Gilroy City Update On Flexible Learning And Social Distancing

From the Gilroy Unified School District:

Mar 15 2020 - Melanie Corona

Dear GUSD families,

I want to thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through a lot of unanswered questions after the County’s directive to close schools on March 13, 2020. I want to provide some updates for you with information that we have available as of Sunday, March 15, as we move into our first week of school closures.

School closures

As communicated on March 13, all GUSD schools are closed Monday, March 16, through Sunday, April 12. Students are scheduled to return to campus on Monday, April 13, after the Spring Break holiday.

Online learning

Principals and District Office staff are meeting Monday, March 16, to develop flexible learning opportunities (i.e. online learning, Google classroom, and hard copy packets), for students to utilize during school closures, in response to COVID-19. Information about access and availability will be posted on the District Office website by 5 p.m., Monday, March 16. Please encourage your children to check their gilroyunified.org email addresses as they are able, and look for communication sent to your email address, through Aeries or other online platforms from our teachers. We are working on alternative options for our families who might not have internet access, and will communicate that information as soon as it is available.

Food Resources

Beginning Monday, March 16, through Friday, April 3, our food service department is offering free meals to all children in Gilroy during the school closure. Breakfast and lunch will be served at these school sites in Gilroy:

• Ascencion Solorsano Middle School (7121 Grenache Way, Gilroy)
• South Valley Middle School (385 IOOF Avenue, Gilroy)
• Antonio Del Buono Elementary School (9300 Wren Avenue, Gilroy)
• Eliot Elementary School (475 Old Gilroy Street, Gilroy)
• Glen View Elementary School (600 E. Eighth Street, Gilroy)
• Rod Kelley Elementary School (8755 Kern Avenue, Gilroy)
• Rucker Elementary School (325 Santa Clara Avenue, Gilroy)

Packaged meals will be served during designated times and children must be present to receive meals. Breakfast will be offered from 8:00-10:00 am. Lunch will be offered from 12:00-2:00 pm.

More information pdf on this food program is posted our website.

The importance of social distancing

In our current climate, it is especially important to practice social distancing as we all work to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. While the allure of having three weeks off of school prior to our scheduled Spring Break might seem like the opportunity for meet-ups and play dates, the time off created by school closures is intended to do the exact opposite. Please do all that you can to limit your interactions with members of the public other than your family members. Our students should not be meeting up at malls, coffee shops, restaurants or stores as groups of friends who have limitless time. Please remind your children that this a time when people should stay home, only visiting stores and other public spaces if absolutely necessary.

While I understand that life must go on, we all must practice a level of caution to mitigate the spread of this virus. I understand the disruption and inconvenience that voluntarily quarantining can present to people but it is necessary. This article is particularly informative about the importance of social distancing and the small steps we can take to make a great impact:

Asking questions and sharing concerns

The District Office has a specially designated email address for the public to submit questions or concerns regarding steps the District is taking in response to COVID-19. Please email questions@gilroyunified.org. We will update this contact information with a phone number by March 16, 2020, at 5:00 pm.

Updated information

Our District Office is releasing information as it becomes available. Please continue to check our website (https://www.gilroyunified.org/novel-coronavirus-information) and continue to follow our social media platforms to stay up-to-date on all pertinent information

• Facebook: @GilroyUnifiedSchoolDistrict
• Twitter: @GilroyUSD
• Instagram: @Gilroy_USD

Rest assured we are working hard to mitigate the impact that this pandemic has had on our school community. We are receiving great questions from our staff and families that we are working to address. Please understand that in this fluid situation, we don’t yet have answers for many questions, and answers may change as the available information we have changes. We are doing the very best that we can to address the needs of everyone in our school communities. We are grateful to all of you for your patience and understanding as we try to manage an unprecedented time in our history. Please don’t hesitate to continue asking questions and sharing concerns with our team.

Sincerely,

Deborah A. Flores, Ph.D.

Superintendent, Gilroy Unified School District

This press release was produced by the Gilroy Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.