Hybrid Model Begins on April 12th
Please see the letter below from our Superintendent of schools, Dr. Francisco Escobedo:
Dear Parents/Guardians,
It is my pleasure to share our District’s official notice to you that our in-person, hybrid instructional model for students will begin on Monday, April 12. CVESD teachers who are working in the in-person hybrid instructional model will return to their respective schools on Monday, April 5. This ensures teachers and staff have appropriate time to prepare for the transition from distance learning to in-person instruction. Reopening details will be shared at a Virtual Town Hall Meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23.
As you know, parents can select the in-person hybrid model or keep their child(ren) in distance learning for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year. At a special meeting on Tuesday, a Board of Education majority noted that our District is on track to move forward with in-person instruction because we have met the conditions laid out in the Memorandum of Understanding with Chula Vista Educators, the bargaining group that represents teachers. A key condition for reopening was that San Diego County return to the Red Tier, as defined in the state’s tiered system. This week, County officials announced that COVID-19 case rates lowered enough for the state to re-designate San Diego from the most restrictive Purple Tier to the less restrictive Red Tier—paving the way for school districts across the region to reopen or expand in-person instruction.
Starting school in a hybrid format ensures that a limited number of students are on campus at any one time, allowing protocols such as physical distancing to be more easily implemented. In CVESD, the hybrid model consists of in-person instruction in an a.m./p.m. format Monday-Thursday, with Fridays reserved for distance learning.
It would be the first time that our schools have reopened to daily instruction since the pandemic forced school closures a year ago. I am indeed excited to welcome back students to in-person instruction. I know so many staff and families are excited to return as well. I also recognize the anxiety that some have about a return of even some of our students to campus. I want to reassure you that our District is going above and beyond when it comes to safety protocols and requirements. A hybrid instructional format is not a perfect solution. But it is an important step in restoring educational equity to our community. Students and families have suffered immensely during the pandemic from the prolonged school closures. Now, it is time to heal. It is time for all of us to recover and rebuild together.
Thank you for your patience, resiliency and grit in these extraordinary 12 months since we had to close our schools.
Warm regards,
Francisco Escobedo, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Allen Elementary’s Hybrid Model Plan
We are preparing the school for the April 12th return of some students to campus via the hybrid model.
Friday, March 19th, 2021 is the final day to share your preference for learning model for your child. The Superintendent of CVESD, Dr. Escobedo, shared via email and here that some students will return to in-person learning via a hybrid model on April 12th, 2021. We have sent emails and made phone calls for the last three weeks to contact every parent to get their preference for learning model for the remainder of the school year. To clarify, there are three choices for parents to express a preference:
- Express an interest in keeping your child in Distance Learning, Monday-Friday. Students in this learning model will stay on the current learning schedule that we have been using since September 2020: Instructional minutes for your child stay the same, with 3 hours of synchronous learning for Kindergarten students, 3 hours and 50 minutes for students in grades 1-3, and 4 hours for students in grades 4 through 6. Please note: a parent that chooses this option may have their child be assigned to a different teacher. Instructional minutes for your child stay the same.
- Express a preference for enrolling your child in the morning cohort for in-person instruction, Monday through Thursday. This will allow for 155 minutes of in-person instruction at school on those days. In this model, your child will be dropped off at school between 8:40 am and 8:50 am in front of Daly Academy. Students will stay in their vehicle while a staff member performs a health screening that includes affirming that no one in the household has symptoms of COVID-19 and parents will consent to having their child undergo a temperature check. Students will begin learning in their classrooms at 8:50 am. Parents should pick up children at 11:25 am in the traffic loop in front of Daly Academy. There is no after school childcare in this option. Once home, students will be required to complete their remaining required instructional time asynchronously, online. Also, all students in this model will have 155 minutes of synchronous, distance learning on Fridays, from their homes and will complete any remaining instructional time asynchronously from home. No in-person instruction will occur on campus on Fridays for families in this learning model. Please note: A parent that chooses this option may have their child assigned to a different teacher. Total instructional minutes for your child stay the same, but there are only 2 hours and 35 minutes of in-person instruction, Monday through Thursday in this model.
- Express a preference for enrolling your child in the afternoon cohort for in-person instruction, Monday through Thursday. This will allow for your child to begin the day at home with asynchronous instruction, online. Students will also have 155 minutes of in-person instruction at school. In this model, there is no before school childcare. Your child will be dropped off at school between 12:25 pm and 12:35 pm in front of Daly Academy. Students will stay in their vehicle while a staff member performs a health screening that includes affirming that no one in the household has symptoms of COVID-19 and will consent to having their child undergo a temperature check. Students will begin learning at 12:35 pm. Parents should pick up children at 3:10 pm in the traffic loop in front of Daly Academy. There is no after school childcare in this option. Also, all students in this model will have 155 minutes of synchronous, distance learning on Fridays, from their homes and will complete any remaining instructional time asynchronously from home. No in-person instruction will occur on campus on Fridays. Please note: A parent that chooses this option may have their child assigned to a different teacher. Total instructional minutes for your child stay the same, but there are only 2 hours and 35 minutes of in-person instruction in this model, Monday through Thursday.
Please note: Our school team is trying to do its very best to accommodate parent preferences. Please know that despite our best efforts, we may have to offer some families an option that does not match their preferences. The last day for parents to express a preference for their child’s learning model is Friday, March 19th. Please contact the school office directly at (619) 479-3662 to express this. The deadline was created so that we may be able to plan for students and prepare for the April 12th start date of these 3 models.
More information was posted on our school blog at https://allenelementary.org/. This includes Dr. Escobedo’s letter to parents, a schedule for the two in-person models, and a diagram for entry onto campus for students. Please note that the current guidelines do not permit adults or volunteers on campus at this time.
CVESD will hold a virtual Town Hall on Tuesday, March 23rd at 6 pm online. That meeting will be accessible in English and Spanish at http://www.cvesd.org. Mr. Greenwell, our school’s Principal, will hold a meeting online for all Allen parents on Wednesday, March 24th at 6 pm. This meeting will be to share detailed information about these three models. That meeting be accessed via our school blog or here:
https://SDSU.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0kd-2tqTkqGNM5eFHVm_dHFn5xxcUucaVO
Lastly, please know that our entire school team will make every effort to ensure that this transition is as smooth as possible. Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or the school office with questions or concerns.
- If you need to change your preference, please do so before this Friday, March 19th by contacting the school office directly at (619) 479-3662.
- The start date for this model has been set: April 12, 2021.
- More information may be available via www.cvesd.org.
- See an example of the Hybrid/In-Person Cohort Schedule for Allen Elementary below.
Families who will drop off and pick up their children in the hybrid model will drop off students in front of Daly Academy or at the Kindergarten gate (according to grade level), per the graphic below:
Only students in the Distance Learning Support Program, students walking to school, and students who arrive late will enter campus via the front school gates. No parents or volunteers will be allowed on campus.
Dr. Escobedo will hold a Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, March 23rd at 6 pm to share information about safety and well-being of our students, as well as answer questions from parents. The meeting will be accessible from http://www.cvesd.org. Please see this short YouTube video for additional safety information.
More detailed information regarding the particular details at Allen will be coming from our Principal, Mr. John Greenwell, at a parent meeting on Wednesday, March 24th at 6 pm. The link for that meeting will be posted on our school blog in the Sunday Update for March 21st.
Week at a Glance Reminders
A few friendly reminders for this week:
Thursday, March 18 through Friday, March 26th – Parent & Teacher Conferences (Minimum Days)
- Students will have 2 hours of synchronous learning with their teachers online and the remaining instructional minutes will be asynchronous learning time.
Thursday, March 18, 2021 – Equity Meeting for Parents at 6 pm
See the flyer here to access this 6 pm meeting:
Friday, March 19, 2021
- Live Event at 1 pm – Shoot and Score!
- We invite you to join the district’s next live weekly event this Friday, March 19 at 1 pm, Shoot & Score! , led by our teacher at the Health Station, Mr. Ramirez. In this session, students will have the opportunity to take on the role of a fitness trainer and learn about the important role they play in helping athletes become great hockey players. Then, they will build their own hockey stick and goal to test their very own hockey skills. Finally, they will be able to participate in a live Kahoot! game to show what they have learned.
- Once again, the event is designed to be for all ages and is open to the public. It will begin at 1 pm on Friday, March 19, 2021 and will be hosted on the Microsoft Teams platform, which is accessible through any web browser, regardless of whether or not someone has a district Microsoft account or the Microsoft Teams app.
- We look forward to seeing you there!
http://bit.ly/hestshootandscore
If you were able to join the last event, Every Drop Counts: Building a Water Dispenser with Mrs. Bystrak,we would appreciate it if you could share some pictures of your work. If you were not able to join us for our last event and would still like to check it out, a recording of it will be posted here on our YouTube channel later this week.
Monday, March 22, 2021 – CVESD B-LAC General Meeting at 6 pm [Click link here]
Tuesday, March 23, 2021 – CVESD Virtual Town Hall on Reopening Schools at 6 pm (link at http://www.cvesd.org)
Wednesday, March 24, 2021 – Allen Elementary’s Reopening Plan at 6 pm (link at allenelementary.org)
Monday, March 29 – Friday, April 2, 2021 – Spring Break (No classes online or in person)
Monday, April 5, 2021 – Students resume class (Minimum Day)
Friday, April 9, 2021 – Virtual Family First Friday at 8 am. [Click here to access this meeting]
Ella B. Allen Elementary School 