Pleasanton School Dismissals Extended To May 1

From Pleasanton Unified School District:

Good morning,I want to provide a brief update as our schools continue to be dismissed as a part of the County’s Shelter in Place at Home order. We were notified this morning that the March 16th order has been officially extended by the Alameda County Public Health Department (and the other Bay Area health officers) to May 1, 2020 (read the public announcement). Consequently, we will be adjusting our planning for a longer period of school dismissals.I appreciate how difficult this is for all of us. Pleasanton is an active and engaged community and thrives on interactions with others. It has been heartwarming to watch families connecting with friends via FaceTime, various social media platforms, and video conferencing tools. Some of you are quite humorous in your approach, and I for one appreciate the stress relief this humor brings to me.

While social distancing is critically important, we continue to be resilient and find new ways to connect and engage with our students. On Monday, our students and teachers began the first official day of remote learning activities. It has been fun to watch some of these reconnections take place - lots of smiles and virtual hugs. It is clear that students have missed their teachers and teachers are happy to be back in connection with their students.

This remote learning structure is new for many. Our teachers quickly immersed themselves in remote professional learning last week and will continue to be supported by our fantastic Teaching and Learning Team. With any new learning, there are bound to be speed bumps that we will figure out together in the weeks ahead. But I know this about our PUSD teachers - They are a caring, committed and compassionate group and will do everything they can to ensure each student benefits from continued learning during these mandated school dismissals.

At this time, all District sites are closed to the public and functioning with a small number of essential staff. The remainder of our employees are sheltering at home, along with their families. Please feel free to email your teachers with questions, or reach out to your school’s principal, if you need additional support. Email will be much more effective than phone calls, at this time. Please understand that like most of you, our staff is working remotely, they are juggling responsibility for their families while at home.

We will get through this together and will be better because of it all. To that end, I would like to close by sharing a few excerpts from the many emails I have received this past week:

“Thank you from the bottom of the heart for all that you, the teachers, and the district staff are doing to help continue our children's education in this challenging time. I am especially moved by how staff personally delivered the Chromebooks to the children, and the district continuing to feed the children needing food. God bless you all. I hope these acts of kindness and compassion live forever in our children's hearts, and they continue to pay that forward.”

Another parent expressed thanks to our teachers and leadership team:

“Just wanted to send a quick note to say thank you for your leadership during this time. This has been and will continue to be hard, but as all the notes from teachers have been streaming into my inbox, it's very clear that they're all committed to doing their best during this time. Their positive attitudes and willingness to take on a completely different style of learning has been inspirational. We need a good team and good leadership right now, and it seems we have both. So, keep it up, and know that the effort is very much appreciated.”

A technology expert who lives in town offered to help:

“Thanks for your hard work. Would you please let me know if PUSD needs any volunteers? There are a lot of parents who work in Silicon Valley. If the PUSD Information Technology Department is short handed, we could help! If teachers need help using Zoom or WebEx, we could help them remotely, as long as they have a computer and network.”

A grateful parent offered a bit of hope:“I had tears in my eyes, while reading this note from you about how you and the team of teachers and staff personally delivered Chromebooks to students at their homes. I am the lucky parent of one of your students, a junior who fortunately has not had a need for material help. However, I feel lucky because she is part of a school system where everyone from the top on down, cares! Your efforts are going to yield fruit, they are life lessons for your students, but also when we come out on the other side, your team and PUSD will be stronger, more connected and more caring for all you are doing through this crisis. Kudos to you and your dedicated staff in ensuring that the future of the next generation is not compromised by this generation-defining moment in time!”

These sentiments represent only a small number of the heartfelt emails from our stakeholders. They speak to the heart of our Pleasanton Community of Character. I believe that a certain well-loved former PUSD Board member, the late Mrs. Juanita Haugen, whose kindness forged these shared community values, would be proud of us all. I know that I am.

As we have up to this point, we will continue to communicate new information as we receive it from the County Health Director and/or Governor. Please continue to take good care, stay healthy and be safe, as we continue to navigate this situation together.

Sincerely,

Dr. David Haglund

Superintendent of Schools

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