School Closure:
A letter from Mrs. Weed
April 6, 2020
Dear KGA Families,
We certainly are missing all of you! We hope that Week 1 in Distant Learning went as well as could be expected for each of you and your families. For the remainder of the year, we will do our best to stay in as close communication to you as possible. One of the ways we will communicate is with a letter from Mrs. Nusbaum and me every Monday that hopefully captures all the new district implementations and our KGA work that will support your learning from home. This letter highlights our goals for week one of online learning, how we’re moving into week two, and explains two updates: Assignment Response Form and Google Hangouts.
We are certainly aware that every household is different and that each of you have unique needs and require varying school supports during this time. Our major goal last week was to roll-out Week 1 district assignments on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday and to provide the remote technology support for Think Central, accessing pdf files, and ATI Galileo for each student. We also hope that we assured you that we are here for our students and families and incorporated grade level/school staff communication pathways for any additional support. Our first priority is always for the emotional health of our students and your families.
Moving into Week 2 today, you will see another set of these assignments that are designed by our district instructional teams. These assignments are meant as a baseline of instruction for all CUSD students. This same format and instruction will be provided to you consistently throughout the closure of the school this year. In addition, our teachers will provide enrichment activities and do our best to make connections while being realistic on the varying resources (time, technology, etc.) that may or may not be available for each of our students. The district assignments are optional for families, but we would encourage each student to be as engaged as needed or possible with their teachers/school. We have personally asked each staff member to reach out to families and ensure that they have the support they need during this time.
As this all unfolds not just at KGA, but at the district and state level, there comes accountability pieces that we are asked to report. The ADE (Arizona Department of Education) is requiring that every school and district report numbers of students accessing the district and school assignments. At KGA, we believe we can gather this information quickly and easily by having you or your student return a weekly Assignment Response Form. Each grade level at KGA has created a quick Google Survey that will be sent out each week so that we can be in compliance with the state guideline. We ask that in grades K-2 a parent/guardian fills out the form and returns it and then in grades 3-6 the students will be asked to complete this form. Your student’s teacher or grade level team will be sending this information out to you this week with further instructions. Please note that we are not using this survey for grading purposes and are hopeful it serves as an additional tool to make sure each family has the individual support needed.
The next news is that CUSD is implementing Google Hangouts for all our K-6 classrooms. We know that many of our students want to be connected to their teachers and classmates in a virtual classroom setting. Our teachers are going through training to learn the district expectations and we are ensuring student safety is a top priority. We will not initiate any Google Hangouts until our teams are all trained and we have permission from our families. You will be receiving a Virtual Permission Form from your student’s teacher/grade level this afternoon. If you would like your student to participate in any Google Hangouts with their teachers and small groups of students, we need to have this form signed and returned digitally. Thank you for understanding that we are treading carefully into virtual platforms to ensure the safety of every one of our students and their families.
As we wrap up this week’s Monday message, please know that we are doing everything possible to give all our families what they may need to get through this changing time. We are here for you and we welcome any questions, concerns, phone calls, or emails. Paula DeSantis, our Counselor is always available Monday - Friday, with office hours from 1:00 - 3:00 pm. Her contact is desantis.paula@cusd80.com.
This Friday, April 10th is a designated Spring Holiday for CUSD . Thank you for understanding that our staff is working non-stop to provide you with all you need and will be available again on Monday, April 13th, after the three-day weekend. Thank you to all families that participated in the Art Masterpiece virtual spaces last week. We look forward to planning more opportunities to connect as a community.
Please let us know how we can further support you in any way.
Sincerely,
Jen and Lynn
