• OUTSIDE IS SAFER: Gather outside and follow safety guidelines

• SMALL: Limit gatherings to no more than 3 households
  
• SHORT: Limit gatherings to no more than 2 hours
  
• STABLE: Do not participate in multiple gatherings with many different households
  

We've asked our entire community to review and abide by our Community Expectations for Healthy Schools, which are an essential component of our plan to keep our schools open for in-person learning. Please take the time to review or reacquaint yourself with these expectations so we can keep our community safe and prevent the spread of illness, especially as we move into the holiday season and winter months, when we will be spending more time indoors.

In addition, please visit our Reopening and Coronavirus web pages for important information as your student prepares to return to campus. Our Coronavirus web page also includes a weekly update of any reported cases of Coronavirus in our schools. The "10 Things to Do" document in English, Spanish and Mandarin provides helpful tips to prepare your child for a safe and easy return to campus.

Please join us for a Town Hall about the Blended Learning model for our sixth grade and junior high school students to prepare for their return to in-person learning on our campuses in January. For more information about the model and schedule, please review our Board Agenda online and check out the presentation for item H.1.

Register for the 6th Grade Town Hall on November 18th here.

Register for the Junior High School Town Hall on November 17th here.

Website: losaltosschools.org
Location: 201 Covington Road, Los Altos, CA, USA