Greetings Allen Families! A few quick updates as our office staff prepares to start their brief summer vacation.
School Office Hours
Our office staff has been working hard to prepare for the upcoming 2020-2021 school year and is ready for a much needed break! The school office will remain closed to the public until August 12, 2020 so that staff can recharge and prepare for the upcoming academic year. Beginning August 12, 2020, the school office hours will be 8 am to 4 pm, Monday through Friday. If you have any questions, you may contact the school office at (619) 479-3662 and we will respond as soon as the office reopens.
We will continue to provide weekly updates on this blog every Sunday and expect to hear more details regarding the school year on July 15th. Please continue to check the district’s website, http://www.cvesd.org, and the school blog at http://www.allenelementary.org for weekly updates.
School Calendar, Pending Approval
A tentative CVESD 2020-2021 school calendar is pending approval by the CVESD Board of Education on June 17th. If approved, schools in our district would resume on Monday, August 31, 2020, with the last day of school on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Please note the absence of a fall break on this proposed calendar as it closely mirrors traditional school year calendars of other districts in San Diego County. When schools reopen, the health and safety of students and staff will be paramount.
Meeting Updates for Parents
The next CVESD Board of Education meeting will be on Wednesday, June 17th at 5 pm. Please see this website to access the meeting online: https://www.cvesd.org/board_of_education/board_meetings
Allen’s next PTC Meeting will be on Monday, July 13th at 6 pm. This meeting will be held virtually online in accordance with state and county health guidelines. August’s PTC Meeting will be on Monday, August 10th at 6 pm online as well. Please email john.greenwell@cvesd.org in advance of the meeting for the link to the online PTC meetings.
Caleb’s Stories
Making stories and the news!
We are pleased to see that Caleb, a rising second grade student at Ella B. Allen Elementary, continues to write his stories. His efforts have garnered attention from NBC San Diego channel 7 news!
If you have not yet read this letter, please see the latest letter dated on June 9th from our district Superintendent, Dr. Francisco Escobedo below…
Your Grit Inspires Us!
June 9, 2020
Dear Parents/Guardians and Staff Members:
As we see the 2019-20 school year come to a close, I want to thank you and your children for your flexibility and adaptability as we quickly transitioned to distance learning and instruction. Everyone showed a true level of grit that was both inspiring and uplifting. Congratulations on a successful school year and best of luck to those moving on to the next stage of their educational pursuits.
Our attention turns now to the work of finalizing plans for the 2020-21 school session. At this time, we have targeted Monday, August 31, as the proposed date that school will begin. While we traditionally align our calendar with the Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD), we also understand the challenges and considerations regarding safely reopening schools and providing meaningful instruction via distance learning are different for elementary schools and secondary schools. It is our intention to align our future calendars with SUHSD once this pandemic is over.
The direction our reopening takes will depend on several important pieces: implementing school guidance and public health recommendations, countywide efforts to ensure COVID-19 is under control and cases are on the way down, progress along the Governor’s multi-phased roadmap for ending the stay-at-home order, guidance from the newly released Guidebook for the Safe Reopening of California’s Public Schools, and, just as importantly, input from our stakeholder groups.
Survey Says…
Recently, the Chula Vista Elementary School District reached out to our community and asked for input about the coming school year and the design of school reopenings. Over 9,000 responses were received and that input has been critical to our work in crafting our plan for teaching and learning. Three specific results are worth noting.
When surveyed about potential learning models, our families indicated:
- 36% would prefer on-site instruction
- 19% would prefer virtual school
- 55% would prefer some form of blended learning model.
During the summer, our staff will create both online virtual school as well as live sessions to help recover lost learning. Starting July 15, we will send an update every two weeks regarding the status of these learning platforms. We want to keep you as informed and up to date as possible so that we start the new school year off on the right foot.
No matter what form instruction and learning take in the coming school year, CVESD remains committed to protecting the health and safety of our entire school communities. Getting back to school is critically important, as you know, but doing so responsibly and with a focus on preventing the spread of this virus is paramount.
Challenging Times
There is no doubt we find ourselves in challenging times and I would be remiss if I did not also comment on the events of the last few weeks with regard to social justice, protesting of police brutality, and demands for significant and meaningful change in our country. As protests continued for another weekend, I concentrated on listening. I listened to African-American school leaders in our District. I listened to African-American colleagues and friends. I also listened to teachers, staff members and school psychologists who were not African-American, as they shared with me their horror in watching video capturing the death of a bound George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. This was the latest in a string of killings and racial injustices targeting black Americans.
Like those from all walks of life and many sectors of industry, we as a District proudly acknowledge Black Lives Matter.
Many of our families are deeply hurting right now. We as educators and members of the larger community have a moral obligation to create safe spaces for discussion and learning so that we don’t miss the lesson in these recent events. We need to listen to the voices crying out for change and understanding. We need to listen to our children’s questions about the difficult images they are seeing on their screens. Together, we need to take action and assist in the process of developing strategies that will make a difference.
Our students need us now more than ever. They need guidance that is informed, authentic, and filled with compassion and understanding. Sometimes, additional resources can be a bridge when we don’t feel fully equipped to assist our young people. Two valuable resources you might refer to come from our Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Director and our District’s social workers, as well as the San Diego County Office of Education. These are excellent resources that may assist in facilitating conversations between students and families.
I am hopeful we are ready to move forward as a District, a community, and a nation united in the belief that we can and will do better. Only then can we live up to our belief that each and every child is an individual of great worth.
Sincerely,
Francisco Escobedo, Ed.D.
Superintendent
¡Su perseverancia nos inspira!
9 de Junio, 2020
Estimados padres/tutores y personal:
En la medida que vemos que el año escolar 2019-20 llega a su fin, quiero agradecerles a usted y a sus hijos por su flexibilidad y adaptabilidad a medida que pasamos rápidamente a la educación y el aprendizaje a distancia. Todos mostraron un verdadero nivel de valor que fue inspirador y estimulante. Felicitaciones por un año escolar exitoso y la mejor de las suertes para aquellos que pasan a la siguiente etapa de su trayectoria educativa.
Nuestra atención se dirige ahora al trabajo de finalizar los planes para el ciclo escolar 2020-21. En este momento, nos hemos enfocado en el lunes 31 de agosto, fecha en que comenzará la escuela. Si bien tradicionalmente alineamos nuestro calendario con el Distrito de Escuelas Preparatorias Sweetwater Union, también entendemos que los desafíos y las consideraciones con respecto a la reapertura segura de las escuelas y el suministro de instrucción significativa a través de la educación a distancia son diferentes para las escuelas primarias y secundarias. Es nuestra intención alinear nuestros futuros calendarios con Sweetwater Union High School una vez que esta pandemia haya terminado.
La dirección que tome nuestra reapertura depende de varios componentes importantes: implementar lineamientos escolares y recomendaciones de salud pública, los esfuerzos de todo el condado para garantizar qué está bajo control el COVID-19 y que los casos están bajando, tener progreso hacia el plan rector multifacético del gobernador para finalizar la orden de resguardo en casa, pautas del recién publicado Libreto de Lineamientos para la Reapertura Segura de las Escuelas Públicas de California, y también igual de importante, la opinión de todos nuestros grupos interesados.
La encuesta dice…
Recientemente, CVESD se acercó a nuestra comunidad y pidió opiniones sobre el siguiente año escolar y el diseño de la reapertura de las escuelas. Se han recibido más de 9,000 respuestas y esa aportación ha sido de suma importancia en la elaboración de nuestro plan para la enseñanza y el aprendizaje. Cabe mencionar 3 puntos específicos.
Al ser encuestadas sobre los modelos potenciales de aprendizaje, nuestras familias indicaron:
- 36% prefieren la instrucción en las escuelas.
- 19% prefieren una escuela virtual.
- 55% prefieren alguna forma combinada de los modelos de aprendizaje.
Durante el verano, nuestro personal va a crear escuelas virtuales en línea, así como sesiones en vivo para ayudar a recuperar el aprendizaje perdido. Empezando el 15 de julio, vamos a enviar una actualización cada dos semanas referente al estatus de estas plataformas de aprendizaje. Queremos mantenerlos lo más informados y actualizados posible para empezar el nuevo año escolar con el pie derecho.
Independientemente de la forma de instrucción y aprendizaje que se llevará a cabo el siguiente año escolar, CVESD sigue comprometido en proteger la salud y bienestar de todas nuestras comunidades escolares. Si es muy importante regresar a la escuela, como ustedes lo saben, pero hacerlo responsablemente y enfocados en la prevención de la propagación de este virus es primordial.
Tiempos desafiantes
Sin duda estamos viviendo tiempos muy desafiantes y sería negligente de mi parte si no comentara acerca de los eventos de las últimas semanas con respecto a la justicia social, protestas de la brutalidad policiaca y demandas para cambios verdaderamente significativos en nuestro país. Al continuar las protestas otro fin de semana, me concentré en escuchar. Escuché a los líderes escolares afroamericanos en nuestro distrito. Escuché a mis colegas y amigos afroamericanos. También escuché a maestros, miembros del personal y psicólogos escolares que no son afroamericanos, pero que compartieron conmigo su horror al ver el vídeo que capturó la muerte de George Floyd atado, por un oficial de policía de Minneapolis. Éste el más reciente de una ola de asesinatos e injusticias raciales hacia americanos de raza negra.
Igual que todos de diferentes ámbitos sociales y muchos sectores de la industria, nosotros como Distrito reconocemos que Black Lives Matter.
Ahora mismo, muchas de nuestras familias están sufriendo. Nosotros como educadores y miembros de una comunidad tenemos la obligación moral de crear espacios seguros para platicar y aprender y así no perdernos la lección de estos recientes eventos. Debemos escuchar las voces que gritan por el cambio y comprensión. Debemos escuchar a las preguntas de nuestros niños sobre las imágenes difíciles que están viendo en sus pantallas. Juntos, debemos tomar acción y ayudar en el proceso de desarrollar estrategias qué harán una diferencia.
Nuestros estudiantes nos necesitan ahora más que nunca. Ellos necesitan asesoramiento informado, auténtico y lleno de compasión y comprensión. A veces, algunos recursos adicionales pueden crear puentes cuando no nos sentimos plenamente equipados para ayudar a nuestros jóvenes. Dos recursos valiosos que podrían acceder vienen de nuestros trabajadores sociales en el Distrito, y nuestra Oficina de Educación del Condado de San Diego. Éstos son recursos excelentes que podrán ayudarlos en facilitar conversaciones entre estudiantes y familias.
Tengo la esperanza de que estamos listos para seguir adelante como un Distrito, una comunidad y una nación unida en la creencia que podemos y haremos las cosas mejor. Sólo entonces podremos alcanzar nuestra creencia de que todos y cada niño es un individuo de gran valor.
Mi más sincero agradecimiento,
Dr. Francisco Escobedo
Superintendente
Ella B. Allen Elementary School 