Dear Serra Community,
I hope everyone is safe and healthy.
We have been waiting (as patiently as we can) for what was going to be announced today from the Governor of California. He provided the guidelines for reopening schools. The Governor realized that he needed to provide these guidelines so districts could not only know the expectation but to prevent districts from some deciding to open and some not; some are doing it one way and other's another. Today at noon he held a conference and you can watch the whole thing right here in case you missed it:
We now can begin working within those guidelines and planning. In addition during the conference he made it clear that San Diego County is on the "watchlist" and therefore all private and public schools in SD County need to stay closed. This was very hard to hear not only as a principal but as a parent of two toddlers!!!! I can not control what the Governor does so I can't "stew" on whether I agree with him on opening schools or not, but I can ask questions and feel overwhelmed. I think to myself:
As a parent:
How am I going to be able to do work and monitor learning?
I have an expectation that high expectations are set for the fall and therefore what if I feel my children aren't getting the education I feel they are entitled to? Who do I go to and what is the process to getting a solution?
What if the principal creates a schedule I can't manage or adhere to?
What if the principal starts classes (which may be live) at 8 am and my senior is used to sleeping until noon now; I don't want to get in a power struggle but there is no "hold harmless" grading this time around?
and down the rabbit hole we go.......
As a principal:
How am I going to do this?
Principals are sometimes looked upon as having all the answers. In this situation we are no better equipped than you. We both have a monumental task ahead of us; this is a marathon not a sprint and we have to do it right. So what am I doing now? or what will I be doing in the next week or so:
Finishing the master schedule as if school was reopening; only after that can it be manipulated for flexibility. We are lucky in that we are way ahead of schedule so this is one hoop we don't need to cross.
Waiting for guidelines based on negotiations with labor unions. These are what we call "marching orders" or the guidelines we can work from. It doesn't just mean the teacher's union; it means all unions and there are a lot of them from transportation, classified staff, custodial, para educators...and the list goes on. I believe I will have these agreement by next Friday....fingers crossed.
Start scheduling meetings with the Serra cluster of school principals to devise a schedule of meetings and also forums with parents and stakeholders. We can't do this alone and we will need you as partners! More on this to come.
Athletics--this is very complicated piece of the puzzle and I'll be working on Monday on this specific issue with CIF and have a solid guideline(s) to work under and will communicate it to you next Friday unless I do a special edition.
Starting to revise our Distance Learning Handbook to reflect our new situation.
Starting to put together a weekly schedule of what I will be doing and what I would like you to do so you don't miss a thing such as a survey, or getting your shots, or anything leading up to the launch of school on August 31st. I want to make sure you are ready as well.
Working on freshman bridge program and possibly extending that to all grade levels for social emotional reasons! Students need a morale boost and to interact with one another!
What I need you to do if you can right now:
Relax...we will get through this together!
Wait for information from me
Make sure you have ALL your immunizations prior to school starting as you wont be admitted to online learning with out them. Read this:https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/immunization.asp
It is clear: ALL students must be up to date on vaccines whether we are online learning or not. PLEASE get started on this.
Lastly,
Does your child need something to do? Get them a job!
Thank you for your encouragement and kind words of support you have been sending to us; it means so much!
Dr. Renfree
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