Novato Unified School District Message To Elementary Families

Press release from the Novato Unified School District:

August 7, 2020

Dear NUSD Elementary Families,

We write to you today with the full understanding that we stand at the brink of one of the most challenging situations in the history of education. As we navigate our return to school during this pandemic, we have every confidence and trust in our extraordinary NUSD teachers. They are working hard to obtain new digital skills, and to ensure that fall learning is robust, predictable and rich for our students. We know many of you have been waiting to hear about our plans for our Flexible In-Person Schedule and Virtual Learning Academy, as we begin the 2020-2021 academic year with District-wide remote learning.

The Elementary Re-Entry Task Force (composed of parents, teachers, assistant principal, principals, and a Board Trustee) has worked over the summer to create the following guidelines, expectations and weekly elementary schedule in order to ensure equitable access to remote learning for ALL students. Our goal is to ensure that ALL our students receive the same high-quality instruction throughout this upcoming remote learning beginning of the 2020-21 school year.

We recognize and understand that many NUSD families are facing a wide variety of challenges during these times, and that some families struggle with remote learning because of different situations and circumstances. We are committed to working closely with those families to ensure that their children receive support and adequate instruction during remote learning. Here is what you can expect as we begin the school year:

Student Responsibility – Students will:

• Attend all live (synchronous) lessons and watch any provided instructional videos
• Complete practice work and turn in all assigned classwork
• Access to their daily or weekly schedule
• Work online and offline throughout the day
• Have up to four hours of learning each day
• Engage in small group instruction with their teacher for targeted support or extensions
• Be marked absent if not engaged in daily learning (remote or live interaction)
• Read every night for a minimum of 30 minutes.
• Be encouraged to stay connected with their classmates and continue their social lives using age appropriate applications and Zoom calls. Encourage students to check in with friends, to see one of our counselors, have a streaming watch party or take an online mindfulness class. All of these activities can continue even while keeping socially distant from others.

Family Responsibility – Families will:

• Have support from teachers and administration on at-home and remote learning.
• Identify someone who can support and oversee their student throughout the learning day.
• Create a safe learning environment
• Ensure that students attend all live lessons, view any provided instructional videos, complete practice work and assignments (State truancy laws will apply to students who do not attend daily learning)
• Receive a daily or weekly schedule sent by the teacher
• Receive clear communication from the classroom teacher
• Have access to teachers via email or return phone call after instructional hours
• Read with their elementary student every night for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Teacher Responsibility – Teachers will:

• Adhere to legal requirements for distance learning, including daily live interaction for purposes of instruction, progress monitoring, and maintaining school connectedness (SB98, Ed. Code, § 43503(b).)
• Mark students absent if not engaged in daily learning. Pupils who are absent from distance learning for more than 3 school days or 60% of the instructional days in a school week will receive outreach from their teacher to determine pupil needs including connection with health and social services as necessary (As required by AB 98).

We continue to negotiate agreements with the Novato Federation of Teachers. As we await agreements to be reached, we hope teachers may also:

• Develop clear weekly and/or daily schedules and send to families.
• Maintain an online platform for students to access and submit work. This may include the use of SeeSaw and Google Classroom.
• Utilize a weekly engagement record is completed for each pupil documenting synchronous or asynchronous instruction for each whole or partial day of distance learning, verifying daily participation, and tracking assignments.
• Use and follow the NUSD Essential Standards for ELA and Math. Social Studies, Science, and Arts may be integrated in thematic units.
• Support families through parent meetings, emails, phone calls as needed outside of instructional time but within the teacher workday.
• Reply to emails outside of instructional time but within the teacher workday.

What will a day of Remote-Learning look like for my student?

(This is for both Virtual Learning Academy and Flexible In-Person Learning)

(More detailed information can be found in the Return to School Plan, Adaptable Schedule Models under Recommended Elementary Schedules here.)

Also, information on what Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning looks like can be found here.

Even in this difficult situation, we are committed to building educational experiences that are engaging and of exceptional quality. A successful and safe academic year will only be possible if each of us looks out for the health of our fellow community neighbors and partners.

We all are eager to return to campus life at some point in the months ahead, and we remain committed to making this decision with a great deal of care and careful planning. NUSD has consistently proceeded with the guidelines and recommendations provided by federal, state and local agencies and will continue to do so in the future. The safety of our students, staff and families is our top priority.

Amie Carter

Assistant Superintendent, Education Services

www.nusd.org/COVID

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